Winter raccoon

Yesterday I noticed that *someone* had opened and spilled the cat food tub in the basement. Tonight I was sitting upstairs when I heard *someone* shuffling and banging around downstairs. I was the only person left awake. I quietly moved to the head of the stairs, then threw on the light and hurried down, in time to see a raccoon hurrying out the cat door. I locked the cat door and for good measure, closed the door to the cellar. That will keep the raccoon in the basement, if it succeeds in pulling the cat door off its hinges, and the cats away from the raccoon. They can use the upstairs litter box for tonight.

I also let one cat in the back door. I guess that she was hovering around, unwilling to use the cat door with a raccoon between her and the stairs.

Raccoon babies

There are advantages to coming home at 02:20 after a night of helping my son to move his stuff out of his apartment and into my front porch. I’ll think of them in a minute. Oh yes—while I was sorting out the last few things from the van, I became aware of some very tiny raccoons going by the back porch. They were so small I’d call them raccoon kittens. They were about the size of a kitten and very blunt-faced and unfinished-looking. They were wandering about, bumping into each other and eating the seeds from maple keys. They had no fear. I got out the camera and they came over to see what I was doing. Eventually Mom showed up with huffing and snorting; she drove them off to shelter under the back porch until I went away.

Tags: raccoons, animals, urban ecology

Raccoon season is here!

I saw a young raccoon exploring uncertainly around the back yard. I know it was young because it had an adolescent lankiness and a short, stubby tail, not yet grown to full length and fluffiness. It looked at me uncertainly from my apple tree, hissed a couple of times and then moved away.

If the young raccoons are moving out and looking for places to live, it’s time to close the cat door at night so they don’t explore the basement. They make a mess and it can take hours to chivvy them out again.

We took this picture of two more young raccoons on Saturday night. They’re up a big maple tree. One of the raccoons ran past us to join its sibling on the trunk.
See “Raccoons on the prowl.”

Tags: raccoons, animals, urban ecology

Raccoons on the prowl

Every year in Toronto there is a new generation of raccoons. The young ones leave home and look for somewhere to live. They have to find a den and food sources, or they will die. The old raccoons have to hold on to their dens and food sources. Twenty-four houses provide just about enough food scraps for one raccoon. Moving a raccoon into another raccoon’s territory means it will likely die. This year has seen a bumper crop of raccoons. For some time there has been a small litter of four raccoons that test our boundaries every night and during the day. They climb into the apple trees and shake down fruit. They try to climb in through the bedroom windows. They sneak in the back door at night if I leave it propped open for a breath of air. They are everywhere. Here’s a picture of the little bandits on the neighbour’s fence.
See “Raccoon season is here.”

Tags: raccoons, animals, urban ecology