Decided to post now. I need to cut the top branches off of the crepe myrtle in the backyard, so that annoying squirrel out there won't be able to use them to climb onto the roof, but It's hot and stuffy outside right now, so I think I'll write instead. A few days ago that bad, bad squirrel discovered that she can run right up the tree and onto the roof. The past day or so she has been sitting on the roof scolding me when I step out onto the patio. Have to nip the roof thing in the bud asap but later in the afternoon when the temp drops a bit will be just as good - and better for my health. :-)
...so back to raccoons...
The very night that I posted recently saying I hadn't seen either raccoon in a week or so, Desi showed up. In addition to dog food and watermelon, I gave her 1/2 of one of those Little Debbie Fancy White Cake squares. She seemed to really like it. I saw her several time over the next few nights. Each time I gave her another 1/2 cake square for a treat. About the 2nd such night, I bent down and held the piece of cake out at arms length and was delighted when she walked up and gently took it from my hand. I was surprised at her willingness to come up and take the cake so soon and under such conditions.Things were going quite well it seemed.
Then one night I was inside when I heard the all too familiar sound of raccoons arguing outside. This was the 1st time I had heard the raccoons fussing that way so far this year, so I hurried out back to see what was going on. Desi was on the patio eating from a large section of watermelon I had left out there for her, while Captain, whom I had not seen for some time, was a short distance away. It appeared that Captain wanted some of the melon, and Desi was growling menacingly in an all out effort to keep it. Quite honestly, I was more than a little surprised to see Desi standing up to Captain this way. It seemed to be working though, as Captain kept her distance.
After seeing me in the kitchen, Captain came up to the patio door and sat on the facing, her body pressed up against the glass as she watched Desi eat the watermelon. This, too, surprised me, as Captain had not previously shown any such 'friendly' behavior (sitting on the door facing). (It seemed there was no end to the surprises.) Seeing Captain sitting at the door the way Heidi used to do touched me, so I grabbed the bag of dog food and headed out to give her some.
Previously there had been only the one watermelon rind outside with Desi 'owning' it and eating from it and Captain keeping her distance. For some reason, once I went out there and gave each of them a small pile of dog food about 3ft apart, the dynamics between them changed abruptly. Whereas previously Captain had kept her distance from Desi when she (Captain) had no food, as soon as I gave them both the dog food, Captain began to behave menacingly toward Desi, and Desi, who had previously stood her ground while guarding the watermelon, became passive once more. I haven't been able to make any sense of this. Just reporting what I observed. When Desi alone had food, she guarded it, and Captain respected her right of ownership. Then when they both had food, they immediately resumed their usual roles with Captain being bossy and Desi being passive. Odd.
Captain kept doing this posturing thing where she would pretend to make a run at Desi. Desi in turn would run from her. Each only ran a few strides, Captain the 3ft or so to reach Desi and Desi a few ft, just enough to get away. Sometimes Captain only ran 1ft in Desi's direction, implying the rest of the trip, and Desi ran maybe 1 stride from her food just the same. This was something I had seen them do before. Desi never bore any wounds indicative of a real battle, but the threat alone was sufficient to drive her away from her food. On this particular night I was in no mood for Captains antics and would have none of it.
From where I was standing, Desi had been eating directly in front of me a few feet away, while Captain was roughly the same distance away on my left. Imagine a triangle with each of us representing one of its angles. It's an equilateral triangle, each side being roughly 3ft long. Desi is directly in front of me. She and I stand facing each other some 3ft apart, such that the line between us forms one side of the triangle. Captain is to my left, also about 3ft away. The lines between Captain and each of us form the other two sides of the triangle.
Have you ever heard that sound The Dog Whisperer uses to get the attention of a dog? It's sort of like, "Shhhht" No, there's no implied 'i' in there. It's like the sound we make to tell others to be quiet, that "Shhh" sound but with a 't' on the end. I like it. It's a good sound for getting an animal's attention. After Captain made the first partial run at Desi, I took charge and started doing some posturing of my own. The next time Captain growled at Desi in prelude of another faux attack, I made a partial step between them (not really positioning myself between them but projecting my body in that direction as a means of 'saying' I would do so). I used the small food bag moving it out in front of me and insinuating it between them, again not actually placing the bag between them but moving it very slightly in that direction, posturing rather than doing.
This worked to prevent Captain from staging another run at Desi, but Captain continued to growl in Desi's direction periodically and even this was sufficient to drive Desi back from her food. Again I took a tiny, partial step as though to step between them. I looked directly at Captain and made that "Shhht" sound each time she growled. After 1 or 2 times Captain stopped growling altogether. What happened next totally surprised me.
By this time Desi had been driven back a few steps from her food. Even when Captain ceased growling at her, Desi hung back off the patio and away from her food. For a minute or two she seemed to have disappeared altogether but then she reappeared on my right. She had gone around a bunch of large potted trees on the patio to reappear beside me. Being right beside me, she was much, much closer to me now, only about 10in or so from my right foot. By going around to my right side, she had positioned herself so that I was now directly between Captain and her. Feeling safer there, she dropped her head and began eating the kibble I had dropped. After a few minutes she gained the confidence to eat her way back across the patio toward her original food pile - although now standing with her back to me, having approached her food from the new position beside me.
I never cease to be amazed at the intelligence raccoons display. Captain had gotten my message, and so it seemed had Desi. Desi understood that I was protecting her. She understood it so well, in fact, that she had repositioned herself to take better advantage of the protection I offered. She had moved from 3ft away to 10in away and in the process had placed me squarely between herself and her attacker. I was touched. Very much so. The two ate peacefully for the duration of the night.
You have to remember that these are not Heidi and the gang. These are two raccoon I barely know, two that I have only interacted with a handful of times. I haven't taken the time to slowly and painstakingly introduce myself to them, to start at a distance and work closer, to 1st sit very still and then move a little at a time and then finally try to stand upright in their presence. I had started not at the beginning but at the end. Heidi had not been here to reassure them that I was ok, and yet somehow they had understood anyhow.
It touched and amazed me that Desi understood and trusted that I would protect her. For Fraidy or Dennis or one of the others who knew me well this behavior would have been endearing. In truth for any wild animal or for that matter any creature with whom I did not share a common language to understand and trust me in this manner would have been exceptional, but it was truly touching coming from Desi who barely knew me. Like I said, I never cease to be amazed at the intelligence of raccoons.
Oopsie! Edited to fix a few minor errors and that one gigantic one you must surely have seen if you got here before it changed, the latter being one of those deals where one uses the wrong one of two or more words which sound identical but have altogether different spellings and, of course, meanings. I knew better and the error leapt off the page at me the instant I attempted to reread my post, something I should have taken the time to do pre-post, but, seriously, who has the time? But, as usual, I digress...
This message was edited May 27, 2013 11:32 PM
