Once upon a time, I lived in another habitat with my older sister Hazel and my mom and dad. Hazel tolerated me being around, even though I don’t think she was ever that fond of me before the break-in. I sure liked her being around because she wasn’t afraid of anything, not a bug or a ~shiver~ spider not even the occasional bat that came to visit. My dad wasn’t too fond of the bats but that is another story. Hazel was a great protector of the habitat.
One day while Hazel and I were chomping chow after a rough day of napping, chasing and hissing the most unusual thing occurred. Right above my feeding station, there was a cracking sound in the ceiling and the next thing I knew…
This is what came falling out of the ceiling!
Hazel screamed Raccoon! And this really scared me because Hazel never screamed and I didn’t even know what raccoon meant! I was frozen in fear. Then Hazel said, “Gracey follow me!” and we ran super fast into the living room squeezing ourselves behind a giant mirror in the corner of the room.
While hiding behind the mirror, we heard a loud crash. We could hear scratchy sounds in the kitchen and I thought I heard that raccoon chomping my chow. This was horrible. Then we heard the click click click of his claws, as the raccoon ran through the living room when he heard my mom’s keys at the kitchen door.
We heard her set her purse and keys on the table, and then “Gracey!” I always got the blame for broken pottery. Hazel never even got questioned, she just assumed it was me that broke things. Well ok, it usually was me that broke things but even so, it could have been Hazel.
She came looking for us, finding us together behind the mirror. She started to laugh. I don’t know why, this wasn’t funny. She said, “Well, look at the two of you.” I have to admit that Hazel and I were not typically huddled up together behind the mirror.
She went back to the kitchen and we heard her say. “hmmm, these paw prints look big.” She measured the dirty paw prints and then came to inspect our paws. “That is strange” she said. “Those claws look so long in the prints you left on the counter. Gracey, why did you have to break my favorite piece of green pottery?” You see, she didn’t even ask which one of you broke my favorite piece of green pottery. ~sigh~
Then she sat down on the sofa to listen to the news. After about five minutes, it seemed like five hours, that raccoon rolled one of our toy balls across the wood floor. Well you should have seen my mom’s face. I would have laughed but I was too terrified. She looked over at Hazel and me. We had come out from behind the mirror but were still sitting together in the corner. Then she slowly turned to look in the direction of the rolling toy ball still tinkling across the floor.
My mom jumped up and screamed and when the raccoon heard her, he jumped up and screamed and it was just awful! I started to shiver. I saw the raccoon bolt into the exercise room and my mom ran after him closing the door behind him.
My mom looked at us and said “oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh” Then she picked us up, one in each arm, kissed our heads, and placed us on the bed in the bedroom. She looked us all over to make sure we were alright. She looked so scared. Then she closed the bedroom door to keep us safely inside.
By now we could hear the raccoon shaking the door trying to get out. ~oohhh, that was scary~
My mom called Joe, The Raccoon Whisperer. He came right away with a giant cat carrier and a pole. Joe whispered to the raccoon and guided him into the carrier with the pole. Joe said he was a big boy and then took him to be released into the Wayne National Forest.
My mom scrubbed and cleaned, scrubbed and cleaned. Hazel and I got new food bowls too. When my dad came home, he was shocked to hear what had happened. He replaced the ceiling tile where the raccoon fell through onto my chow chomping area. He asked if the raccoon hurt anything and my mom said, not a thing. (ummm the green pottery?) Then she said the raccoon had pooed on the treadmill. They laughed saying well at least someone used the treadmill.
Everything went back to normal at our habitat after the raccoon went to live in the forest. I do suffer from post traumatic stress disorder though. I really do. I need my parents to stand behind me while I chomp chow. When they put fresh chow into my bowl, they have to pet me from head to tail several times to calm me down and to get the falling raccoon image out of my head.
Once on the way home from the ~Morris Veterinary Clinic~ we saw a raccoon family walking along the side of the road. My mom said, “Oh boy, I hope they are not coming to our house.”
No way any raccoon can fall through our kitchen ceiling now that we moved to our new habitat.
I still got blamed for the broken piece of pottery though.
That is my raccoon story. Sorry it took me so long to tell you. Did you like it?
J’adore!!!
I love your raccoon story, Gracey!!!
Love this story about the raccoon. You are such a great storyteller, Gracey. I always look forward to reading your Blog. I really enjoyed your book “The Tiniest Tiger” too. I read it to my cats the evening we received it!
We have had many encounters over the years with raccoons at our house. Fortunately, the barn cats are smart about them and just stay clear. The raccoons make such a mess of the barn cats food and water bowls. It is always obvious when they have been visiting. We have opossums too, but they are not as messy.
One morning, about a month ago, I went out to feed the barn cats, burros and horses. It is always dark when I go out to feed. I walked into the big barn and turned on the lights. Just as I was walking into the feed/tack room, I heard a commotion up above me. I looked up just as a raccoon was jumping onto the ladder to get down from up above. He was so scared and in such a hurry, that when he jumped onto the ladder it started to tip over. He got about halfway down when he and the ladder both came crashing down! The cats and I were all just frozen there, watching him. He was a little shaken up for a moment, but then he got up and ran out under the big door. Then we all started to laugh. It was quite a sight.
When my dad was younger, he had a house on a wooded hillside, and something kept breaking into his screen porch and making a huge mess. He put a humane trap out, but in the morning, there was a big mess in the screen porch and the trap was sprung, but no animal inside. Next, he sprinkled the floor with flour to see if he could find out who was doing this. Next morning, the screen porch was a mess and there wasn’t a paw print in sight; he knew for sure he was dealing with a raccoon. The little guy had dragged pieces of wood in from the vineyard and made a wood path all the way to the storage cabinets, so he didn’t have to get flour on his paws!
Gracey, you are such a good storyteller…I felt like I was right there with you….~~scary~~ Glad you and Hazel ran and hid…
Oh, my Lucky, he must be petted when he starts to eat too, even though a raccoon didnt fall into his chow bowl! MOL!
That was a hilarious story Gracey! I bet you and Hazel were just frozen with fear! And still to be blamed for the broken pottery, I think you deserve some ice cream tonight! Love ya!
That was a FANTASTIC story! I was on the edge of my seat reading it! You are a wonderful storyteller. It’s TOTALLY understandable to be afraid now chomping chow after such a harrowing experience! Your mom was very brave for securing the racoon & getting you two safe! Glad you are safer in the new house! But be sure you will always be protected!
Wow!!! you must have been terrified! You could have been killed! Raccoons are very dangerous, you know. Its a good thing you knew to hide. I always say, “it’s better if you run away, and live to fight another day.” And you totally shouldn’t be blamed for the pot! We are innocent until proven guilty!
I LOVE this story. Love It!
Thank you Robbie!
We like your story! We’re glad everything turned out well.
Here’s one of ours.
There was a feral cat, Puss, who lived in the back yard. She had 6 kittens. (Mommie adopted 4 of them later. Curly is still with us.) The dad cat, Reggie, hung around and helped with babysitting and playing with kittens. (Odd, but true!)
One night, a mom raccoon with 3 half grown kits attacked Puss and the babies! (The kittens were about 6-7 weeks old, then.)
Cats flew everywhere, crying and screaming. Mommie came out of the back door, broom in hand, yelling “Don’t hurt my cats!”
3 raccoons had surrounded Puss, and Mommie chased them away.
Then one of the kittens came around the corner of the house, with dad Reggie in tow.
He sniffed the raccoon trail and went trotting off after the miscreants.
Everyone was scared, but ok. Mommie livetrapped the raccoons over the next week.
The Molonson Moggies
Barb,
Oh my!! Your raccoon encounter was much scarier than ours.
I am so glad that everyone was alright.
VERY scary! I hope Reggie was OK too! A very brave mom, indeed!
Holy Cats! That is a scarey story! We can only imagine the look on your Mom’s face when the raccoon appeared…our’s would have had a heart attack.
Thank goodness for Hero Joe!
We would be worried about chow chomping, too after all that.
Thanks for stopping by. Those raccoons are super smart too. I am happy that everyone was safe.
Oh, my gosh, what an exciting story, Gracey! I loved the way you told the story. It kept me on the edge of my chair until I was sure everyone was okay. Sorry for your scary event though. I’ve had two live squirrels in my habitat (at two different times) but my cat, Willie, just ignored them. They fell through the flue from being on the roof, so I had to get my chimney covered with wire mesh to put an end to that!
Pam,
I am going to have my parents check the chimney. Thank you so much for telling me this.
and squirrels used to get in my grandparents house thru the attic! they made a tiny hole in the roof-so be careful of your attic if you have one!
“at least someone used the treadmill.” Funny story Gracey!
hahahaha! It is much harder for my parent’s to run around the habitat like I do
Love it! What an exciting story! Glad you’re all ok, Gracey.
Thank you Gloria!
Oh wow. That was quite an adventure! At least it wasn’t on Opossum. Glad everything turned out alright.
Tiffany,
We have an opossum that lives outside our habitat. He does not seem too interested in coming inside. I am glad that he is an outdoor opossum. I admire him from afar.
Oh Gracey, I can imagine you must have been terrified!! And the brave Hazel too!!
Guess what, guess what?? Toothpick has a new brother…Shovel the Second came to live in out habitat on Tuesday afternoon. Boy we were surprised, since it was Toothy’s Dad that bought him….
You can look at his pictures at my Facebook and see pictures of Toothy as well. Beautiful boys…
I’m listed under Sharon Jean Lake.
Sharon,
I will look at Toothpick’s new brother Shovel the Second’s photos. Congratulations on your new family member.
Thank you for taking good of our cousins.
Dat is best raccoon story ever! I useta live outside all time so I know dem raccoons is scary. I would have heart attack if one fell thru my ceiling, I might never eat again.
I know! It was super scary. Thanks for listening to my story. I am glad that you are safe inside too.