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Enjoy your stay Thanx for visiting |
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Enjoy your stay Thanx for visiting |
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~ Raccoons ~
I had an interesting experience the other day. I was at one of my favourite local golf courses enjoying a wonderful summer round of golf. I was with a group of friends whom I have been golfing with for a long time. When we finished the 9th hole of our round, we went to the half-way house. This "half-way house" (as it is called among the golf community) is a little utility shed that traditionally serves snacks and juices and all the things you would find in a local variety store, but it caters to the golfers who are looking for refreshments "half-way" through their round. Simple concept. Half-way through the round, go to the half-way house. Makes sense to me. As we approached the half-way house we came across an amazing sight. It caught us all by surprise. It is thee most bizarre thing I have ever seen on a golf course. Here is this big old raccoon just lazing around, minding her own business, rummaging through one of the garbage containers by the half-way house. Number one: it is bizarre to see a raccoon during the daytime: I always thought raccoons were nocturnal by nature. Number two: this raccoon showed no fear whatsoever. He (or she) was quite content just to let the world go by around her as if nothing was wrong. Not a care in the world and no fear that all these humans around the immediate area were going to interfere with the business at hand of finding some left-over food.
As we approached, we all commented on how bizarre this was. I looked at her. I will call the raccoon "her" because I have this instinctive thought that she was a older female looking for some extra nourishment to help feed her young). As I looked at her, she stopped for a moment. She didn't seem alarmed or threatened by my presence. I stayed very very still and just smiled at her. I looked her straight in the eyes and remained calm. I did this instinctively because I was truly amazed and delighted to enjoy the experience and didn't want to frighten her. The raccoon just looked back at me, realized I wasn't a threat, paused for just a minute, and then continued to rummage for food as if nothing had happened. She knew instinctively as well, that I wasn't a threat. She had no visible fear. If she did have any fears, she would have dashed off into the woods nearby. Wild animals show this trait often and have an acute sense of fear, pending danger and entrapment. The don't like it. It is their survival technique and that is the only sense they truly "know". They have no sense of intelligence that would let them know that humans are okay by nature. It is instinctive, pure and simple.
So here I am, thinking about this stupid raccoon who obviously is almost domesticated if she can be so comfortable to be in close contact with humans. I decide to as the girl tending the half-way house, if she knew anything about this raccoon. She commented that the raccoon comes around all the time and a lot of people feed her and watch her. She apparently has developed a daily routine to come to the garbage cans to rummage through the litter for her food. She does it every day and finds wonderful goodies all the time because the half-way house is open virtually everyday during the golf season. Perfect opportunity to get a plentiful supply of food, any time. It is safe, secure, and what the heck, it's all too easy for her. Nobody bothers her....
The girl said that they have been trying to get rid of this raccoon for quite some time. Apparently she has gotten into the shed through the screen door a few times, and has been caught looking and rummaging around the chocolate bars and hot dogs while the shed was left unattended. They have never caught her, but they see her as a friendly nuisance and have decided to just put up with her and defend the "post" as best they can...
I talked to this girl at great length about the "raccoon bandit" and the stories she told me were actually very funny. I found it amazing that a raccoon could be this much of a pest but actually be just a lot of fun. She doesn't intend to harm anybody. All she wants is food. She will do anything to get some food. They are very brave animals as everyone knows, and they have been notorious for rooting through peoples' garbage. You hear the stories everywhere. There isn't one suburban dweller who owns a home, that doesn't have a story to tell about a wayward raccoon who has almost destroyed a garbage can, or created about 1-2 hours work to try and clean up the strewn mess after their little adventures.
They are creatures of habit just like we are. If we leave out the garbage, they will find it. If we keep the garbage in, they won't find it and they will move on. They will move on instinctively to the next house, where they did happen to leave their garbage out the night before. Not your problem, right? You actually find it funny when you wake up in the morning, take out your own garbage and look at your neighbour's lawn. They put their garbage out the night before and the raccoon found it. You see the mess and think of your poor neighbour who now has the task of cleaning up his whole front lawn from a simple oversight on their part. You knew better ! You laugh and shake your head.... Not my problem!
Just a reminder.... raccoons are animals that deserve to be on this planet just as much as you deserve to be on this planet. It is a fact. It is part of life. There is nothing you can do about it. They will torment garbage cans for as long as they will be around. It is their destiny. It is their way of adapting to the environment that they have been put in by Mother Nature. You may not like them because they create work for you. You may adore them because they really are quite a cute little animal. The one thing for sure is that you will have to learn to get along. They aren't going anywhere and neither are you.
So, here is the answer to the whole thing about raccoons. Learn to get along with each other. Enjoy her company because she is one of God's little creatures just like you are. Call it whatever you want. (God, Creator, Mother Nature, Divine Being, whatever). It doesn't matter. You know the animal was put on this world for a reason, so were you. Enjoy the experience. They are a little "pain in the ass" sometimes, but if you just take the time to look at them, you will find that they really are quite a cute and interesting little animal.
Pure and simple....
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- This Storyworx page updated May 10th, 1998 -