Death to all Raccoons

[rjmt]

today I was eating lunch when the coon hound went crazy and hit the glass door onto the porch
I tried to ignore him, but he was up on his hind legs pushing on the door, howling
I rolled my chair over and looked out the door and here's this big gray squirrel sitting on the porch teasing him
when I walked over to open the door, the squirrel ran down the steps, under the gate and up the Ash tree, where it sat barking at him
there were 3 other squirrels up in the tree watching this
don't tell me these animals don't have intelligence and even a sense of humor
I can hear them saying - "Clyde - I dare you to go up on the porch and tease that 75 lbs dog behind the glass door"

 

[Mikej]

today I was eating lunch when the coon hound went crazy and hit the glass door onto the porch
I tried to ignore him, but he was up on his hind legs pushing on the door, howling
I rolled my chair over and looked out the door and here's this big gray squirrel sitting on the porch teasing him
when I walked over to open the door, the squirrel ran down the steps, under the gate and up the Ash tree, where it sat barking at him
there were 3 other squirrels up in the tree watching this
don't tell me these animals don't have intelligence and even a sense of humor
I can hear them saying - "Clyde - I dare you to go up on the porch and tease that 75 lbs dog behind the glass door"

I despise them smug little bastiges!

 

[OldBroad44]

I despise them smug little bastiges!

Yeah. Some grey squirrels deliberately tease dogs. Such as pretending to ignore a dog but always being within a few feet of a big tree, which they would run up when the dog charged. I had a Siberian Husky who regularly played this game with squirrels. But he had his own variant. When he charged the squirrel would go around tree expecting husky to follow him as squirrel emerged out of reach on opposite side of trunk. But husky instead charged opposite side of tree from where squirrel went and leaped into air and about half the time snagged squirrel as it came around tree about eight feet up.

This particular husky also was not fooled by birds that did the wounded wing trick to lure predators away from their nests or clutches. He ignored momma bird and ran to where she just came from and ate all the babies. Or eggs as the case may be.

 

[rjmt]

Yeah. Some grey squirrels deliberately tease dogs. Such as pretending to ignore a dog but always being within a few feet of a big tree, which they would run up when the dog charged. I had a Siberian Husky who regularly played this game with squirrels. But he had his own variant. When he charged the squirrel would go around tree expecting husky to follow him as squirrel emerged out of reach on opposite side of trunk. But husky instead charged opposite side of tree from where squirrel went and leaped into air and about half the time snagged squirrel as it came around tree about eight feet up.

This particular husky also was not fooled by birds that did the wounded wing trick to lure predators away from their nests or clutches. He ignored momma bird and ran to where she just came from and ate all the babies. Or eggs as the case may be.

we have a gray squirrel living in the attic of our garage
was surprised one day when I saw it run from me and climb up the wooded siding of our garage - went straight up a 2 story vertical wall to an open vent
I've seen them climb ladders also
here in the NW, they don't go into hibernation - we have heated water-bowls and food for the geese for them to live on
we have one black squirrel also, he's not afraid of people and will take food from us
at least they aren't destructive here

 

[OldBroad44]

we have a gray squirrel living in the attic of our garage
was surprised one day when I saw it run from me and climb up the wooded siding of our garage - went straight up a 2 story vertical wall to an open vent
I've seen them climb ladders also
here in the NW, they don't go into hibernation - we have heated water-bowls and food for the geese for them to live on
we have one black squirrel also, he's not afraid of people and will take food from us
at least they aren't destructive here

Actually, Eastern Grey Squirrels don't hibernate. They maintain a constant body temperature, just like we do. In harsher climates they survive partly by fattening up in fall but mostly by means of stashing nuts and seeds all over the place and making cozy nests they may stay in most of the time and only come out during the part of day that is warmest. They work furiously hard in fall to find and carry off and stash any edibles that have a long shelf life. Some caches are in hollow logs or holes in tree trunks. Many are buried.

In nature there is an evolutionary relationship between grey squirrels and some nut tree species. The trees depend upon squirrels spreading their nuts, and have been squirrel-selected to produce nuts that have shells thick enough so most birds and other critters can't easily crack them but squirrels can. Many squirrel caches are buried spots of a few nuts each. Squirrels often choose areas with soft easily dug soil such as human's gardens and compost piles. If the squirrel forgets where the cache is or doesn't get around to some caches before the nuts germinate in spring, the nuts have a lovely spot with good soil to germinate in.

Trees and bushes whose seed is spread by birds such as berries reward the birds with the fruit. Their seed is indigestible to birds and is pooped out and germinates. Nut trees have a different problem because the squirrels actually eat, digest, and destroy the seed. The more nuts the trees produce the more squirrels they have, and too many squirrels can eat nearly all the nuts and lead to a low reproduction rate for the trees. But the squirrel-dependent trees have a trick for controlling the squirrel population. They produce heavy crops of nuts only every other year, and all the trees of the same species in the area synchronize their years of heavy bearing. That way the population of squirrels and other nut predators is limited to the number that can survive the nut-skimpy years. So in the years of heavy nut crops the nut predators including squirrels have way more nuts than they can eat. And squirrels go crazy carrying off and caching way more nuts than they can eat, and lots of nuts become nut tree seedlings.

 

[rjmt]

Trees and bushes whose seed is spread by birds such as berries reward the birds with the fruit. Their seed is indigestible to birds and is pooped out and germinates. Nut trees have a different problem because the squirrels actually eat, digest, and destroy the seed. The more nuts the trees produce the more squirrels they have, and too many squirrels can eat nearly all the nuts and lead to a low reproduction rate for the trees. But the squirrel-dependent trees have a trick for controlling the squirrel population. They produce heavy crops of nuts only every other year, and all the trees of the same species in the area synchronize their years of heavy bearing. That way the population of squirrels and other nut predators is limited to the number that can survive the nut-skimpy years. So in the years of heavy nut crops the nut predators including squirrels have way more nuts than they can eat. And squirrels go crazy carrying off and caching way more nuts than they can eat, and lots of nuts become nut tree seedlings.

here it's feed corn
we have wild corn growing all over the property from Stellar Jays and squirrels
I've watched Jays plant corn in a new tilled garlic bed

 

[sobo]

don't tell me these animals don't have intelligence and even a sense of humor

A friend of mine has an 80-acre cow/calf operation outside of Benton City. One morning, I awoke before their rooster did, and I watched Terry's favorite cow "get even" with that damned rooster. The rooster was sitting on top of a fencepost, not quite ready to crow the morning reveille, when the cow eased up, reached out her nose, and bumped the sleeping rooster off the post. The rooster fell to the ground and woke up all flustered, dancing around and squawking its fool head off. I swear to God I could see a smile on that cow's face. After seeing that, you can't tell me animals don't have a sense of humor...

 

[Xaevian]

A friend of mine has an 80-acre cow/calf operation outside of Benton City. One morning, I awoke before their rooster did, and I watched Terry's favorite cow "get even" with that damned rooster. The rooster was sitting on top of a fencepost, not quite ready to crow the morning reveille, when the cow eased up, reached out her nose, and bumped the sleeping rooster off the post. The rooster fell to the ground and woke up all flustered, dancing around and squawking its fool head off. I swear to God I could see a smile on that cow's face. After seeing that, you can't tell me animals don't have a sense of humor...

Cow version of hitting the snooze button

 

[Jerry]

About 3 years ago, a damn mama coon tore off a foundation vent screen & had a litter of little coons under the living room floor near my recliner. Drove me & the cat bonkers. There was no way in Hades that I was going into the crawl space with or without a shotgun to get them out! The cat did not seem interested in a recon mission either! Her being a barn cat of dubious parentage from Klickitat County and all...

Then a boar coon got in one night & holy Jeezus! What a racket!

I caught the boar in a live trap and dealt with him & the squatters moved out shortly thereafter.

Before it was all over, I had every foundation vent screen tore off. It cost a few $$ to get them replaced.

I don't like them little masked bandits!

 

[OldBroad44]

Some cats, that is, domestic cats, also tease dogs. One such cat once strutted in front of my two dogs, who gave chase. Cat ran up a big old cherry tree, then stopped and perched on a branch about 25' up and turned to sneer at the dogs. Cherry tree was a huge wildling with a multi-branch truck, each truck with branches that went all the way to the ground. The smaller and younger of my two dogs, the smartest dog I've ever know, recognized the implications of the unusual form of this particular tree instantly, and barely slowing down, ran right up the tree, ignoring trunk but clambering on all the cross branches. I'll never forget the shocked look on the face of that cat as it realized the @#$%! dog was climbing the tree. Cat took off to go much higher, now looking seriously worried.

Then my second dog, a bigger, older dog reached the tree. She paused at the bottom of the tree and looked at the other dog and it was as if I could hear her thinking, "I never thought dogs could climb trees, but I guess we can!" So she ran up the tree too.

When smaller dog was about 30' up and larger dog was about 20' up I chickened out and yelled "Out!" That was my command to break off a chase or attack. It looked like the dogs could climb about 60' and intended to. What if they fell? Both dogs managed to clamber down head first, falling a few feet here and there but always caught by another clump of cross branches. Whew! Dogs had glorious fun pursuing cat into its home turf. Nobody got hurt. And I did not have to suffer the embarrassment of having to call the fire department and ask them to come get my two dogs down from a tree.

 

[rjmt]

we acquired a Pit Bull puppy and barn kitten the same summer, they were raised in the same large dog bed - litter mates
later that year, my wife was out on the porch and screamed out the Pit Bull was eating the kitten
by then, the Pit Bull weighed in about 40 lbs and the kitten was only about 3 lbs
the kitten couldn't keep up with her litter mate when the Pit Bull ran around the yard, so the Pitty would pick up the kitten in her mouth and carry her out into the yard to play with her
it was inspiring to watch a pit bull with over 300 lbs of jaw crushing power delicately pick up her litter mate can carry her around the yard

 

[JustShoot]

Thread Bump....

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[Alexx1401]

Well finally got to / had to, use the select fire .30 PCP on one of the masked bandits last night. The motion detector where the chickens are started going nuts. Feed wild rabbits back there but they if they set it off at all just make it chime a couple times. Thing was going crazy so I look and there is a few bandits with one LARGE one trying to work its way under the fence. Grabbed the rifle and went out and they ran but the big one did not fun far or fast. As soon as he was clear of the cars back there I sent a mag at him. Large tree there he went under and I did not feel like getting dressed to go check. This morning walking one of the dogs she went to that tree going nuts so I pulled her back and there he was. For a couple years they and the wild dogs have ignored the chickens so its been a live and let live. This one decided chicken dinner was on the menu so I had to show him it was not.

 

[sobo]

...For a couple years they and the wild dogs have ignored the chickens so its been a live and let live.

Alexx, where is it that you live (generally speaking, to retain your OPSEC) that you have wild dogs running around? The Northern Territory of Australia...?

 

[Alexx1401]

Alexx, where is it that you live (generally speaking, to retain your OPSEC) that you have wild dogs running around? The Northern Territory of Australia...?

Piece County WA. The wild K9s I am talking about are the city bred Coyotes. They live VERY well all around us here. Since I am on 60 acres they come here to hunt. Its why I feed the wild rabbits. I find bones from them a lot and so far the dogs when they go past the chickens just go past fast and stay away from the house. They are VERY smart critters. Before I bought this rifle that will kill one I shot a few of them with a .22 PCP and a paint ball marker. So by the time I got this rifle that I could humanly kill with they had spread the word to stay clear of my home which works for me.
There has long been at least one pair of the masked bandits here. I have seen them with young multiple times but for some reason population never seems to grow. There is unlimited food so up till now they were never a problem. This was the first time one of them decided to try to work its way under the fence where the chickens were.
People around here see the dogs all the time and most people think they are just some stray dog as they see one run past somewhere. Very adapted to the city life they are

 

[rjmt]

Piece County WA. The wild K9s I am talking about are the city bred Coyotes. They live VERY well all around us here. Since I am on 60 acres they come here to hunt. Its why I feed the wild rabbits. I find bones from them a lot and so far the dogs when they go past the chickens just go past fast and stay away from the house. They are VERY smart critters. Before I bought this rifle that will kill one I shot a few of them with a .22 PCP and a paint ball marker. So by the time I got this rifle that I could humanly kill with they had spread the word to stay clear of my home which works for me.
There has long been at least one pair of the masked bandits here. I have seen them with young multiple times but for some reason population never seems to grow. There is unlimited food so up till now they were never a problem. This was the first time one of them decided to try to work its way under the fence where the chickens were.
People around here see the dogs all the time and most people think they are just some stray dog as they see one run past somewhere. Very adapted to the city life they are

we have feral dogs even in Clark Co.
to many people from the City come out here and just dump their unwanted pets.
coyotes are shy of people and only weigh about 25 lbs
but these feral dogs who were raised with people are full sized animals and are not afraid of humans
they will come up onto your porch going after cats and small dogs
I had to fence in an acre, not to keep our dogs in, but the feral dogs out

 

[sobo]

Piece County WA.
...
Since I am on 60 acres

Nicely done, especially since you're in a county that has experienced unprecedented residential sprawl in recent years!

 

[Alexx1401]

Nicely done, especially since you're in a county that has experienced unprecedented residential sprawl in recent years!

When this place was built over 100 years ago there was NOTHING around us. Part of the property was used to graze dairy cows back then. Now? City has grown all around us here. Its why I was leery using even a .22 without a can here. Neighbors would likely not be happy. The PCP is sound modified a little so even with full auto bursts its not something most would think of as gun fire when they hear it. Not sure where the hell all the wild dogs hole up during the day. I guess it does not take much for them to make a safe hiding hole till the sun goes down and they can set out again. Probably some of the green belts around the place? In any case they have come to learn to live around us VERY damn well. Tons of food easy to come by in peoples pets and such.

 

[Alexx1401]

we have feral dogs even in Clark Co.
to many people from the City come out here and just dump their unwanted pets.
coyotes are shy of people and only weigh about 25 lbs
but these feral dogs who were raised with people are full sized animals and are not afraid of humans
they will come up onto your porch going after cats and small dogs
I had to fence in an acre, not to keep our dogs in, but the feral dogs out

Those things can be VERY damn dangerous. Domesticated dogs can easily turn wild in a generation or two if they survive. Then they have to eat of course and anything they can kill is just food to them. They will go for the easiest to get food first and often that's of course pets. Last year a Coyote got a little ankle bitter at one of the parks up north of me. Some people saw it on the edge of the woods and "thought" it was another dog. It did that thing dogs do when they want another dog to chase it like playing. One little dog took off after it and as soon as it was in the woods all the people heard was one yelp. Ran over to of course never find their dog it was now a meal.

 

[rjmt]

Those things can be VERY damn dangerous. Domesticated dogs can easily turn wild in a generation or two if they survive. Then they have to eat of course and anything they can kill is just food to them. They will go for the easiest to get food first and often that's of course pets. Last year a Coyote got a little ankle bitter at one of the parks up north of me. Some people saw it on the edge of the woods and "thought" it was another dog. It did that thing dogs do when they want another dog to chase it like playing. One little dog took off after it and as soon as it was in the woods all the people heard was one yelp. Ran over to of course never find their dog it was now a meal.

visitors to the country have this horrible habit of letting their domestic city raised ankle bitters run free as soon as they get out on Property to visit
had them attack our chickens, turkeys and even our goats
many years ago, someone 2 properties up let such a small dog out and it decided to chase our cat
the cat ran back home and slid under out gate - we dug a hole under the gate just for this purpose
well, this dog chased the cat all the way back to our gate, where the cat lay just 2' inside our fence
the little yapper kept hitting our gate, barking at the cat - until it realized the cat was laying between 4 large legs
I was on the porch to see this - the little yapper looked up and the cat was laying under our now full grown 80 lbs Pit Bull, her litter mate
the Pit looked down at this little dog, pulled her ears back and lowered her front body - the signal that a Pit Bull is about to attack
she hit that gate so hard, it bloodied her mouth and broke several tie wraps holding the fencing on the gate
if you've ever heard a Pit Bull in full rage attack, you know the sound she made
the little yapper rolled over on the ground and peed in the air, to terrified to even move
the owner had to run, well, waddled quickly, down to get her dog - and then cused at me, on my property, for owning an aggressive Pit Bull
once our Pit calmed down, she laid down in front of her litter mate and licked the cat from head to foot