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"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."
- Unknown

"That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."
- Handed down through the ages.

"Life's tough. It's even tougher when you're stupid."
- John Wayne



The Ongoing Raccoon Battle

I've been taking a series of pictures each morning that the raccoon has made "progress" on the sunflower seed can.  It's a lead-up to today's picture, illustrated a full-out win on his/her part.  Mind you, that's a TEMPORARY win!

April 7th:  s/he managed to tip the barrel a bit and almost chewed through a brand new bungee but Chicken Mama won this day!

April 8th:  Next morning, Raccoon 1 / Chicken Mama 0.

April 10th:  Raccoon 0 / Chicken Mama 1.  You can't see it, but I'd added a 2nd bungee . . . which was good since s/he finally managed the chew the original one off (you can see it laying on the deck).

Now, you remember me telling you about the dogs wanting to go out and then bark, bark, barking for the past few nights, right?  Well, Saturday night was another night that I couldn't fall asleep, and I listened to the raccoon basically pick the sunflower seed can up off the ground and then bash it back down about 3 times.  A look-see in the AM revealed that s/he finally got frustrated and pushed the grill away from the railing about 18", too.  But, here's the kicker:  do you think the dogs woke up ONCE during all that noise????  'Course not.

That said, I can't poo-poo my (cough, cough, snicker) "guard dogs" too much because NONE of us woke up last night when THIS happened:

Sigh . . . .  The battle continues.

7 comments:

  1. Do you think a guard llama living on your front deck would work??

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  2. Perhaps! Although, the deck off the kitchen is awfully small. ;)

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  3. You totally have to sit up one night waiting with the seed at the very bottom and then when he goes in, go slap that cover on - but you have to get video of you letting him out LOL! I'm loving the changing header photos and quotes, too!

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  4. I'd love it if you could rig the can so something would jump out and scare the beejeezus out of the raccoon next time it felt like a snack. It would probably be easier just to move the can inside somewhere.

    The friend I'm staying with was telling me how she had a raccoon who not only would come through the cat door onto their screened in porch to eat cat food, but then started teaching her babies how to use the door and do the same!!!

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  5. The little beast will continue now that he knows where the food supply is. Isn't it fun trying to outsmart the "dumb" animals!! :)
    foxylady

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  6. You can borrow Hoosier - he's such a big fatty that he'll probably try to open the can himself. Have you seen this bad boy? He must be on steroids! If you could rig up a flash, that might get his attention. Put it on a tripwire and let it hit him full-on. Yes, my dogs that bark at every falling leaf were completely mute the night a bear climbed over my deck fencing and sniffed around.

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  7. Jen, bringing the can inside would have been TOO easy! :) I was stuck in the battle mode with the raccoon. BUT, sense (and another reminder from Mama Pea) finally prevailed, and the can's been inside for a few days now. (Who says I'm a little slow?!)

    Susan, I did set the trail camera out there and got a good picture of his big butt that I'll get posted one of these days! :)

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