Raccoons and skunks

When I lived in St. Pete (FL), there were fucking raccoons all over the place, tipping over garbage cans and making a general nuisance of themselves.

My dad lives there now, and they're still all over the place, still up to no good,

Admittedly, they're cute from far away.

Their little busy hands are so cute!

Baby skunks still haven't developed good control over their spraying mechanism. So their tails can be down and still...

Don't most North American urban areas have large raccoon populations?

Also baby skunks like to follow if they see you and can be hard to shake.

Dollface thread.

[quote] I’m sure they would better terrible pets, however.

They would better be.

'Coon huntin'.

My mom was a farm girl way back in the day, and some of the farmhands had found a baby skunk, which they gave to my her. They had it descented by a vet and it was apparently a wonderful, very clever pet.

It’s illegal to keep them in many states, however.

Baby raccoons are adorable and hilarious. We briefly cared for an orphaned litter when I was a kid until the local wildlife rehab center could accept them. (My mom took in multiple orphaned and injured wild animals, the standouts being a robin chick and an owlet, giving us some great experiences growing up.) But when raccoons approach maturity, they are unmanageable and dangerous. The babies, though, are absolute charmers, despite getting into everything and making messes for sport.

Raccoons are SO smart, & they have hands! Also, huge sweet tooth -- their favorite snack is marshmallows.

Raccoon moms are the best. They take the babies out as soon as they're old enough to follow mom, teaching them how to vandalize your garage, raid your fruit trees & vegetable gardens, break into your chicken coop, enter your kitchen via your pet door & feast on cat food, etc., etc. It's fascinating to watch the little trains of raccoons emerging from storm drains, trailing across rooftops & up fences every night. Each mom is like Fagin in "Oliver Twist", training this season's brood to victimize the neighborhood. But they're so smart & clever, & the babies are so cute, I can't stay mad at them as I clean up the damage every morning.

I needed a new roof because of the damage caused by raccoons.,so I have little sympathy for them.

Wacoon!

Shit, R11 -- you made me remember a story from back when I lived in St. Pete.

I had a dog door, the kind that fits into a sliding glass door, and a fenced-in yard. I had a small dog, and a cat, who both went in and out the dog door.

I heard a crash in the middle of the night; I grabbed my .38 snubnose out of my nightstand drawer, and walked slowly toward the kitchen, saying very loudly, "Stop! I have a gun!"

I get out to the kitchen table, and, lo and behold, a fat raccoon was on the table eating my cat's food. I chased it back out the dog door, never to be seen again.

Still, I patted myself on the back for having the right instincts, just in case it had been a burglar.

Sr Lesbian, you're just lucky that raccoon didn't wrestle the gun away from you....

My favorite raccoon story.

I absolutely love them. in theory. However, my gigantic yard is a magnet for them and foxes. Every single night they raccoons do their version of bum fighting right outside my window. which makes my dog batshit. I had 2 baby skunks follow me all. around my yard and try to come in the house with me.

Sure, they're cute when they're babies but when a 500 pound rabid adult chases you and your 75 pound dogat 6am it kind of puts you off them. Plus, none of them are scared of dogs. and they should be.

[quote] I had a dog door, the kind that fits into a sliding glass door

She had a raspberry beret, the kind you find in a second-hand store.

[quote] they raccoons

Proper grammar is “them thar raccoons”.

I asked their pronouns r19

Rescue-chick, I don't think that raccoons are afraid of anybody. I recently followed one down the driveway, holding a broom upside down & pounding the wooden handle on the concrete, shouting "SHOO!" & that SOB would take 2 steps, stop & look over its shoulder at me, sneer, take 2 more steps, etc., etc. They're born con-artists & will take as much as they can possibly get, against all odds. But I do love them (if only because they're not impressed by people, bless 'em).

I agree r21! I loved them more before I had dogs. My friend, many years ago, had 3 indoor /outdoor cats. They were black and white. I have, more than once, accidentally drunkenly petted skunks.

A woman in the neighborhood posted an e-mail account about her sitting in the dark watching TV, with the sliding glass door ajar. She thought her cat came in from the backyard & leaned down to pet it, only to discover that it was a curious raccoon looking for snacks. I thought that sounded like fun but she was upset.....

[quote]they raccoons do their version of bum fighting right outside my window

They make the weirdest noises running around at night, kind of an ululation.

This is from the Raccoon Saloon in Maine, where a bunch of wild raccoons have moved into an abandoned house that the owner has furnished & set up filming equipment. Turn on your sound!

[QUOTE]they're cute when they're babies but when a 500 pound rabid adult chases you

That's one helluva chubby raccoon.

Incidentally, rescue-chick, after your shrinkage trauma thread, I asked the nurse at my orthopedist's office to measure me. I kind of hesitated for the reasons you gave. My former height (5'10") was always big part of my identity either because of the extreme awkwardness (I'm female) I felt as a teen and adolescent or later feeling really good about it as an adult. At previous appointments they'd only asked my height. (Though you'd think they'd think to check a 60 year old woman) I'm now officially 5' 8". I would have been super-shocked if I hadn't heard your story before.

BTW, how are the new upstairs neighbors?

OP You won't love skunks if they come into your yard and spray. It's an unbearabale smell.

I think someone once described raccoons as the juvenile delinquents of the animal world. Very fitting.

r26, it's shocking right? crazy!

The neighbors are still gone. no new ones as the permitting for the balcony is held up and they still need to replace the roof. it's heavenly.

Skank slut sent her boyfriend to check the mail but I didn't know why he was here. I grabbed my tazer and flew out the door. he heard my door slam and flew to his car. smart move.

they've since broken up, she attempted suicide and is now super duper fundamental religious.

At least they're not coyotes.

Yes Raccoons are like gang members No fear, safety in numbers. And urban skunks know their advantage. I had a friend in High School whose sister had a descented pet skunk. It was nice to her and only her.

Lately I've been seeing urban groundhogs who are quiet and cute, and very afraid of raccoons.

My dog has been sprayed by skunk in the city, never the country. Multiple batjs of peroxide dish soap and baking soda works better than tomato juice.

Squirrels are everywhere. We have the grey ones, a few black. I like the little reddish ones in the country. Sweet little things who want to be friends.

Chipmunks are cute but not as friendly as the little red squirrels. They don't seem like rats in the country.

Don't get me started on the birds. There's a multi-year war going on between the dog and a persistent chicadee.

Raccoons and skunks. They's my favorites.

OP should have been titled this thread "tell us you're white without telling us you're white."

My Miss Molly loves just sitting outside and watching the birds with me. She has no problems with them - except robins, she hates them. She's the second dog I have had who hated robins. I think they move kind of like squirrels is the issue. We have all the birds. My favorite is the teeny tiny woodpeckers.

Dollfaces!

An ill-tempered raccoon once broke into my attic (through a damaged soffit) and crashed through the attic access hatch into my bedroom. It trashed the room, the bathroom, and the closet trying to escape, and refused to go near the trap we set up to catch it. It ate through my closet door, shat eye-watering raccoon shit all over the closet, and hissed at anything that moved. It took the handyman four hours to arrive, and when it went to attack him, things took a traumatic turn.

I've barely been able to look at a raccoon since, and I never did fully get that smell out of that closet.

When they were in my attic space, they broke all the old Bohemian glass ornaments.

[QUOTE]Don't most North American urban areas have large raccoon populations?

Oh, yes. They're total urban animals. Easier food sources. For 10 years I lived in two college towns surrounded by agriculture and wilderness. I never saw a raccoon outside of a zoo until I moved to Chicago. I rented a parking space at a local school's lot. When I got home a a couple of evenings, I saw some at a distance and assumed they were huge cats. One night I decided to look closer. They didn't run off like a lot of urban cats. I was pretty surprised my first encounter with a raccoon was in Lakeview.

R31, mines too!

[quote]R9 Baby raccoons are adorable and hilarious. We briefly cared for an orphaned litter when I was a kid until the local wildlife rehab center could accept them.

My parents cared for a small, injured raccoon they found, too. When she grew up she moved into a tree behind the house.

We recently moved from a small town to the boondocks and the worst thing about it is that there are no squirrels. They were my little buddies.

”no homo, bro”

The raccoons around my house dip into the garbage, but I let it slide because then they sort the recycling. Smart little bastards.