My tolerance of them based on cuteness evaporated when they keep crapping under my douglas fir, 20 feet from my back door. 1, 3, 6, 10 poops a night. Then we got the tree trimmed--probably the first time in 15-25 years--and the poop since then has vanished, along with their likely nests up there. I still don't care, after I must have cleaned up 15 to 20 pounds of raccoon shit in the past half year. I hope they meet a genocidal death in Yesler Terrace. I want raccoons ten generations from now to speak of Yesler Terrace in tones of hushed terror, and nightmare whispers, telling their children:
Be good or you'll end up under the blue tarp.
I really hate them now. But they're still cute. Argh.
Always scoop raccoon poop when it's fresh, don't let it sit there while you think about it. Fresh, the parasite eggs can't harm you. Once they hatch, if you ingest them, they can wreak havoc in your brain. It's like zombies, but worse (and for reals).
@4: "I wouldn't be surprised if someone is poisoning them. They're a menace and a nuisance. "
No, they're thinking, feeling, emoting creatures born into this world by no fault of their own, trying to make the best of their lives just like you and me.
I came across a raccoon sprawled out on a lawn one night, looking like he was in real bad shape. It didn't make sense that he would just be lying out in the open like that since they're nocturnal and should be looking for food at that hour. So I figured either he had been injured by a dog or a cat, was feeble from hunger, or he had eaten poison.
Whatever the cause, this animal was all alone in the world enduring some kind of agony. And that fucking sucks.
I offered this little guy a few bites of a Lara bar, reasoning that if he was hungry this would do the trick, or if he had eaten poison, the food might help to slow the absorption of the poison, or at least give him something to throw up.
He took it slowly at first, but then seemed to be strengthened and ate most of it. I sat with him for several minutes in the dark as he ate. He seemed to be doing better when I left.
Yeah, raccoons, cute as they look are the biggest vectors of rabies in the US. Also, they are ready and willing to get mean and scratch & bite you at a moments notice. Also, their fur is weird and wiry, not soft like a cute animal's should be.
I'm with Gorath on this one, best to leave them alone. Sure, they are mammals with brains and emotions, but they are living by nature's law, and that law is sometimes harsh. Also: Rabies.
Dude, call Seattle Animal Control to pick up the carcass. They do it for free. Way better than a tarp to get rid of the unpleasantness of decomposition.
Be good or you'll end up under the blue tarp.
I really hate them now. But they're still cute. Argh.
No, they're thinking, feeling, emoting creatures born into this world by no fault of their own, trying to make the best of their lives just like you and me.
I came across a raccoon sprawled out on a lawn one night, looking like he was in real bad shape. It didn't make sense that he would just be lying out in the open like that since they're nocturnal and should be looking for food at that hour. So I figured either he had been injured by a dog or a cat, was feeble from hunger, or he had eaten poison.
Whatever the cause, this animal was all alone in the world enduring some kind of agony. And that fucking sucks.
I offered this little guy a few bites of a Lara bar, reasoning that if he was hungry this would do the trick, or if he had eaten poison, the food might help to slow the absorption of the poison, or at least give him something to throw up.
He took it slowly at first, but then seemed to be strengthened and ate most of it. I sat with him for several minutes in the dark as he ate. He seemed to be doing better when I left.
Fuck you if you poison animals.
If a raccoon is out in the daytime, not afraid of you, it is rabid.
You city folk don't know anything.
I'm with Gorath on this one, best to leave them alone. Sure, they are mammals with brains and emotions, but they are living by nature's law, and that law is sometimes harsh. Also: Rabies.