raccoons: October 2010 Archives
Many of us pet owners who can't be home for long stretches at a time LOVE our doggie doors.
What a great invention.
The free-swinging plastic flaps allow our dogs and cats to come and go at will, traveling from our fenced yards and into the house without any help from us. When we're at work for long hours, they can be completely (well, almost) self-sufficient without us.
Of course, one of the biggest upsides to all this is no indoor accidents. No muss, no fuss. Ever. We like that part a lot.
The downside?
See above. And then read our cautionary tale below titled The Great Raccoon Visit.
One of our Daily Breeze editors sent me these photos that came from the senior pastor at his church. The pastor and his family were actually home when this intruder decided to come for an uninvited visit.
The peaceful parsonage was soon to be upended.
The pastor was the first one who noticed something amiss. He spotted a dark streak shoot by him.
Whatever that was, it surely was not the family dog, he realized.
He followed to discover what appeared to be a gigantic, unfriendly, drooling and rather-unpleasant raccoon.
Gently commanding such a creature to "Shooo!" and "Go in peace" would be ineffective, for sure.
So the pastor sprang into action and courageously gave chase.
And how did that work out? Predictably, mayhem ensued.
Fortifications were needed. The pastor's wife and daughter bravely joined in the fray, armed, respectively, with a shoe and a broom.
What followed sounded like it was quite the broom-swat-and-swishing, shoe-lobbing Keystone Cop-style chase all through the house, the renegade raccoon cleverly evading capture at each and every turn.
When the critter decided to jump down from one of his perches, a bookcase, he took more than a few things with him:
Animal control was called but the officer arrived after the creature had torn through the house again and finally exited on his own, presumably going back out the way he came -- through the doggie door.
It was one of the biggest raccoons the animal control officer said he'd seen after being shown the picture.
A good reminder, he added, to close those doggie doors up at night.
The damage: rattled nerves, a knocked over lamp and claw marks in their leather couch.
The good news from all this? The pastor had a lively sermon illustration for the week, the theological message of which was not relayed to me in the editor's second-hand, emailed account.
So readers: What's the strangest thing you've seen come through your doggie door? And how did you get it back out again?
About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.