- May 11, 2008
- 115
- 0
- 129
I just saw a wild animal on my screen porch. The door is usually propped open a bit so my German Shepherd can go in and out without my having to go out on the porch to let her out. I don't know what it was - I'm hoping it was a feral cat and not a possum or a raccoon. here in MD I don't think we have anything else. Elsa was sitting beside me when I saw it and she raised the roof but I waited before letting her out because I didn't want her tangling with it on the porch. Fortunately my baby chicks are not out on the porch -- I keep them inside in the house. But I've never believed a wild creature would come up on the porch == in fact 25 feet across from the entrance -- and walk across a dog bed scented from a 85 pound dog.
My oldest chicks are only about 3 -4 weeks old (I don't know exactly as I got them from a feed store) The others are maybe closer to 2 weeks. So I don't plan to put them outside at night for a long time. Meanwhile I'm thinking I need to start setting raccoon sized haveahart traps -- what do you all think? Part of this is my problem -- I didn't realize it but two years ago I had a feral cat living under the porch (which sits up on pressure treated timbers) and I didn't know about it until I got a dog -- who immediately sniffed out the cat. The cat relocated but still hung around the property and finally, (because it is feral), I TNR'd it (trapped, neutered, vaciinated and then returned it) and put food out for it in the front yard (away from the dog) once a day, and I am sure it has also attracted raccoons, though I try not to put more out than the cat can eat in one day. I don't mind the feral cat -- I don't think it will come in my back yard again (the dog cornered it once, though she didn't bite it, it was a not pleasant encounter and I think the cat knows better), but obviously something was on my porch and it wasn't that cat, because that one is black and I think what was on the porch was not black, though I can't say exactly what color it was. Anyway, does anyoen else trap raccoons (I do hope it wasn't a skunk, though I really doubt that. I've seen raccoons and foxes and possums in plenty here, but no skunks.) And after you trap them, what do you do with them? I'm really not interested in running a relocation ferry service for raccoons, and I'm not sure if animal control will take them. And I am sorry, but I just can't be softhearted about raccoons.
My oldest chicks are only about 3 -4 weeks old (I don't know exactly as I got them from a feed store) The others are maybe closer to 2 weeks. So I don't plan to put them outside at night for a long time. Meanwhile I'm thinking I need to start setting raccoon sized haveahart traps -- what do you all think? Part of this is my problem -- I didn't realize it but two years ago I had a feral cat living under the porch (which sits up on pressure treated timbers) and I didn't know about it until I got a dog -- who immediately sniffed out the cat. The cat relocated but still hung around the property and finally, (because it is feral), I TNR'd it (trapped, neutered, vaciinated and then returned it) and put food out for it in the front yard (away from the dog) once a day, and I am sure it has also attracted raccoons, though I try not to put more out than the cat can eat in one day. I don't mind the feral cat -- I don't think it will come in my back yard again (the dog cornered it once, though she didn't bite it, it was a not pleasant encounter and I think the cat knows better), but obviously something was on my porch and it wasn't that cat, because that one is black and I think what was on the porch was not black, though I can't say exactly what color it was. Anyway, does anyoen else trap raccoons (I do hope it wasn't a skunk, though I really doubt that. I've seen raccoons and foxes and possums in plenty here, but no skunks.) And after you trap them, what do you do with them? I'm really not interested in running a relocation ferry service for raccoons, and I'm not sure if animal control will take them. And I am sorry, but I just can't be softhearted about raccoons.
