Suburban New Jersey - 20 years of knocked over garbage pails!
Last year, I built a big deck on the back of our house extending out from the kitchen. It's beautiful and adds a lot to the delight of home activities.
Mysterious things began happening to trash buckets and garbage pails that rested there overnight on their march to the front yard for a bi-weekly pickup. They were knocked over and their contents scattered thoroughly within a 10 foot radius. I thought the neighbor's dog, who had been suspect for years on such matters should be duly reprimanded.
Poor dog! He was innocent and had been innocent for years of all sorts of messy outrages committed to our garbage pails. I set out to catch the rascal who was doing this. I set up a trip pan with a switch, so when it was stepped on, a buzzer would sound in the house.
It took all of 3 hours the first evening when it was baited with honey, peanut butter and dog food for the perpetrator to give himself away.
You guessed it...raccoons! Not one, but a succession of them...at least 10 that I could identify (all raccoons don't look alike). We started naming them for their attributes... "Scruffy", "Bobtail" (I don't even want to think where his tail went or how), "Spooky", "The Mafia Twins", "Baldy", etc. One in particular we named "Sticky". He got food stuck in his throat now and then, would put his hand in and dislodge it and would go on eating.
He was the least fearful of the bunch and would look in the back door occasionally. So one night I opened the door, laid down facing him and proceeded to bribe him with Fig Newtons and Oreo Cookies broken into pieces.
He's my best friend now, visits nearly every night for his fix on goodies! That's his picture. One of the most charming critters I've ever known!
The local newspaper mentioned that a rabies epidemic is hitting the raccoon population and is marching this way. Sad!
I hate to think that my loveable friend will have to be avoided. I really like him.