Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, that, my friends, is a raccoon on my roof!"Mom, there's a raccoon in our yard!", hollered my son through the screen door. Now, this may not be a big deal to many of you, but for those of us who live in the concrete jungle, this is notable news. Raccoons are common enough creatures here in suburbia, but they usually are not quite so bold. It's very unusual to see a raccoon before dark around here and even more alarming that this raccoon was not even slightly afraid of my kids playing 6 feet away. Noisy kids. Running around kids. Throwing balls and stuff kids. I had a flashback to the movie "Elf" where a flying fur raccoon doesn't give Buddy the type of greeting he was expecting. (Funny movie full of sophomoric humor, but still good for mindless entertainment.)
Look right in the enter of the photo. See those glowing eyes? He's climbing up my roof. Click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view. (Side note: didn't my husband build an attractive fence?) Back to the masked bandit in my yard ... this particular raccoon has a tree nest in my neighbors yard. For some reason, though, he likes to come and, um, use my roof as a latrine. I'm not amused. This has happened on and off for years, and let me tell you the stench wafting into the house (namely the master bedroom) is memorable. In years past, we've had the "experts" come trap/release them, but it costs a fortune. Plus, the raccoons in these parts are enormous. I mean HUGH beasties. HUGH, I say, HUGE! For getting rid of today's masked bandit, hubbyman came outside and launched a football at it to get it away from the kids (our hose isn't hooked up yet).
Look right in the center of the photograph in the small roof section. Click to enlarge it for a better view. It scurried up onto the roof which is where I took the following photos. (I was a big help. Of course, I kept having guilty thoughts while thinking of the film Pom Poko. It's a Japanese anime film about how the raccoons are displaced out of their habitat. But then I remembered the stench in my house, and I got over it.) I'm sure the masked bandit will be back. UGH!
12 comments:
What a beautiful creature - a pity about the pong.
We don't have racoons in New Zealand, but we do have the Australian possum. They're nocturnal too and do very scary sounding raspy, heavy breathing.
Oooh - shame about the smell!! Can't be nice.
As a kid living in suburbia the raccoons started tearing off the shingles of homes and nested in their attics. They also went after pet food big time and were never afraid of anything.
Look at you, living one with nature and all that! Tell hubby - nice fence.
I am glad that my roof is so steep nothing except birds can climb it. I am also glad that I have enough space for critters to go elsewhere!
Happy Mother's Day! Hope the kidlins treated you well!
i'm with mickle - in fact, i have never seen a raccoon. every country has its own animal species...
happy mother's day to you - yes, it is celebrated in greece on the same day (and i hope they're all taking care of you while you're feeling sinus-y!)
Yeerk! I just remember the series "Shirt Tales" and how cute the raccoon was. Of course, as a kid I never needed to picture him peeing :P I hope he finds a much nicer (and less intrusive) habitat!
i love to look at raccoons...from afar. i don't like when they jump in front of my car and i don't like when they mess in my stuff. good use for the football, though. :)
I can't believe they go to the bathroom on your roof - UGH! I think they are so cute but they are scary and mean.
Silly Little poops, I will tell you how we got rid of ours, we peed in the yard in the dark, it worked, seriously!
LOL I've heard peeing will turn them off too..........but then again that might just compound the problem:) We have the odd one that comes around here but they've never made it home for which I am extremely grateful.
This brings back bad memories! I had racoons on my roof last year and again this year. They ate a hole in my roof and got in my attic, I heard them walking above my ceiling, it was soooo gross! We had to trap them and repair my roof, needless to say it was very $$$$!!
Post a Comment