I know just about everyone in the United States knows what a raccoon is, but have you ever heard one?
That's what an upset baby sounds like. Quite an interesting noise, in my opinion. These animals are known to actually produce a wide variety of sounds. This is usually various sort of chattering sounds, but they can also purr and squeal, among other things. Just remember, though these critters can look cute, never mess with one because they are known to commonly carry rabies. And don't think they won't bite you, because they can and it's likely that they will if cornered.
I'll never forget the most interesting array of noises I heard that day when my high school bf and I were scrambling to extract five baby raccoons from my chimney. One adult had fallen down the week prior, and not knowing what to do, I called animal control. An officer came and dragged the angry, shrieking thing out and said county policy was to destroy any raccoon captured in the daytime due to rabies concerns.
ReplyDeleteSo when we got raccoons in the chimney again such a short time afterwards, my boyfriend and I decided to get the raccoons out ourselves, before my dad could return home and call animal control himself, in an attempt to save them from certain death. Rabies schmabies, we thought.
We had no idea they were babies, nor did we realize there were FIVE. It was nuts. We kept pulling one after the other out of the chimney with our makeshift catch pole... The last one was *just* deposited into the backyard when my dad pulled up in the driveway. At first he was furious that we had set the entire litter of baby raccoons loose in the yard. Then he saw them and immediately melted and finally realized that he should just spend the money to put a damn grate over the chimney. Man, I wish I had a camera handy back then.
Then the babies all started making that cooing sound, and we figured it was time to leave...
What a dangerous situation! I'm glad you all made it out of it okay. And boy, I bet you heard those coons making some ungodly racket indeed!
DeleteChimney caps prevent so very many problems. My mom had a coworker who always complained about the birds that nested in his chimney, but he didn't have the heart to cap it and leave them homeless. So he just lived with the noise and never lit a fire.
I love raccons. They're such smart little creatures!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child, we went camping every summer on a lake up in Muskoka, Canada.
The coons were so accustomed to people there they would sneak up to our campfire every night and make off with our bag of marshamllows!
Up the tree they would go and sit there happily munching away.
I love raccoons as well. Incredibly crafty critters they are indeed.
DeleteUnfortunately, it's a common occurrence for wildlife to be accustomed to being fed. It's really unhealthy for the animals and potentially dangerous for people as well.