Buster and the raccoon

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Mark Edwards - 14 Jul 2007 14:44 GMT

This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to feed
the ferals.

As usually happens, raccoons drop by and eat some of the food while the
ferals wisely sit back and wait.

Buster sat up straight as a largish racoon jumped up on the a/c. This had
never happened before, so I kept a close eye out. The raccoon put its paw
up to the screen where Buster sat, and Buster headbutted the window where
the paw was.

Buster meowed something and the raccoon said something then jumped down
and ate, before waddling off.

It had all the earmarks of a couple of old friends saying "How ya' doin',
old buddy?". I really have to wonder about the animals out here.

Hugs and Purrs,
Mark

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Pat - 14 Jul 2007 15:03 GMT

| This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to feed
| the ferals.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
| It had all the earmarks of a couple of old friends saying "How ya' doin',
| old buddy?". I really have to wonder about the animals out here.

That's amazing. I love raccoons, but I thought they didn't like cats.

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Ted Davis - 14 Jul 2007 15:29 GMT

>| It had all the earmarks of a couple of old friends saying "How ya' doin',
>| old buddy?". I really have to wonder about the animals out here.
>
>That's amazing. I love raccoons, but I thought they didn't like cats.

They seem to get along well around here. A few Sundays ago I forgot
to close the mud room door until late, and there was a coon eating out
of the cats' bowl, with several of my cats just sitting and standing
nearby, just as they do when a dominant cat is feeding. I sometimes
see coons outside foraging in the yard with cats nearby. Same thing
for possums, but the cats seem less friendly. Of course, *everybody*,
except maybe the possums, scatters when the skunks arrive.

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Pat - 14 Jul 2007 17:46 GMT

| <patricia251.catlitter@centurytel.net> wrote:
|
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
| for possums, but the cats seem less friendly. Of course, *everybody*,
| except maybe the possums, scatters when the skunks arrive.

Mine have always been upset in the presence of raccoons. They ignore possums
and seem to enjoy skunks!

I'll never forget one time when I was out in the middle of nowhere camping
with three (now RB) kitties. We were all sleeping in the bed in the back of
the van with the side and back doors open (due to extreme heat). At one
point I woke up because someone was treading on my feet and there was an odd
smell. I sat up and flipped on the dome light. A large possum was grinning
at me.

The cats were awake and looking at the possum, but none of them moved. I
grabbed a stick that I always kept handy in the van for defense, and tried
to push the possum out the back door. It was a stubborn possum - I really
had to get after it to make it leave us alone, but the three cats just laid
there while I pushed and pushed at the critter.

Whenever raccoons came around, the cats went after them like little demons!

At the farm we always had skunk families around, even coming into the house
at night. They got along famously with the cats. It was always a joy to me
to see my little black-and-white furry neighbors, too.

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Ted Davis - 15 Jul 2007 02:52 GMT

>It was always a joy to me
>to see my little black-and-white furry neighbors, too.

They *are* cute, but something sets one off entirely too often around
here - I'm not afraid of them, but I am definitely wary: I make a
point of not disturbing them, and am glad that the cats don't bother
them either (but then, cats are smarter than dogs that way).

I think the two that were here may be siblings from the family (mother
and two young) I was in the back yard several months ago. Curiously,
one of them appears to have some brown color on the underside (top
when curled over the body) of his/her tail.

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Takayuki - 15 Jul 2007 07:54 GMT

>I'll never forget one time when I was out in the middle of nowhere camping
>with three (now RB) kitties. We were all sleeping in the bed in the back of
>the van with the side and back doors open (due to extreme heat). At one
>point I woke up because someone was treading on my feet and there was an odd
>smell. I sat up and flipped on the dome light. A large possum was grinning
>at me.

It was probably a cat in its previous life. It must have been quite
naughty to have been reincarnated as a possum. :)

>At the farm we always had skunk families around, even coming into the house
>at night. They got along famously with the cats. It was always a joy to me
>to see my little black-and-white furry neighbors, too.

I was so sad about the friendly skunk you had at the farm that went to
RB.

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Will in New Haven - 14 Jul 2007 19:59 GMT

> This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to feed
> the ferals.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> up to the screen where Buster sat, and Buster headbutted the window where
> the paw was.

He was asking the funny little man for skritchin.

> Buster meowed something and the raccoon said something then jumped down
> and ate, before waddling off.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Almost all the cat/raccoon contact I ever heard of have been peaceful
but distant. I have heard of a couple of cases where a particular
raccoon and a particular cat got friendly. There was also the time my
friend Bruce's litte tomcat Sam chased a big raccoon away from the
catfood. But the raccoon came back and ate before the other cats, but
after Sam.

There are still tons of raccoons near Bruce's place but he has an
Airedale now, so they don't come up to the house.

There was reported on this ng a series of bad raccoon attacks on cats
in Washington state, I believe, but that is the only such case of
which I have heard.

Will in New Haven

--

"In one of the great tragedies of publishing, it was not a limited
enough edition and so I have read it." - James Nicoll

> Proof of Sanity Forged Upon Request

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Joy - 14 Jul 2007 23:44 GMT

>> This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to feed
>> the ferals.
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> "In one of the great tragedies of publishing, it was not a limited
> enough edition and so I have read it." - James Nicoll

This thread just goes to prove that cats are like people - you can't make
blanket statements about them and how they will react to a situation or
animal. I don't think we have any raccoons around here, but we do have
possums occasionally. In fact, one of them have come in through the cat
flap a couple of times. On both those occasions, the possum and the cats
seemed mildly interested in what the other would do, but showed no signs of
fear or antagonism. A couple of months after these incidents, I was in the
kitchen when Lindy wanted to go out, so I opened the door for her (which she
always insists on if I'm out there). The door opens into the garage, and
the washer is right next to the door. Lindy stepped out, glanced behind the
washer, and froze. She held her position long enough for me to get a
flashlight so I could see what she was looking at. There were two possums
behind the washer. They appeared to be frozen into position, too. One was
on top of the other, so it was probably a rather large baby. I decided
there wasn't any problem, so I closed the door.

Joy

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Will in New Haven - 15 Jul 2007 00:11 GMT

> >> This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to feed
> >> the ferals.
[quoted text clipped - 54 lines]
> on top of the other, so it was probably a rather large baby. I decided
> there wasn't any problem, so I closed the door.

No problem? You was shinin that light in there while we was sleeping.

The Possums.

--

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Joy - 15 Jul 2007 00:45 GMT

>> >> This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to
>> >> feed
[quoted text clipped - 71 lines]
>
> The Possums.

LOL!

Joy

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jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt@sonic.net - 14 Jul 2007 21:09 GMT

> Buster sat up straight as a largish racoon jumped up on the a/c. This had
> never happened before, so I kept a close eye out. The raccoon put its paw
> up to the screen where Buster sat, and Buster headbutted the window where
> the paw was.

AWWWWW!

Joyce

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polonca12000 - 15 Jul 2007 17:14 GMT

> This morning, Buster was at the window, looking out. I went out to feed
> the ferals.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> Hugs and Purrs,
> Mark

Great story!
Best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

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