Sunday, July 11, 2010
I AM THE RACCOON WHISPERER!!
NB: PLEASE don't use the following description as a suggestion of something that YOU might try. Wild animals are dangerous and unpredictable, and even small ones have sharp teeth and claws that they can use without warning. An adult raccoon is a powerful animal, and many of them have had bad experiences with humans who want to be rid of them. Most importantly of all: any mammal can carry rabies, even one that seems to be healthy. Just because I'M able to interact safely with wild animals doesn't mean that YOU can. Please admire wild animals from a safe distance!!
The female raccoon that has been visiting us for some time now, and was coming every night when she was clearly nursing, had started visiting more sporadically; she was starving when she came, so she hadn't found better pickings... we assume the babies are so active now that she doesn't dare leave them for long, and we're not that close to her den.
Tonight, she came and started shoving food in her mouth with both paws, literally. It had seemed like there was still a decent amount of food, but at the rate she was eating she was quickly down to crumbs. I had gotten right up to the screen door to talk to her, and she was about a foot away, and showing no fear, so I thought maybe if I showed her that I had food she'd let me open the door and give her some. I got a handful of kibble and held it up to the screen; she came right over and sniffed, and then tried to reach out with her paw a couple of times and was baffled by the screen. I reached up to ease open the door, and belatedly remembered that it had gotten so out of whack that it has required some real effort even by my husband to open it over the past month or so... and it's a noisy process. I didn't ask God for help, although I should have, but He was watching, ready to assist both me and the hungry coon, because when I made my first attempt to open the door it moved easily and soundlessly; the raccoon watched with interest but no fear as I slowly extended a handful of food. She came forward, sniffed my hand, and reached out and took some kibble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She started eating from my hand with her mouth, and when she'd gotten most of it I tipped the remainder out, mindful that she might not grasp where the food ends and the hand begins, and raccoon teeth are SHARP. She could see very clearly that there was no more food in my hand, but she reached out her paw and touched my fingers several times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We did several more rounds of this, with her using her mouth or paws apparently at random to take food from me and then feeling my hand even when there was no food in it and plenty on the ground. Coons are highly intelligent and curious creatures, and she was absolutely checking me out; even when I pulled my hand back, she reached past the doorway to touch my hand some more.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't tell you what a magical experience this was.
The female raccoon that has been visiting us for some time now, and was coming every night when she was clearly nursing, had started visiting more sporadically; she was starving when she came, so she hadn't found better pickings... we assume the babies are so active now that she doesn't dare leave them for long, and we're not that close to her den.
Tonight, she came and started shoving food in her mouth with both paws, literally. It had seemed like there was still a decent amount of food, but at the rate she was eating she was quickly down to crumbs. I had gotten right up to the screen door to talk to her, and she was about a foot away, and showing no fear, so I thought maybe if I showed her that I had food she'd let me open the door and give her some. I got a handful of kibble and held it up to the screen; she came right over and sniffed, and then tried to reach out with her paw a couple of times and was baffled by the screen. I reached up to ease open the door, and belatedly remembered that it had gotten so out of whack that it has required some real effort even by my husband to open it over the past month or so... and it's a noisy process. I didn't ask God for help, although I should have, but He was watching, ready to assist both me and the hungry coon, because when I made my first attempt to open the door it moved easily and soundlessly; the raccoon watched with interest but no fear as I slowly extended a handful of food. She came forward, sniffed my hand, and reached out and took some kibble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She started eating from my hand with her mouth, and when she'd gotten most of it I tipped the remainder out, mindful that she might not grasp where the food ends and the hand begins, and raccoon teeth are SHARP. She could see very clearly that there was no more food in my hand, but she reached out her paw and touched my fingers several times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We did several more rounds of this, with her using her mouth or paws apparently at random to take food from me and then feeling my hand even when there was no food in it and plenty on the ground. Coons are highly intelligent and curious creatures, and she was absolutely checking me out; even when I pulled my hand back, she reached past the doorway to touch my hand some more.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't tell you what a magical experience this was.
