Uponcoming to the farm , I be intimate animals would be a big part of life history here . Of course , my pudgy indoor qat , Kat , moved in , and with the belongings , we inherited two supposed “ farm cats , ” Jackson and Linny , who do n’t take their job as mouser too seriously . There are also plans in the works for ducks and wimp and potentially other farm creature .
And then there ’s Ralph , our resident raccoon .
Let me preface this post by saying I understand the socially satisfactory relationship between multitude and wild brute , despite my suburban stemma . Mr. B and I are nature lovers and want to kick upstairs a diversity ofwildlifeon our farm to maintain a prosper ecosystem , but we also empathize that sizable boundaries involve to be maintained between us and the creature that cringe our earth . ( No figurativebison selfiesfor us , give thanks you . )
Ralph , on the other hand , does n’t quite take those boundary . And given the fact that we ’ve named him — or her — you know where this is travel .
We met Ralph in an meeting that startled both parties . Mr. B open up the door to our porch , and there was Ralph , a puerile racoon , face first in the cats ’ water stadium , with Jackson and Linny lounging nearby watching . shout and stomping ensued , throwing everyone in a tizzy , though it was n’t quite the dismay Ralph needed to keep his distance .
Every evening , when I have three true cat faces pray me for their dinner , I can sense another set of eye watching me from the distance . And sure enough , when dusk casts its shadow over the farm , our uninvited guest comes to join us for the feasting .
I have to be true : I get hold little raccoon faces unbelievably cute . I also have an unrelenting curiosity for the nature around me . So , maybe I have n’t done my due diligence in putting this critter in its spot . Despite a minor scuffle between Jackson and Ralph that was all attitude and no substance , the racoon has n’t caused any trouble besides the invariant attempts to nibble on the cats ’ leftovers , so from metre to time , I wish to observe this creature ’s behaviors .
Ralph is quite intelligent . He ’s memorise our habit , and I conceive the cats have teach him the ways of the humans who own this place … like if you give them sorry kitty eyes they ’ll cave to anything . ( Not quite dead on target . ) He does n’t wish to ruffle feathers , and he keeps a conservative distance from those prominent than him . The cats seem to be fine with him , which I have sex is n’t a beneficial affair , but I get the mother wit that they reckon him one of their own — like one of their wild cracker cousin .
Nonetheless , we have graduated from acclaim and stamp to trash - banging to run him off our porch because the milder approach was becoming ineffectual . The first time we drop behind out the cookware cymbals , he skitter up a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , sitting on a ramification where he could safely maintain us through our kitchen windowpane . ( I know it ’s a racoon , but I felt queerly creeped out by the opinion . ) We watched each other for a while , a superman of crank and several tree diagram branch between us , but as presently as he noted that the crazy ma’am who make loud noises had lost interestingness , there he was again , back on our porch , nearly olfactory organ - to - olfactory organ with our indoor cat ( thankfully through a screened door ) , who also has become fascinated by the fresh beast that has go making himself at home here .
Now , I gain Ralph ’s demeanour ca n’t go on evermore . Soon this smallish raccoon will grow into an adult and we ’ll have bigger problems on our hand : aggressive behaviour , diseases , nursing home damage , helping himself to our kitchen like a teen boy . ( You never know — they’re geniuses with solid food on the brain ! ) Plus , we ca n’t have him going face - to - face with our futurechickens . If necessary , we may have to take drastic measures to keep him away from our household and brute , but the thought of that breaks my heart , so I trust it does n’t come to that . Please , Ralph , go back to your home in the wild peacefully and willingly .
Have you make do with a raccoon who started getting a little too close for comfort ? What did you do to discourage it ?
