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And sometimes the zoo comes to you
By adamg on Fri, 08/20/2010 - 9:45am
Melophobe02120 snapped this raccoon around 5 a.m. this morning on Warwick Street in lower Roxbury - after being awoken by the dog going crazy.
Copyright Melophobe02120. Posted in the Universal Hub group on Flickr.
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Comments
Raccoons in Roxbury
I had a mother and what appeared to be one of her kits waddling through my backyard and across this street around 2:30 this morning on Fort Hill. They seemed utterly unconcerned with the hose I was wielding.
We also have skunks and opossums.
yup it's a zoo on Fort Hill alright
we have a possum living under the neighbors porch that climbs up onto our second floor porch almost every night. i don't mind until the dog notices and then i have to play animal control officer for the rest of the night. good times!
skunks in ft. hill
we also have what smells like a family of skunks by RCC - every night we wake up to the nauseating aroma
Urban Wildlife
The best thing to do is to keep your garbage under control.
Easier said than done, of course. Especially this time of year when the moms bust the adolescents loose and they tend to stick together and work together for a time - three or four teen racoons + one locked down trash can = PARTEEEE TIME! They seem to like the challenge.
Those crafty raccoons
It has become a cat and mouse game for me. First the raccoons were climbing on top of my trash barrels (which are are already in an enclosed area) and rocking them back and forth to topple them so they could get the lid off and get inside. So I pinned them into a space where they couldn't be toppled.
Then, I came out one night to see one essentially dumpster diving. This thing had managed to get the lid off while the barrel was upright, and was somehow hanging on to the rim while fishing out the goods. Understand that this barrel has a "locking" lid that I myself have a hard time removing sometimes. So now I've had to affix a fairly heavy weight to the top of the lid. Next stop is dousing the trash with hot sauce, which my father swears has worked for him (in the far suburbs).
These animals are very intelligent and have remarkable dexterity with their limbs. It's too bad they're such a pain and can be so vicious. As the picture on the original post shows, they're kind of cute. On a totally separate note, I came within about 20 feet of a coyote on my bike in Brookline last night about 8:15. The zoo really has come to us (or, more likely, us to the homes of others).
Animal Entertainment
They are persistent little buggars, too! I bungied my cans shut, but they chewed through the bungee cords - black eyes don't show I guess. I also remember a mama raccoon teaching her babies to assault the trash can.
We put ours in the shed now, but it is a never ending battle to keep them from finding their way in and holding a trash party. The cats were going ballistic one late night and I looked out and heard "thump! thump!". Raccoons were hitting the shed door in an attempt to make it pop open!
One cool thing: they do fish sometimes. I saw one take a herring from the shore of the Mystic River during the herring run.
If you can keep a lid on the trash, as it were, at least the Coyotes seem to head back into the woods after a while. They are reclusive and lack the mad raccoon skilz and if the garbage picking isn't easy they do migrate away.
Stop giving them ideas!
I don't want the raccoons on our block reading this and figuring things out. Thanks to our Hummer-sized recycling bin, we now have a spare garbage can we can use to help block the other two in the narrow space outside our side door. When we remember to put the lids on, even better, we don't have to wake up in the morning to find the remains of our days scattered all over the place. Plus, keeps the possums out (they're far less destructive, but, gah, nothing wakes you up faster on trash day than bending over to pick up a trash can to find this giant rat thing staring up at you with the world's most pitiful expression).
"I'm comin' to join ya!"
Wake up?
I'd probably have one of those Fred Sanford heart attacks...
That photo was taken on
That photo was taken on Warwick Street - not Warren Street. Our neighbor took it from their window that overlooks our porch roof! We don't keep garbage out back so it wasn't there because of that, just lost and looking for a place to snooze (or rabid and looking to attack our families)...
Fixed, thanks
Brain. Needs. Coffee. First.