ANIMAL PLANET

We had our own personal Animal Planet show this morning. On Tuesdays we get a small delivery of bread and sweets from the Food bank and a larger delivery of commodities. That means there were a larger number of people in the commons room having coffee and shooting the breeze – of which there was a strong one today.

Our retired doctor next door is finally cleaning up his yard a piece at a time. The lost was covered and there is a pile (lots) of blackberry bushes. They were so over grown one could not reach them all. But he has been whacking them down one weekend at a time. All but the edges near fences on either side of have been cleared. Their removal revealed a horde of sins. We can now see at least three trailers, an old tractor front loader, a couple piles of rotting wood and the run down shed/house at the back of the property.

When the lot was covered it was home to a large number of critters. We all have wondered where or if the animals have moved and if they have, where did they go. There were feral cats, squirrels, mice, an opossum or two and raccoons. This morning the raccoons put on a show for those of us gathered. It takes very little to entertain us.

At first we could see through the strip of remaining blackberry bushes the mother and two kits. When she took off to the other side of the lot we saw three little ones followings. A few minutes later she returned to our side of the lot and there were four kits. They wandered in the vines briefly before coming right along side the fence looking for a way through the fence. Right outside our window mom stopped, turned, stood on her hind legs and starred back at us. It was hard to know who was watching whom? One of us was saying “feed me.” Two of the children joined mom and we felt like we were in the zoo. After all, they were outside.

There was a clearly worn trail through the berry patch leading to an opening under the fence. The removal of so many bushes most likely made the trail hard to find. They found a space that was too small. Then mother climbed up and over the fence. Three little ones followed suit. There was some nervousness, but they made it. Number four was much more cautious. It (don’t know if it was a he or she) started up the fence a couple of times before getting to the top. Once to the top, “it” didn’t seem to know what to do. “It” tried to balance on the top, but was struggling. “It’ then considered going back the way it came, but the rest of the gang was outside the fence. Hesitantly “it came down on the outside only to discover the others had found the space under the fence and returned to the lot. “It” did catch up and joined the family bouncing around and finally finding a hill to return to the outside. They wandered west of us and we lost them (or they left us – one or the other).

One summer at our home in Canada, some very stupid parents rented the house adjoining our property to the back. Four high school boys shared the house for a summer of parties and mayhem. They had a pet raccoon, if one can have a pet raccoon. The animal could jump out of a bedroom window onto another’s garage roof, climb down some vines and wander wherever it wanted. It seemed to enjoy wandering in our yard. I know it checked out the entire neighborhood, but went though my place first. Since they fed that animal it always returned to them.

The police were at their place often. On one occasion there was an afternoon raid and the boys reached out the bedroom window and deposited drugs in the garage eves. The raccoon was on the garage roof watching the action. It sat and stared at the activity. Soon the police were in the window and they spotted the raccoon, but missed the drugs. Apparently it was against the law to have an unlicensed raccoon as a pet. The little overgrown bandit rat was hauled away.

The boys moved out at the end of August to return to school. Yeah! Early fall some friends helped me tear down my backyard leaning garage. There was about 16-18 inches between my collapsing garage and the other neighbor’s fence. When the garage came down, the marijuana was obvious. That sure explained why the boys were either in my yard near the garage or hanging out behind my garage. It is very hard to get rid of Marijuana without anyone knowing you have it.