The Wilds of Overland Park

   I have to ask, given the multitude of rabbits, squirrels, mice, possums, and now raccoons that visit me... How do they not realize that my property is full of dangerous beasts that want to hunt them? Do these animals not use their noses? Do my animals not have a scent? Or do they let off a "harmless" scent, lulling wildlife into a false sense of security? What the *h* is going on here? Apparently everything I learned on "Wild America" is wrong!
   Maybe it's because they think Taylor looks like one of them. I've had more than one person make the comparison...

To be fair, though, only two of my pets are killers: Aki & Atom.

Gypsy & Taylor are pacifists.

Early-morning wake-up call

   Aki was whining incessantly this morning starting around 4 am, and I finally conceded & got out of bed to let her outside, thinking she must NEED to go out. She threw up a little on the floor before I could get her outside, so I decided to leave both dogs outside until I got up for work, in case she got sick again. Went back to bed. They woke me again at 4:30 am, barking wildly, and I rushed downstairs. I actually thought they were squabbling with each other & was expecting my angry neighbors to be waiting for me. But the dogs were barking up at a corner of the fence. It was so dark that I couldn't see anything but a faint silhouette, which I assumed was a tabby cat. I went back inside to get my camera. Imagine my surprise when the flash went off & I saw who it was:

   It didn't appear that contact was made with the raccoon (no cuts on the dogs, and Mr. Raccoon looked alright), but the poor thing was so freaked out that he just huddled there, silently, bristling to try to scare us off. I always worry about rabies, but I think he was just dumb-founded by getting "treed" so early in the morning. I dragged the snarling dogs inside by their collars, then went out to take a few more photos. As I stood a few feet in front of the raccoon I realized I was shaking from adrenaline. The raccoon looked a little catatonic. I think BOTH of us were afraid; I was afraid he could be sick & might leap onto my face; he was afraid I'd shoot him or release the hounds on him. He probably didn't love my flash going off in his face, either.

   I saw a show on Animal Planet recently, where Karelian bear dogs were used to aid in releasing captured bears into the wild. The dogs harass the bears, barking furiously & chasing them into the woods. The idea is that the bears will associate this treatment with humans & will avoid them thereafter. Hopefully my raccoon also learned his lesson from my Shiba Inuian raccoon dogs & won't be back. (I am going to have a Karelian one day, BTW.)

 

KBD photo credit

   Now I can totally empathize with Kim...

Raccooneriffic!

Received this email this morning from Kim, the aforementioned coworker whose yard has been overrun by raccoons (and mostly possums): 

"Leaving them BE..... 

Okay ladies after some thought and pressure from you nature people! I decided to leave the Racoons Be! I called Critter Control and asked them not to set anymore traps, besides it was getting was too $$$$ catching Possums and all! YUCK!"


So I sneaked over to her desk & left a giant version of this sign posted on the back of her chair, for her to find when she returned from lunch!

Racoon cartoons

I was offsite at a seminar this morning (Andy Mooney, head of Disney consumer products) and during the intermission, Kim was telling us about 2 pesky raccoons that have been hanging our around her house. She flipped the lights on at night & caught them hanging out on her deck. She has hired a company to trap them humanely. While she was talking I couldn't help but imagine some raccoon conversations. So here's what I sent to Kim, under the guise of "notes from the meeting."

raccoons & chickens

On my way back from the gym (in the dark) at 6 am, I thought I saw something moving near the side of the road up ahead. And sure enough, as I got closer I saw a momma raccoon on the curb—and then three baby raccoons jumped down from a nearby tree. The four of them scuttled into a drain. It was cool because I don't see much wildlife in my neighborhood (other than rabbits, squirrels & hawks). Kelly has seen foxes, but I haven't. ...Although if I had a nickel for every time someone has said that Aki "looks just like a little fox," I'd be writing this post from my swanky beach house in Hawaii!

When I got off work, the weather was SO NICE that I just had to get out with the dogs. So we drove up to Antioch Park, and what a nice surprise that was! It's a big park with many paved trails, several lakes, shelters, and some of the coolest playground areas for kids ever...including a village of mini houses & shop-fronts. There were a ton of people grilling, fishing, playing volleyball & tennis, and just hanging out. The dogs & I jogged for about 40 minutes. And Taylor very nearly fell in the lake: there was a crossing where you had to walk across cement pillars that were spaced apart. I saw children doing it & assumed the shibas could. Not so much. CHICKENS!

9/12/09 update: Kelly went to the park with me & the dogs this morning, and they crossed those pillars with no hesitation and no trouble at all! ....the first time, that is. On the way back, Taylor passed with flying colors, but Aki's back feet slipped THREE TIMES & she ended up with GREEN FEET from the algae in the lake. So they had a bath when we got home!