The View from Here | Chickens in the Road

Jun
27

Deer in the meadow bottom.

I can’t drive down the road here to my little farmhouse in the boonies without seeing all kinds of wildlife– chipmunks, squirrels, turtles, bunnies, birds, groundhogs, and deer, lots of deer. Usually, right in front of my car, leaping out of the woods suddenly and scaring the crap out of me. They run away just as I reach for my camera.

I love the wildlife, except for this one raccoon. I thought he was so cute at first. I had no idea raccoons were so pretty till I saw this one up close, on the porch. Gorgeous! So I thought then. And HUGE! I didn’t know raccoons were so big. Now I’m thinking he’s some kind of mutant raccoon with anger management issues. I’m starting to hate this raccoon. He broke the lid off my dogfood container, and every night he takes down my bird feeders, dumps them, and pigs out.

But just eating my food isn’t enough, apparently.

You can see in this picture where he took down the squirrel feeder and devoured the corn. Then he took down the suet feeder. And after he got done consuming every last scrap of my suet, he stomped on the suet feeder in his rage that there was no more. STOMPED ON IT. Ruined it.

In an attempt to run him off, I’m going to have to stop putting out suet and bird seed for awhile. (Spice will NOT be a happy camper when I shut down her kitty amusement park.) If you never hear from me again, it’s because the Angry Raccoon broke into my house and is holding me hostage. Send suet.

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10 Responses
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6-27
7:19
am

Raccoons can be aggressive! I’m not a fan of wild critters, myself. But this morning as we were dropping my daughter off at daycare, my son and I saw a wild turkey and about 8 deer. You’d expect it in a wooded, secluded area, but this was on an Air Force Base! Crazy stuff.

Michelle Willingham -
6-27
10:59
am

We have the same problem! And it even worse when the bear joins in.

Susan -
6-27
11:35
am

Raccoons can be aggressive – it’s a surprise since they’re so cute. :eek: Good idea to stop the suet and bird seed for awhile.

The deer sure are pretty – you’ve gotta love nature. :treehugger:

Ellen -
6-27
1:22
pm

I bring my feeders in every night and put them out in the morning — I think the birds can tell time. They stop coming to the tree at about eight, and show up again around five a.m. If I’m late in the morning, I usually have a pile of them waiting and getting very cranky.

But my backyard bear is a hungry fellow, so no food out at night or even in the very early morning before the sun is up — I put it out at four a.m. once in May, and he got them. Well, half, since the dog barking scared him off.

Oh the joys!

Marianne -
6-27
2:36
pm

I haven’t been up close and personal to a raccoon and am now glad I haven’t. However, I feed the stray kitties in the neighborhood. Imagine my surprise one night last summer when I opened the front door to fill the kitty food up before bed and there, eating cat food, was a opossum. All summer we watched him grow from cat size to dog size, funniest thing though, he was terrified of us and would hide under the table if her heard us. I hope he comes back this year. Best of luck figuring out how to tell Mr. Raccoon to bug off.

Brandy -
6-27
2:59
pm

We have a raccoon comming in about every night for the past week eating up all of the catfood. I also think he or she was probably the culprit who got into the trash ben monday night. Boy that was a mess. Yea where we live we have 4 deer who come in the field every evening to eat. We put a feeder up last year to be able to enjoy them, and I figure they enjoy it just as much. :thumbsup: Hope we get some rain soon or else we will be up a dry creek without a paddle.

LeAnne :purr:

leanne -
6-27
9:13
pm

Raccoons can get big and aggressive. I used to dodge one on the way to work every night. Whenever we ran into each other he expected ME to give way, and you can bet I did!

Alice

Alice Audrey -
6-27
9:20
pm

UGH! Raccoons look so nice but are so destructive. HUGS!

mary beth -
6-27
11:03
pm

Since I have ferals/strays outside to feed they always eat the food. I used to try chasing them away but they would only come back so now i\I just feed them and the possums and whatever else comes around. Actually they get along with the cats – who just stand back and let them eat because they know I’ll fill it back up for them lol. I used to keep bird food out there but bring it in because they can get into anything. My feeder is up under my porch just far enough that the squirrels can no longer reach it or the other wildlife. If I have any “old” food that helps supplement all the cat food that I’m supplying lol. I do hate that they muddy up their water dishes though lol.

catslady -
6-28
9:02
am

I grew up in the middle of nowhere… or that’s what my hubby calls it Racoons ARE cute, I still think so, BUT they are major trouble! And hard to ever get rid of. Have fun!

Cole

Nicole Reising -