Anyone else here have Raccoons in their yard? I had a few robbing my bird feeders late at night a few weeks ago. I turn on a light, they run like crazy. Pretty soon, they ignore the light. Next thing I know they are eating my dogs food on the back porch. For the last few nights, they are standing at my back door looking in begging for food. I open the door, they try to come in. Amazing.
Those things can be vicious if they want to. Quick and vicious. My mother used to raise chickens (in suburbia yeah she was kind of weird) behind our garage and ratcoons would come across from a corn field behind our house (orphanage with a farm was behind our house where cattle raised and fed animal corn) and the ratcoons would use their little hands to open the cage an try to kill the chickens and eat the eggs. They suceeded pretty often kind of like you would expect a monkey to be able to open things. When they saw you in the dark they would hiss and shouw their teeth and dart off up a tree. Wouldn't want to corner one.
I have a huge one that liked to eat my garbage now and then. Antifreeze will kill the thing so, humane treatment aside, you might want to try something else. The thing is bound to crawl behind your desk some place else hard to reach and expire. Then you're going to have to deal with a large, rotting carcass all winter. Use some cayenne pepper. Just sprinkle a little around the trash cans or whatever it is they're after and they'll go away.
Welcome back dude. Were have you been? As far as the 'coons, I really kind of like them. I don't want to kill them or scare them away, I was just hoping to get a little control over them. I swear that I have one who would come strainght inside the house if the door was left open. He (or she) was actually scratching on my glass door wanting food last night. When I opened the door to give him a dog biscuit, he tried to come inside. He would have gladly eaten out of my hand, but I am afraid to let one get close enough to bite me. The last thing I need is a round of Rabies shots.
We kind of figured that out on our own. I Kentucky, they may be Ratcoons. Inbreeding is very common there.
They really are a big old rat. Seriously. They are hard to kill even when you shoot them ( shot one out of the tree it fell from the very top of a large tree onto some stones and needed several more shots including a head shot to kill it). They are vicious, crafty, fast, and mean and have a mind of their own. They aren't scared of anything when cornered.
They are lovely, intelligent little creatures. It's only due to humans that they are reduced to ratlike status. If anything, it's modern, industrialised humans that are the 'big ole rats'. Don't post any more Carpenters lyrics to me, Dan. It's over.
[/appease crazy chick with a vicious photoshop abilities with soothing words]Why do you think they were for you not that they couldn't be if you wanted them to be. Your're right I'm sorry here: [ /end appease crazy chick with vicousu photoshop abilities with soothing words] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhR36gV6vW4&mode=related&search=Rainy Days And Mondays
I think the "big ole rat" title goes to the opossum. I saw one on my back porch eating catfood about 20 years ago. My two cats were perched high atop a dryer watching. Looked like they got punked by a big rat. I got video. Ah, to be poor white trash in Alabama. Good times.......
One time while burning the trash as a kid (yeah I grew up in the real sticks) I picked one up and roasted it. Now really if you knew me you would know I'm actually not mean at all when it comes to animals. I was real young maybe 7. I told my mom about it and she said it was probably just playing possum. I had heard that expression before but it just did not relate. So I'm thinking I burned a possum alive he just could not move because it’s a defense mechanism he goes into shock. I felt horrible about it for years.
This is a Possum. They are slothful, foul creatures that look like rats, and will eat anything no matter how badly it smells. They will play dead when cornered, which works well as long as they are dealing with other animals and not humans. A possum playing dead for a human is called a "Target." This is a Raccoon. They are smart, crafty animals that will eat your ears off if you corner them. Just ask my dog. They like marshmallows and peanuts more than anything, and quckly learn to hold an entire household hostage just to get them. This is a European Barking Ape. (Apus Pimpchichius) They have the same eating habits as Possums, and they readily breed with same sex partners. They are often seen in trailer parks, looking into the windows of unsuspecting children. Lonely women often keep them as pets.
In reality I wasn't the one that shot the raccoon. It was an older friend of my brothers. However, when I saw it wasn't dead after it fell out of the tree I did try to kill it as quickly as possible which I didn't suceed in. I also had a bad feeling about it but, I don't really accept any blame as I was just trying to put it out of it's misery and really had no influence over my brother's friend.
