Bigfoot

Day 85: Don't tell me Bigfoot doesn't exist. I have evidence. Night before last, he entered my yard, dug a pit in the snow to ground level measuring a good 3 x 4 feet and a foot deep while scrabbling for sunflower seeds beneath the bird feeder. I followed his tracks to the garbage can where he was frustrated by the lid, at which point he left to visit the neighbour's more accessible refuse. That, my dear readers, is one whopping big raccoon. We do grow them big around here, but this is the largest track I have ever seen in my yard. My own hand would leave a mark only an inch or so larger from heel to fingertips.

In Broad Daylight

Day 19: When Tip began racing from window to window, I figured the local stray cat was prowling the yard again. The neighbour feeds her occasionally, but I shoo her away, not willing to jeopardize my own cats' health by encouraging her to hang around. Even though mine are exclusively "indoor cats," there's still a risk of disease transmission. The neighbour doesn't get it; he has an old "outdoor" cat, and all things considered, I'd be willing to bet she's never been vaccinated for anything (my cats' shots are up to date). As my head turned to watch Tip leap onto the windowsill, I saw that we had another sort of visitor. Normally, the raccoons only come around at night. This one was out in broad daylight (well, Pacific-Northwest "broad daylight," i.e., the gloom in between the raindrops). Raccoons are just one of the reasons I decided that my kitties would live indoors. A raccoon can kill a cat easily. I don't like having the stray around, but being torn apart by a raccoon is not a fate I'd wish for her.

Thief In The Night

Day 138: One of the drawbacks to having multiple bird feeders (or any bird feeders at all) is that they tend to draw other types of unwelcome wildlife to the yard. Last year, I relocated well over a dozen squirrels and disposed of two Bushy-Tailed Woodrats, but the largest of the thieves won't fit in my only Havahart trap. Over the years, I've seen several families of raccoons as well as frequent solos. Sometimes one will sit just outside the kitchen's sliding glass door to engage in a hissing/yowling match with Skunk, who takes considerable offense at their presence. Tip just runs back and forth from the door to the living room window, trying to get the best view. Between cats protesting the invaders and Rocky shoving my garbage can and recycling bin around as he tried to figure out a way to get inside, I didn't get much sleep last night. That said, this is the first time I've managed to get a decent picture of one of the varmints, and as I stood there with the kitchen door open just far enough to stick the camera outside, it advanced toward the house until only a few yards away. I slammed the door shut with a bang, but even that only startled the 'coon momentarily. It moved as far as the fence, checked out the ground below the crow board, and then shambled off toward Clyde's house. Raccoons are just one of many reasons my cats are not allowed outdoors. A raccoon can easily kill a full-grown cat.