Strange days - fears and blessings and critters...

[Cat]

So DH went up to visit his parents in Michigan yesterday, and will come home tomorrow. I encourage it because he gets to spend real "son" time with them. If I go, his Mom feels like she has to "entertain" me, worries about what to cook, etc., and DH worries about if I'm OK, etc. If it's just him, they can work, go shopping, or just sit and visit and there's no awkwardness. It is my "gift" to the three of them. He is fortunate to still have both of them, and he really is a help to them.

 

So last night at 10:30 PM, some raccoon hunters were running their dogs sort of across the road in the farm field, and sort of also into the neighbor's front wooded land. The neighbor's house is deep in the woods, but ours is close enough to see, so they stayed away from ours. But they are NOT allowed to do that! It's posted "No Trespassing, no hunting". I tried to call the neighbor, but she didn't hear it and called me back this morning. She says I should have called the county police. But anyway, it kind of freaked me out since DH wasn't home. They know they're not allowed, but they set the dogs loose and then say BUT BUT BUT - we HAVE to get our DOGS! Yeah, RIGHT - then don't turn them loose there!!!!!!!

 

Today I did some stuff around the house, went to the store, talked to DH and LilDD on the computer, then I took the trash out to the burn barrel, lit it, put on the screen on the top, and went back in to start some laundry. I thought about doing some organizing downstairs, but decided to come back upstairs to finish the dishes.

 

Hmmm, why is there ALL THAT SMOKE out there? That trash in the barrel shouldn't smoke THAT much!

 

So I walked out to check on it... to find leaves burning out as far as 20 feet from the barrel! Luckily it was more of a slow, smoky sizzle, no leaping flames or huge fires. But DH has some of his "stuff" out there - a non-working lawn tractor "for parts", an old garden tiller, etc. - junk that we are trying to get rid of but other things just take up the time. And there are trees very near - one had leaves smoldering pretty close to the bark.

 

I freaked out... And ran to fill buckets with water and try to get it out. I knew if I couldn't get it out quickly, I'd have to call the local fire department.

 

Thank God it was NOT a breezy day! Thank God it was a slow burn and not a huge one. Thank God I was able to put it out by lugging buckets over, dumping them, and refilling them. We used to have a well in the nearby pole barn, but it's no longer needed, and not working.

 

I think the hole the raccoons widened allowed some ashes to get out and start it. I thought I had it "plugged up" enough, but something happened. DH picked up a new burn barrel recently, but hasn't prepared it yet. I'm thinking that will be a priority next week...

 

I kept checking on it through the next few hours, poured more water around in "iffy" spots (to me), and went out after dark to be sure there were no telltale red glow spots. It's out. Thank God!

 

On one of my trips outside, I noticed the calico cat outside was acting spooked. So I looked around, and found a healthy-looking yearling raccoon calmly looking at me like, "Hey, got any food?" He wasn't scared of me at all. He went into the cat's shelter, but I chased him out & I closed it up (she has another place she prefers when it's not cold out).

 

I got a couple of pictures of him because he was just SO calm and acted like he belonged there. (Can't download them at the moment.) I dumped out the stale kitty treats that the cat refuses to eat, so he had those. But I told lilDD that he acted like he wanted to just hang out, be petted, and be my best buddy with treats. No, I wouldn't actually touch him, but he sure was odd. There was still very much daylight. He didn't act sickly (I've seen those!).

 

I thank God for His loving protection. If I had stayed downstairs and not seen the smoke, who knows how bad it could have been. If it had been wilder and flame-filled, I could not have put it out alone. There are just WAY too many scenarios where it could have been a disaster. I don't know if any of his "junk" might have a container of leftover fuel, or other more flammable substances. My being alone certainly didn't help, but it was enough.

 

 

 

 

[sassenach]

Well , that was quite a couple days so far, CAT. I also would not handle the raccoon. They can get feisty as they mature even with handling. Also, rabies really is on the increase in the northern eastern states and the Appalachians so it could be spreading more westwardly as well , in wild animal populations. Even beaver who are bitten by predators, are getting it around here, then they act a lot more like that raccoon just did, in broad day light, and they are usually more nocturnal too or prefer being in their pond areas during the day, away from human activities.

 

He may have just expected his regular snack he seemed to be able to get since the cats could, with your outside feeding of them.... but these days, if it seems a bit unusual behavior , it usually is because of a serious reason. Or that particular raccoon has a schedule to keep! lol.

Edited April 19, 2015 by sassenach

[Annarchy]

(((Cat)))

 

Thank God nothing really bad happened.

 

[Mt_Rider]

I know whenever DH has a seminar to go to, I always feel 'off'. Just t'aint right. Even if I'm not afraid and am competent to 'hold down the fort'. The odd part is that I feel 'off' during the day, even tho he's not home days anyway. So I can relate.

 

Thank God that He is watching over you and your property. He was faithful to keep the hunters away. He was faithful to alert you to the excess of smoke. He is our companion when no one else is there. And He cares for us so very dearly.

 

I'm with Sass about the raccoon. Having rabies shots 50+ yrs ago, I would encourage it to stay away, on the premise of wild animals being wild....or something is not right. Skunks, bats, and raccoons especially. I just wouldn't take any chances cuz of my awful experience with rabies.....very memorable.

 

....But yeah, the lil' stinkers are very doggone cute.

 

 

MtRider ...praying Cat's days end and she has days now.

[Cat]

Yeah, there's no way I'd touch the raccoon. I'm *very* careful even around strange cats that come around. Animals are just too unpredictable.

 

Today is calmer, and I'm puttering around the house. Wish all the housework would just DO ITSELF!!!!!

[CrabGrassAcres]

Glad you are ok.

[dogmom4]

It's not typical for raccoons to be out during daylight hours, is it? About a month ago a large male raccoon walked across our playground at work at 9 in the morning. Fortunately someone had the sense to get the kids off the yard...although no one called animal control...which I would've done if I'd been out there. Then last week I was looking out on my patio and thought one of my cats was in a bucket....it was a young coon that was getting water from a bucket that had been left on the patio. This was at 7 in the morning...sun was up. Dh opened the door and yelled at it and it slowly ran off. I went around the side of the house to make sure it was gone and it was just sitting there looking at me. Threw a rock and yelled at it and it walked (yes walked) through an opening in the fence...then sat and looked at me. Threw another rock and yelled again (neighbor must've thought I was nuts) and it slowly walked off down the street. Too young and stupid to know better?