An Apple a Day ...

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it doesn't have the same effect on raccoons! We have a raccoon who stops by for a visit from time to time. Her presence on our deck is usually announced to us by the inhuman yowling screams of our raccoon-hating watchcat. Last night there was only a screen to separate the two, but I quickly remedied that by closing the sliding glass door, more for the protection of our screen than anything else. The cat was determined to go through the screen if possible!

Our raccoon friend, though wary of the cat, isn't intimidated enough to stay away, and comes right up to the door (ignoring the cat's outrage) and peering up at us with such sweet little masked eyes that we've taken to giving her an apple when she comes to visit. Justin was the first to give her an apple, about a month ago when she visited in broad daylight. The cat was in a slightly better temper that day and my loud, excited children were napping, so the raccoon sat right on the step to eat her apple while we watched. Last night, the children were still up (and loudly exclaiming over her presence) so she grabbed the apple and ran under the deck to eat in privacy. We thought she had gone, and K was on his way out to cover the grill and bring in his BBQ tools when he nearly lost a foot trying to nudge the watchcat aside. She had spotted the raccoon again and was in full fury mode. He went through the front door so the cat wouldn't run out, and through the back gate. The raccoon didn't run, but just watched him with interest. I passed him the last apple and he set it on the step in front of him. The raccoon peeked over the edge of the step, stretched out her fingers and tried to reach the apple without coming any closer. She couldn't quite do it and had to inch forward the tiniest bit, her eyes on K all the while until she finally got a grip on the apple and vanished under the deck with it. We shut all the blinds, doors, and windows at that point so our watchcat could unwind and so the raccoon would know the diner was closed.

I know we're not supposed to befriend the local wildlife, and I did at least tell K he probably shouldn't try to pet her, but she's so cute! After the excitement passed, Maya asked, "When can we throw Kitty away and get a bunny? Bunnies can hop much better." We were tickled at the thought of just plopping our cat into the trash can and replacing her with a bunny! Poor kitty. :-)