When DH was leaving the house to meet a friend for lunch, he came back inside and asked me to come outside. I did and there sitting on the driveway across the street at 11 am in the morning was a big fat (handsome) raccoon. DH says "Isn't that a bit strange... him being out there laying in the sun in the front of the house with cars and people passing?" I agreed it was odd... and that he was probably sick or had been hit by a car (although he didn't look injured).
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So I watched him for a while after DH left. He didn't leave, just lay there and occasionally sat up. Finally I called Animal Control and told them what was going on. They said that there was a lot of distemper going around... and most probably he was sick. But they would send someone around to check.
After about 20 minutes, AC showed up and I pointed to where he was still laying. The man took out his pole and rope and went over. But his approach startled the raccoon, and he immediately got up and started away. The man chased him around for a bit, and finally gave up - telling me he ran up a tree - which he probably did. I had gone inside (admittedly after laughing a bit watching him running around and thinking, he's never going to catch him. Apparently the animal wasn't that sick.)
OK... now the venting part: While the AC man was a few houses down chasing the raccoon, I saw an SUV stop and call him over. He walked over and apparently he and the woman driver talked... for a bit. Later when he returned to his truck, I went outside again and said that I guess the animal wasn't that sick as he seemed to give him a run for his money. We both laughed.
Then he told me that the woman who stopped to talk was complaining to him about my cat. I looked at him and said, "I have a cat?" (meaning an outside cat - Ghost has never gone outside) . But before I could say anything more, he said, "You must feed the feral cats...?" And I said, "Oh yes, we do feed the ferals..." and he said that's what she was complaining about. He told her that AC had been working with us for years. Not sure how he meant that to sound... but truth be told, we do bring them feral kittens when we find them, have had ferals neutered and spayed, belong to Feral Friends, etc.
Anyway, after he left, I told DH that our 'poodle friend' from down the block was complaining about us. She lives about 4 houses down and owns a big standard black poodle which she walks on one of those adjustable leashes and allows him to run all the way up to our front porch (even walks around our car in the driveway on the side) to let him chase the ferals who sometimes sleep under the car or on the porch.
Both DH and I have asked her not to do this on our property. We would like our area to be considered a safe place for all critters. Her response was that her dog wouldn't hurt them... and I said that maybe not, but scaring them was mean and we'd appreciate it if she wouldn't allow it. Guess she didn't like that.
Anyway, I'm venting because it irks me that someone wants to tell me that I can't feed or protect the wildlife. I know the pros and cons and have lived here in this house for 35 years. Our kids and grandkids have watched generations of wildlife come and go. We have done the 'catch and release' programs and what it boils down to is that if something is hungry, we're going to feed it. And if you like for your dog to chase ferals, then do it on your own property. That's my philosophy - take it or leave it.
What do you think?
Here's a picture of one of the feral cats sleeping up on the fence. He's a sweet one, only about a year old, but a big cat. He's one that would make someone a good pet. However, he's wary enough not to get too close...
Well, that's my story. Thanks for visiting. Comment if you'd like. I acknowledge and appreciate different opinions... as long as no one gets ugly.
Hugs,
Rian
This post should stop here. I think it's going to pull up a lot of white space and I don't know why... if you do, please tell me how to eliminate it. The white space shows up when I do a preview, but not on my actual posting ???
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I saw a lot of white space. Never encountered that before.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your live and let live philosophy. I know my dear husband was in favor of feeding all the critters and wouldn't even kill a spider -- just scoop it up and take it outside. Or sometimes when I was complaining about a spider on the bedroom ceiling he would caution me just to be sure to keep my mouth closed. I guess I draw the line at leaving food for those like bears, egrets and sandhill cranes who will break into your house if you feed them, even unintentionally, but that's a whole different issue. Your neighbor should stay out of your yard. I am sure there are other places she could walk the dog.
Olga, I will do that with a tiny spider or a gecko, but call DH to handle larger spiders or roaches. And I agree that there is a line to be drawn when it comes to bears, etc.
DeleteThere's always some nasty neighbour somewhere who complains isn't there. I've had them here and one complained to the council about me feeding the birds, I got a letter from them but fortunately they were on my side. I know some people don't like the foxes so I keep fairly quiet about feeding them. I also feed a couple of large seagulls who come each day and I know people do not like them either. What is wrong with all these people, best keep away from them all I think.
ReplyDeleteLuckily we do not get many feral cats here or I would be out of pocket, lol. I costs enough feeding our 5 cats, the seagulls and the foxes.
Briony
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I definitely agree, Briony... best to keep a low profile, and do what your heart tells you to do. I too love seagulls! Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) we don't have any around here. And yes, I sometimes ask DH how come we still spend so much on catfood... and we now only have one cat.
DeleteYour way of living with feral critters is far more comfortable for me that hers. She sounds like a busybody to me. And that IS a lot of white space! I am glad you mentioned it or I wouldn't have come all the way down here to comment! :-)
ReplyDeleteI know, DJan. I figured people would give up and not comment... but I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it.
DeleteLOTS of white space. I can see where some might give up making it to the comments section. Have no idea how to stop it though. That raccoon could have been rabid for that really was unusual behavior. Perhaps he was someone's pet that got loose and has no real fear of humans. I use to feed feral cats that had been dumped by Lake Okeechobee in Fl. There had to be about 30 of them. I got some tourists involved and they did the capture/neuter thing. It was 40 miles from my home so I wasn't that involved.
ReplyDeleteThe Animal Control said there was a lot of distemper going around... but raccoons can sometimes be very unafraid especially living around people. Maybe he wasn't sick? I hope not.
DeleteDefinitely lots of white space, not sure why or how to rid yourself of it.
ReplyDeleteYour neighbour sounds like a piece of work! That she feels her dog can trespass on your property and frighten the animals is just wrong. I suspect if you took photos of this happening, you may be able to complain about her as well...but I'm not sure that is a good idea either.
I've thought of that myself, but decided against it. I don't want to make her an enemy... just want her to respect our wishes and property.
DeleteThe white space is weird, never seen that sort of thing before (to that degree). If you look at the html code (there's a tab to view the code), can you see a slew of paragraph characters at the end? Sometimes I have to go into the code and delete a few, then save and preview, before I publish my post. I've noticed that just backspacing in the editor doesn't always clear extra space. Or it could be a slew of div codes, if not the p ones.
ReplyDeleteYour neighbour should get a life and stop interfering with others who choose to be kind. Crafty Cat Corner is right: there's always someone nasty around. It's a sad way to live, she can't truly be content with herself and with her life, IMO.
As for the raccoon...! That was funny! I'm glad he was okay, though. Obviously not concerned about humans. They're pretty bold, urban raccoons.
Kim, where is this "tag to view the code"?
DeleteYou could be right... him being an 'urban raccoon' and unafraid. I hope that was it and he wasn't sick. AC gave him a good scare though... don't think he'll hang around the front again soon.
If I type my post in Word, then copy and paste, I have to look out for the white space that I get for dropping the cursor too far past the typing. I can fix it by going into Blogger edit and deleting the extra space before "Comments".
ReplyDeleteYour neighbor is trespassing, and if you weren't so darn nice, you'd give her a cease and desist order. You are doing far more to care for those cats than she and her damn dog and their "fun".
I hope that was nice enough.
Joanne, I think you're right about dropping the cursor too far past the typing... but I tried to go into posts edit... and it won't let me delete the extra space?
DeleteAnd I agree with you about this neighbor, but there are always people who don't like the ferals... and although there are others in the neighborhood who also care for them, it's probably best to keep a low profile. In the big picture these days, I'm not sure kindness wins.
I can't see your page source to verify the problem, but it seems thete is a lot of br/ brackets after your post...open your post, go to your comment link and click there...hit backspace until yo come to the end of your text.
ReplyDeleteOR you do the reverse: at the last word of your text, hit delete until the white space is no longer.
I hope your neighbor gets over it. Maybe feed them where she can't see you feeding them. She's one that seems there's a right way, a wrong way, and HER way!