• Tuesday-What'sUP September 1 - 04:26 pm

We've become accustomed to viewing photos of Brita Haapala's youngsters, but today she's giving us a glimpse of a different sort of little ones. These are three young raccoons that Brita spotted sneaking a peak at her from the bushes. They sure are cute little critters with those masked faces, but beware.... that's truly a mask hiding who they really are, because they can be very destructive to birdfeeders, garbage cans and the like. If you're one of those folks that raccoons have become a nuisance too, take heart, here's a link with some ideas on ways to cope with them: Dealing with Pest Problems.

They're waiting for the photographer to leave so they can get back to raiding that thimbleberry bush.

Raccoons can be destructive....but they sure can be fun to watch!

Too bad they're so destructive. They're so darn cute!

Cute as babies...til you see an adult with rabies.

Raccoons sure like to hang out in groups of three. I have a trio that has been trying to figure out how to get on my roof for the past week. They are probably looking for a nice cozy place to spend the winter, like my chimney.

They are cute until they tear everything up.

Neat pics this morning, but why is there a photo of the Soo Locks on the Pasty.net homepage for the CamNotes today? I'm hoping this is a mistake and not an April fools joke 7 months in advance... ;-)

Good Morning: I can tell you that those cute little Raccoons enjoyed all our sweet corn in our garden here in Indiana this year. I have also seen them swinging from our bird feeders at night. Some of the things they do you would not believe until you actually see it. Have a good day everyone. Hope it warms up soon.

They ARE cute, but . . . when we entered our cottage in June, we were greeted by destruction galore. We didn't immediately know if someone had broken in or it was an animal. There was actually not one place you could step that wasn't covered with trash! Well, you know where this story is going! Our neighbor had shot a raccoon in a tree over the winter, it fell from the tree but was OK. It entered our cottage around a pipe. We found bloody and dirty footprints on the table, the big wall mirror, etc. Apparently, he was enjoying looking at himself. In addition to shredded paper of all sorts, there were chewed up checkers and other game pieces. He had a great time with the baskets of thousands of buttons (don't ask) we had there. We were fortunate there were no droppings. I guess he wanted to keep his winter home clean and probably spent weeks there. The drapes weren't shredded. I once read you should close all doors in your cottage to keep larger pests out when you're not there and that saved the bedrooms.

Now we have coons around our house in Genesee in an urban area. I saw the biggest one I'd ever seen in my backyard and, later that evening, two more on my front porch!

We had guests over for dinner one evening and who else showed up? Mr./Mrs Racoon... looking right in the window at the end of the table. Good thing the window was closed. Might not have been enought food to go around with an extra guest.

Raccoons are carriers of Feline distemper and Canine distemper besides Rabies. In southern Michigan they also carry Balyascaris a very dangerous roundworm that is or can be lethal to humans or dogs. It can be contacted by directly touching Raccoon stool. Raccoons have this peculiar habit of using one area as a latrine. Several families of Raccoons use it . They also will pass stools that look like a carnation in your yard. I know because I have seen them. They look beautiful and inviting to touch. But leave it alone, use a shovel to put it a trash bag to dispose it. The color comes from seeds that germinate. The parasite travels directly through the skin to the neurological system. In 24 hours it can be deadly. The states involved are Michigan, Ohio, Indiana. and Illinois. So be care careful. The normal stool would be like a cat stol dark and stringy.

Great pictures!
A healthy Raccoon can be fun to watch, and, of course, destructive. Also, you don't want to inadvertently corner one. They can inflict allot of damage to humans or dogs. Down here in Illinois we have a distemper problem. If you see a coon walking about in the open in daylight, it is not normal and is probably very sick. I had one show up in our kennel one afternoon this Summer. He was pretty well "out of it". He was totally unaware of, or unafraid of the dogs or me. Once he wandered back outdoors I dispatched him with a rifle - sounds cruel but he was dying a slow miserable death. There are no agencies down here to take care of these problems. What little money Illinois has is spent on jailing or prosecuting our Governors.

Stewart...thanks for the warning. And just when I thought it was safe, poop with petals.

To Alex;

Just got home and got some upsetting news and I got some phone numbers so Bill could make a few calls and I decided to read the cam notes. I have to say Alex, your 'poop with petals' had me laughing and crying with the news we got. If that makes sense? 'Thank You' for the smile with your poop with petals.;O)

Adorable photos! Racoons have to be among the cutest of our critters. Last year something kept raiding my birdfeeder at night-really emptying it out. Finally I heard noises at the feeder in the middle of one night-jumped out of bed and shined a big light out there- looking back at me was a masked bandit.I actually had to start bringing the feeder in at night til the bandit went away for good.