south slopies - racoon watch

racoons will set up a latrine so if you find racoon poop take steps to make the area less appealing for them to use or they will continue to use it

Subject: Berkeley Place Raccoons

Read a post here about a raccoon last month on Berkeley. Saw one tonight on Berkeley going from 8th to 7th Avenues, then turned into the parking lot behind the building behind Ace Supermarket. Keep an eye out! He was big and chubby--I just hope he wasn't running from the coyotes!

The reason raccoons were thought to live in the sewers was because people saw them traveling in and out of them. But they do not live in sewers, just use them as a method of trails to get from point A to point B.
Please don't be so afraid of these creatures. They are not predators of humans and ususally don't hunt mammals.
Don't reach out to pet them though, because they are wild and may bite only to protect themselves. I posted on another thread that referred us back to this one.
They are highly intelligent and wily creatures. I had one when I lived on a farm 25 years ago and he was by far the best pet I ever had. If you cried, he licked your tears and stroked your face for comfort. And could pick any lock in a barn that you could come up with unless a key was needed to open it.
So, please don't poison or trap to kill them. They won't bother you.
But by the same token, don't feed them either or they will become too accustomed to humans and not know who to approach and who not to.
And to Kensington Mom, you can feed the feral cats daily. Just feed them during the daylight and pick up the food around dusk. I trained all feral cats, the raccoon and all of my animals by separate whistles so they knew when they heard their call...it's feeding time.
And why would you feel, whoever you were, that you have to spray a raccoon with a hose just for traveling on the wires?? What would you do if he landed on you???
Since man has built on all space available, what are the animals supposed to do? Catch a train to the country??????

I was used to opossums in Michigan, but I didn't realize there were any around here, wow.

Nice lolpossum pic on that thread. Awww!

dakotas way wrote:
Don't reach out to pet them though, because they are wild and may bite

I can personally attest to that. Even if it's somebody's pet and it's on a leash. Do NOT try to pet it. Particularly if you are only 6 years old. Ouch.

I didn't know raccoons purred ... I had a guinea pig once, she would purr and vibrate and go into ecstacies when I pet her.

Karma's a bitch when you do something as awful as that.
They could have used a have a heart trap and baited it with something as simple as pizza and caught them within a day and released them elsewhere.
Shows you what idiots can put up a shingle and call themselves what ever they want as experts and get away with it.
I hope they've been fined or something to make them realize how wrong what they did is.
And it's going to take quite a long time for them to totally decompose cause they're pretty big creatures. Poor babies. ](*,)

Shake Away worked for you? The 'coons and the cats just rolled in it in our back yard. We have a mommy and 3 wee babies (so cute). They also sleep in our neighbors ginko (have I already posted this? :-k ) and head to Green-Wood (or other back yards) at dusk. Then there garbage night...all bets are off :evil:

pluvious wrote: the good news is that the plants were not touched. a sacrificial mulch bag!

Yep, gotta choose your battles.

We actually had to fight (literally, a water hose to mammal battle) as one of the youngsters decided to run off with a garden ant trap!

Subject: RACOON

It's been a long time since 11/06 but here on Fifth Ave. btw. Union & President in June, something wreaked havoc in our pond and mauled one of our fish. Now I know what.

FYI Racoons arerelated to bears -- take a look at their claws.

If you bump into a raccoon (not really physically) then just keep going. They're not predators to humans, so he's not going to chase you to bite or attack.
Of course, you never want to cornor one. That's a whole different ball game because they will come at you then to get away.
But it is a rare, rare time that would happen. Otherwise, just cross the street to give it a wider path and don't worry about it.

lmboogie, clap your hand and make a hissing sound (seriously). Generally spooks them since the hissing sound (or a low growl, like with cats) which is a big message to "back off." The hand clap is just a loud noise for added effect.

I agree with dakotas way, don't corner one, but in general ,they are a heck of a lot more scared of you, then you of them...:)

Then there's the garden hose...;)

lmboogie, I'd like to offer some advice as far as dogs go. I've had dogs my whole life so I've had quite a few chances to observe people's behavior. If someone ignores my dogs and walks by them normally my dogs (each one I've had) pay them no attention whatsoever. But when someone sees the dogs and squeals or dashes away from them or brings attention to themselves in some way then my dogs immediately become interested in them. I'm talking about someone exhibiting typical fear behavior. It's the one thing someone does that will attract dogs almost every time. Dogs are naturally curious and want to investigate what they consider strange behavior. The best thing to do is to act like they aren't even there and walk right by them. If you're too afraid to do that the next best thing is to casually alter your course and veer far around them.

Also, if you're in a situation where a dog comes over to you calmly ask their owner to keep their dog away from you. If possible explain that you're afraid of dogs and you'd feel more comfortable without the dog so close to you. I understand you're afraid of dogs but kicking one is unacceptable. It's not the dog's fault, you should never take your anger at the owner out on the dog.

I'm not attacking you just offering my advice based on years of having dogs and observing people's reactions to them.

no worries, i don't feel like you're attacking me at all, caseopele.

let me clarify... it's not that i'm afraid of dogs, i just don't like them.

i don't squeal or behave fearful towards dogs, i just ignore them but it seems like some owners don't get it. it's always these little "cute" dogs that owners want you to pet.

let me give you an example... i'm standing outside of Bed Bath and Beyond on Saturday afternoon and here comes this "cute" little white fur ball with the owner. the dog literally starts sniffing my ankle and the fucking owner does nothing. I look at her and kinda motion for her to pull the leash and get the dog. She looks at me SHOCKED and says"ohhh, sorry" Lady- you saw the dog walking directly towards me and stop in front of my foot but because you think your dog is so cute, the expectation is that I'm going to pet it.....WRONG.

I hope this all made sense, I'm at work and am rushing to get this out. if it doesn't i'll try again later.