A Sound of Spring

He's back. No, not the invading raccoon that kept sneaking in through the cat door. (That guy's been relocated to a new home somewhere along the Blue River...) It's the summer tanager - a shy red bird that I usually only hear, not see.

His song is quite distinctive (he's a warbler) and I heard him for the first time last night. He comes back every spring and spends his summers in one of our oak trees. From a distance, he looks like a cardinal but doesn't have the crest.





Like many in the animal kingdom, the male of the species is the one decked out in color. The female summer tanager is more subdued in her appearance.

It makes me happy to know they're back, to have this little bit of normalcy in the middle of the chaos that seems to be my life right now. Welcome back, you guys!

He's baaa-aack

God dammit.

Rocky's back. Raccoons have a range of 18 miles (I find out only AFTER we'd released him 4 miles away). It's either Rocky...or one of his friends. But it's been a week and a half since we caught him - plenty 'o' time for him to walk the four miles and return to his territory. If that's what happened.

Couldn't sleep this morning, so finally got up about 3:45. Went down to the kitchen to make some coffee, the cats following closely because when I get up they know canned cat food (the good stuff!) is one of the first things on my agenda.

As the three of us rounded the corner into the kitchen, we heard it. The cat door slamming shut. We all tiptoed into the pantry and heard it again - something was trying to get in. The hair on all three of us was standing on end.

I yelled something profound like "get the fuck out of here" and ran to bang on the wall over the cat door. We heard him scuttling down the pantry stairs and he was gone into the darkness.

Shit.

And where was our ace guard dog through all this?

Upstairs asleep. A lotta help she is....

Rocky Update

I Googled 'raccoons' and found out they're solitary creatures (phew - maybe our home invader was traveling solo). They also don't have babies till at least April, so moving him/her miles away didn't leave any raccoon babies motherless (another worry...)

Raccoons are distantly related to bears, as well as dogs and cats. They are omnivorous and nocturnal, a mammal native to North America and Central America. They particularly love marshmallows (!) - one link suggested using marshmallows as bait (we used canned cat food), although they'll eat almost anything.

Compost piles and bird feeders are special attractions (we have both). According to one source, the intelligence and dexterity of a raccoon is such that it can pick an avocado from a tree, aim, and throw it at a barking dog. Door knobs that can be turned -- without locks -- are no obstacle for a raccoon to open. Some raccoons seem to possess enough natural intelligence to follow the action events of what they see portrayed on television.

Dexterity is their middle name: they can open purses, unlocked doors, zippers, and can even remove shoelaces from a pair of shoes.

Raccoons are one of the few native mammals that have not been restricted to increasingly smaller areas of natural habitat by urban development. They've adapted - cut down a forest and they'll move to your chimney, attic, a culvert, or whatever.

Ours has now been moved and, boy, was he glad to get out of that trap.

Who's That Knocking on My Door? Part II

A couple weeks ago, something other than my cats tried to get through the cat door - but backed off when it heard my voice. Scared the crap out of me.

I kinda forgot about it, but then we noticed the giant dog food bag kept winding up on the floor of the pantry/laundry room/mudroom. A corner of the bag had been chewed open. There was also a lot more mud than usual tracked around in the mudroom as well.

Cue all those 'funniest home videos' showing critters coming stealthily through a cat door at night.

We knew we had a home invader, but weren't sure what.

We started closing the pantry door at night to keep the dog and cats out of the pantry and whatever was invading in. Mr. D baited a live trap we have (you acquire those kinds of things living in the woods), put it in the pantry and waited. Three nights passed unsuccessfully. (Unsuccessful for us - but we could tell our home invader was still invading.)

So, last night, we tried a new tack. We plugged the cat door and put the trap (with a tantalizing heap of canned cat food) on the porch just outside the pantry door, next to the cat door.


This morning - success! Rocky Raccoon is inside the trap and will soon be transported to some woods far away from ours. I kinda feel sorry for the little guy, but not sorry enough to keep letting him inside to feast on whatever he can find.

I hope he doesn't have any friends. Do raccoons travel in packs?

And I'm rethinking the cat door......