The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: franksolich on October 09, 2009, 07:19:09 AM
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Last night, I returned home after watching the Nebraska-Missouri football game with the neighbors, and went to bed.
About the middle of the night, one of the cats, Ellie, let me know she wanted outdoors. I obligingly got up and went to the front door.
There were three enormous raccoons on the front porch.
Just really big raccoons, the size of well-fed dogs.
These were the first raccoons I've ever seen here, although I imagine they're around; as with much of wildlife, because I can't hear, there's no audible noise to attract my attention to seeing them. I probably don't see 99% of the wildlife around here.
Anyway.
All the cats that were then indoors dashed out the front door.
These were really big raccoons, sleek, well-fed, and fat.
Is this a sign of a rough winter to come?
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No.....just means they have a good food supply.
We have them too....but we feed them.
We had to get rid of our garbage container....one of those big suckers from the trash company.....the raccoons had figured out how to open it! They would pull it out and make a mess.
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I watched part of that game, Frank, but didn't make the whole thing. It has been a very long week and my bed was calling.
No school today (it's what they call an ISS day...you can send your kid for a couple hours if you want, extra instruction if they need help with anything). I've got to run over there and seei f they have the work my daughter missed by being home all week.
Have compnay arriving tonight...just one person, though, so hoping it won't be bad.
Today will be spent washing bed linens and disenfecting. We did a partial run through of that on Tuesday, but need to do it again.
Daughter is better, 9 yr old, unfortunately, is not. He didn't have flu on Tues when he went to the Dr, but I think he might have it now. Fever was down and he was feeling fine Thursday, uintil about 4, then wham, it came back. Got it down to 99 with meds.
Still hoping he can play in his game tomorrow, but even if he can't play he wants to go so he can cheer them on.
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Frank, my advice?? Dispatch those coons with extreme prejudice. They will eat up all of the cat food that you place outside. They will NOT go away. Once the coons start frequenting a place, they become nuisances and will start to destroy things. I've had to do that here, one of them early this summer and another last fall(?). They carry diseases such as rabies and other nasty stuff. Then, they tend to poop all over the place. I've been nearly pooped on by them. (they go up into a tree or other high area to poop, usually)
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Frank, my advice?? Dispatch those coons with extreme prejudice. They will eat up all of the cat food that you place outside. They will NOT go away. Once the coons start frequenting a place, they become nuisances and will start to destroy things. I've had to do that here, one of them early this summer and another last fall(?). They carry diseases such as rabies and other nasty stuff. Then, they tend to poop all over the place. I've been nearly pooped on by them. (they go up into a tree or other high area to poop, usually)
I don't leave anything edible outdoors, Thor.
Just a pan of water, nothing else.
It's my way of keeping track of the cats; they have to come indoors to eat.
I'm assuming they came up here from the river, which is close.
I was surprised how they acted. When I stood at the door, they all three bunched up, as if I was going to open the door for them.
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If those coons didn't scurry away, there's something wrong. I'd be very wary about them under those circumstances. The ones we had here would scurry away whenever we were outside, only to come back when they seemed to think we weren't a threat. I was able to chase off most of them, but each season, there was one that just wouldn't go away. I started out with minimal force, escalating force over time. It eventually led to one of the critter's demise each season. Since then, no coons have come back to raid the cat food we place outside for the kitties.
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If they don't find any food, they'll probably move on.
BTW- Happy Dead Che Day!
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Man, Thor, sir, with wildlife around, wouldn't you go broke leaving food out for the cats?
I imagine raccoons, oppossums, and others could make quick work of an 18 pound bag of Friskie's dry cat food, which is why I put food only indoors here.
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BTW- Happy Dead Che Day!
Is today the anniversary when that old terrorist got his due, in 1967 or something?
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Is today the anniversary when that old terrorist got his due, in 1967 or something?
Uh huh.
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When I was stationed Ballston Spa in NY, for nuke training, I lived in a rented trailer in a heavily wooded area. I thought we had a coon problem getting into the garbage can. One night, I heard the metal lid fall and crash to the decking. I went and jerked the door open and hit light switch. It wasn't a coon. It was a skunk. It took over two weeks for the smell to dissipate . :censored:
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One night, I heard the metal lid fall and crash to the decking. I went and jerked the door open and hit light switch. It wasn't a coon. It was a skunk.
See, thundley4, sir, that's the deal.
I'm in no position to hear anything, and so maybe raccoons have found this a hospitable area for a long time now, and I didn't know it. I do after all live by a river, and many woods.
I always just naturally assumed wildlife was around even if I wasn't noticing it, and hence take care to not put anything out that attracts it.
Once Ellie, the smallest of the cats, dashed outdoors, she started working on the raccoons, and then of course all the other cats indoors rushed out too.
Cats are great at pest control.
But I was just surprised that the three raccoons bunched up to the front door, as if they expected I would open it, and let them inside, as if I myself wasn't a threat to them.
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See, thundley4, sir, that's the deal.
I'm in no position to hear anything, and so maybe raccoons have found this a hospitable area for a long time now, and I didn't know it. I do after all live by a river, and many woods.
I always just naturally assumed wildlife was around even if I wasn't noticing it, and hence take care to not put anything out that attracts it.
Once Ellie, the smallest of the cats, dashed outdoors, she started working on the raccoons, and then of course all the other cats indoors rushed out too.
Cats are great at pest control.
But I was just surprised that the three raccoons bunched up to the front door, as if they expected I would open it, and let them inside, as if I myself wasn't a threat to them.
Make sure your cats are UTD with rabies vaccine. While there haven't been any raccoon-to-human cases in a long long time, they often transfer it to pets. Your raccoons sound healthy, tho. Oh, and they do come out during the day, just not as much usually when food is scarce.
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If you get really worried about them, perhaps you could put a motion sensing light outside? Then you would know when you are being surrounded.
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Frank, no, we only buy a bag of cat food every couple of weeks. Between the cats and a stray psychopathic dog that's adopted us, it works out OK. We go to Sam's Club and buy the Member's Mark cat food. All of the animals seem to like it. We haven't noticed any extra animals going after the cat food as we have in the past. Coons and possums have gone away now. We do get some stray cats that we don't care to have around. I've dispatched a couple of them to date. Don't get me wrong, I like animals, even coons and possums. I just won't tolerate them being around the outside cats and the dog due to their nuisances and potential diseases.
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We do get some stray cats that we don't care to have around. I've dispatched a couple of them to date. Don't get me wrong, I like animals, even coons and possums. I just won't tolerate them being around the outside cats and the dog due to their nuisances and potential diseases.
Actually, there's nothing wrong with that.
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I'm in no position to hear anything, and so maybe raccoons have found this a hospitable area for a long time now, and I didn't know it. I do after all live by a river, and many woods.
Oh, yeah. Rivers are the "interstates" of animal movement.
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There used to be a restaurant in Key West called Martha's. Fabulous food across the road from the water, they had a big parking lot in the back and a kind of wild area to the side and they were near the airport, so there was also a rather large protected area.
When you'd go out to your car after dark.....there were cats and raccoons everywhere. Over the years....some of the cats and raccoons started looking a little strange. Cats without tails, raccoons with tails....funky striping...we think the cats and raccoons started a bit of specie intermingling. :o
No more Martha's.....they didn't reopen after Wilma. They were supposed to stay open for another winter, the owners had sold the land for a flippin' fortune!...but Wilma did enough damage that they didn't bother to reopen. It was a beautiful restaurant.... :(
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Friday! Yay!
(http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5403/100909weather.jpg)
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We're up to 77, Chris and it's supposed to get to 84....but the sun's just come out.
We're gonna get hammered when that storm finally gets here if the sun warms us up a bunch... :badmood:
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If you get really worried about them, perhaps you could put a motion sensing light outside? Then you would know when you are being surrounded.
We have an outside light like that, but it only stays on for a few minutes at a time.
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Rain finally moved out of here. It rained all last night nearly non-stop.
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I have to wear rubber boots when I'm walking on the lawn. Saturation ain't the word. Pond is more like it. :p
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I feel better knowing I'm not the only one getting rained on. It should be in and out of here by the time I get off from work... I get to look forward to a sunny Saturday.
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It rained all night and morning here. A few highways were shut down for a bit because they were flooded. Temp will drop 40 degrees in the next 24 hours. 87 yesterday, and tonight we will dip into the 40s. Good news is that rain has moved east, and will be out of here by noon, leaving us with a nice cool crisp weekend. Sorry in advance to all peeps east of me for blowing it your way.
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When I was stationed Ballston Spa in NY, for nuke training, I lived in a rented trailer in a heavily wooded area. I thought we had a coon problem getting into the garbage can. One night, I heard the metal lid fall and crash to the decking. I went and jerked the door open and hit light switch. It wasn't a coon. It was a skunk. It took over two weeks for the smell to dissipate . :censored:
That's why I went to Idaho for prototype. Oh, who am I kidding? The skunks were just as bad there, too.
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Also have Monday off, and am trying to figure out if I'm going to 1--get paid, 2--take another day off instead, 3--both. Gonna have to call HR because that's my "normal" day off for the outage.
Kinda dreary and overcast. 10-day forecast says we're not cracking 60 anytime soon. Hard freeze midweek.
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It rained all night and morning here. A few highways were shut down for a bit because they were flooded. Temp will drop 40 degrees in the next 24 hours. 87 yesterday, and tonight we will dip into the 40s. Good news is that rain has moved east, and will be out of here by noon, leaving us with a nice cool crisp weekend. Sorry in advance to all peeps east of me for blowing it your way.
Were you a Native Texan, I'd accuse you of being full of hot air as far as blowing the storm their way. :stirpot: It sure is chilly out there right now as compared to yesterday. :brrr:
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Were you a Native Texan, I'd accuse you of being full of hot air as far as blowing the storm their way. :stirpot: It sure is chilly out there right now as compared to yesterday. :brrr:
Aw man, I can't catch a break with ya! :bow:
You know what they say....."I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" I have been here for 30 years... 3/4 of my life. Doesn't that count for something??? :texas:
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Temp's up to 79, there are high wind warnings for the lakes and the mountains...but so far that's it...it's sunny.
Chris and Lug....are you guys getting hammered? Saw earlier that you were under a tornado watch.
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Its hit and miss right now. It will probably start raining again soon.
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Its hit and miss right now. It will probably start raining again soon.
Did you get storms and/or high winds? The ground is so wet and we are surrounded by trees... :(
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Not sure about the wind. Looks like its started raining again and probably won't stop until I get home. I was hoping to have a dry drive home. These people can not drive in the rain.
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We got hammered....it sounded horrible on a tin roof
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The bad stuff kind of just skipped over our neighborhood! it was weird. :o
We're just getting lots of rain now....
note to self: go to Lowe's and buy wood for Ark...
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We have an outside light like that, but it only stays on for a few minutes at a time.
My motion detecting light comes on when I'm watching Cinemax.