Backyard Visitor Part of a Springtime Trend

Many of us love a mild winter. But it has its downsides. One of them literally came to me this week.

A few times a day, we open the patio door a crack so Cuddles can sniff through the screen. We call it “reading the news.”

Cuddles was catching up on the latest headlines on Wednesday while I fussed in the kitchen. A low, gutteral sound interrupted my whisking. Cuddles had never made that kind of noise before. I leaned over to see what was going on and a large raccoon was outside on its hind legs, letting our cat know he wanted to be king of the back yard.

I clapped and yelled but only Cuddles was startled. The raccoon held its ground. I got a large bowl and filled it with cold water. Tossed it toward the animal. He acted like he enjoyed the shower. I called up Iron Maiden on YouTube. Pretty sure the raccoon was a metal head because he didn’t flinch.

For the next half hour, he toured the perimeter of our little yard over and over and over. Then he flopped over and seemed to take a nap.

Up once again, he returned to making wide circles in the exact same path. Clearly, something was wrong with him.

I went online and found the wildlife rescue organization in Port Stanley. Fur-Ever Wildlife Rehabilitation. They’re volunteers, regulated by the Ministry of Natural Resources but they don’t receive any government funding. Then I remembered meeting Colleen who heads the small but mighty group. I called her and let her know the details. She said, “I’m on my way.”

She arrived in minutes with a cage and we had a closer look at the animal through the patio door. He was very sick. Distemper, she said. It’s a bad year for it because the virus didn’t diminish over the winter. It didn’t get cold enough for long enough.

I distracted the raccoon while she set out the cage with an open can of yummy cat food inside. “Oh darn, I forgot my pole”, she said, and hurried to her vehicle to get it. Meantime, the raccoon wandered into the cage and left just a few centimetres of his tail out the door. Just as I thought to go and get a broom to give him a push, he took a couple of steps and the door shut on his behind.

Colleen assured me it’s not always that easy. Sometimes she needs to use the pole and grab the animal with its spring-loaded cable. It doesn’t hurt them but it’s still not fun. A self-serve raccoon is ideal.

So far this year in tiny Port Stanley, Colleen’s organization has picked up 56 sick raccoons and more than 35 ailing skunks. All of them had to be euthanized. Disetemper is highly contagious and usually fatal in raccoons and skunks because it’s caught late.

What Distemper Looks Like

Symptoms of distemper may include discharge from the nose and eyes, a rough coat of hair, emaciated appearance, and unusual behavior such as disorientation or wandering aimlessly. The animals’ symptoms become progressively worse and the disease is usually fatal.

Oregon Fish & Wildlife

Sadly, we found another sick raccoon when we first moved here. The animal ran toward me when I got out of the truck to get our mail. As you probably know, a healthy raccoon’s reaction would be to run away. I jumped back into the truck and it started pawing at the door, trying to climb up. It’s terribly sad. It walked in tight circles until it was picked up. If I’d encouraged this week’s raccoon to jump into my arms, I’m sure it would have done it. That’s the opposite of normal behavior.

The Cuddles Factor

My biggest concern was our cat, of course. He and the raccoon didn’t touch noses or even get within about ten inches of each other. Raccoons tend to carry canine distemper which can’t be passed to a feline. Also, when Cuddles reacted to the visitor, he instinctively backed up. I don’t see a reason to worry about illness. But there might have been a fight if there hadn’t been a door between them. For dogs, distemper is very serious but in many cases they recover.

We made a donation to Fur-Ever to thank them. What would I have done without them? It must be a hard job to pick up sick animals and take them to the vet all day long, knowing they can’t be saved.

I had been planning to repot a huge cactus out on the patio. (Story to come!) The new pot, soil and gloves were already outside. The raccoon walked over and past the items dozens of times. I’m grateful I hadn’t started the project before he arrived or I would have had a closer encounter with him. This is also more evidence why I believe cats should stay indoors. They’re house-cats, not at-risk-cats, right? 🙂