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| Brynwood Needleworks - Afternoon Visitor |
Hi, Everybody!
No pictures of me or The Black Dog today. I'm too excited to tell you about our visitor this week. It's one of the things we love about livin' where we do.
Mom was workin' in the studio and saw somethin' movin' right outside her window. She has a triple date palm there, and she was surprised to see a raccoon chasin' a lizard up the tree! The lizard got away, but there was another one in the grass, so the raccoon darted off to get it.
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| Brynwood Needleworks - The Visiting Raccoon |
She watched the raccoon as it moved around so close to her, and she didn't tell me about it because she was worried I might bark my fool head off. (I think she might have been right!)
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| Brynwood Needleworks - Interested In The Pool |
After toolin' around in the yard, he (I don't know if it was a boy or girl, so I'm sayin' "he") strolled right into our courtyard and actually checked all Mom's empty flower pots for lizards before noticing the pool.
He made his way to the screens and stood up 'cuz there was a lizard on the inside of the screen. He actually put his paws up and banged on the screen like he was tryin' to knock it down! (It didn't work.)
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| Brynwood Needleworks - Raccoon Changing Focus |
What happened next really tickled Mom. He turned around and headed right toward the window where she was watchin' him!
She very lightly tapped on the window and the raccoon looked right at her! He didn't snarl or act stoopid. He just looked at her with healthy, bright eyes, and then...
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| Brynwood Needleworks - Well, Hello! |
stood right up and looked at her. "Pardon me, ma'am. Would you happen to have any fresh shrimp?" He just stayed there for the longest time before turnin' around and walkin' away.
When Mom told Dad, Bella and me about it, she said she didn't want to give it any treats because it might get too friendly and hang around. I've heard that raccoons can be fierce if they encounter dogs. I think Mom has a good plan to leave it alone. Better safe than sorry, we say.
I'll see you again in seven. 'til then...
"Chase A Dream - Or A Squirrel".
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NOTE: Hi, it's Donna here. I just want to answer a concern that you might have reading Tag's post this week...
I've seen the raccoon around the neighborhood over the past couple of weeks. It's not ill, and after asking a few questions of a friend in wildlife rescue, it's not uncommon for females to be out foraging for food to feed themselves and/or their young. So many animals become acclimated to getting food from humans, and this raccoon may have been fed by some of our neighbors in the past. After all, it's pretty darn cute.
I won't be leaving any food around for it, though. As Tag mentioned, dogs and wild raccoons don't play well together, and I don't want to facilitate any ruckuses around here. No worries. This is not a rabid raccoon either. It's healthy and will do well if we just leave it alone.
Oh, and apologies for the through-the-screens-crappy photos. It couldn't be avoided.
Cute as they are, I think you're wise not to offer it any food! Raccoons can definitely be fierce! I was surprised to see that they eat lizards. They like cat food so I have to be careful that my outdoor cats don't leave any around. Usually the raccoons are nocturnal so it's kind of surprising that you had the daytime visitor.
ReplyDeleteRaccoons can be highly agitated and aggressive if antagonized. Tag you are very well taken care of by mom and she knew best. We had raccoons in our yard years ago and they knocked over a very heavy and water filled three-tiered fountain and they climbed our very tall palm trees. No food for them...wild and untamed for certain.
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