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It was quite a sad day when, this time last year, the back hoes and bulldozers arrived and began preparing the wonderful, thick forest behind my property for more 'suburban sprawl.' They boasted of a gated community, with all kinds of perks and bells and whistles for the 46 future home owners who will gleefully flock to the concrete sub-division that was once a wonderful and serene little patch of woods.
With the falling of the old, magnificent trees and the clearing of the brush, came the loss of residence for scores of creatures. Some are quite friendly, others are not. I now have a resident cardinal, Lamar, who graces my lawn each morning and bickers with the bird he sees in my breakfast room window. And the blue jays are a beautiful sight to behold too, in spite of their dominance of the bird feeder.
But the creatures who are less than endearing, and just absolutely do not have a rightful place at this little cottage, are the frightening, bigger than life raccoons who raided the trash cans each evening.
Tiring of these unwelcome guests who regularly lurked around the corner of the house, I called animal control and a nice man delivered a trap and taught me how to bait it with 'dollar store sardines.' Much to my surprise, every single morning---for 11 days--- I had to call the nice man to came back and retrieve BIG, vicious, fighting, growling raccoons, as well as a possum or two, and deliver them to their new abode outside the city limits. I'm sure I didn't make a dent in the population, but it seems that word must have gotten out in their circles because since that time, the coons have certainly steered clear of this territory.
So, THAT is why Andi has very little freedom and must notify me each time she wants or needs to go outside. And THAT is why I do not and will not have a doggie door. I fear a doggie door would serve a multiple purpose---as a raccoon/possum/whatever else door. I can't even begin to imagine my reaction to coming home and finding Rocky chilling on the sofa, watching Food Network. I would rather be inconvenienced, thank you.
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2 comments:
Now, that's funny!! I know what you mean about raccoons. I hate 'em. At my apartment, they owned the dumpsters, and if you happened to need it for trash purposes, in the evenings, too bad. They would stare you down until you left, trash bags and all. :-)
Oh my word! Raccoons are the worst. We've trapped three in our attic in the 19 years we've been here. Vicious animals.
Don't you just hate it when bulldozers and backhoes start knocking down the serene forest areas? We've had that happen around here so much and it makes me want to cry or get mad or something. When will they stop?
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