I leaned over the fence and spoke warnings to the raccoons while waving a hand in the air from time to time so they would not approach. Sadly, their hunger seemed to be overriding their fear and common sense. All five of them kept edging closer and closer to Larenti and the tiny bit of food she had left, and now she was cornered against the fence with no way to escape without having to run right through the horde of marauders.
The string of expletives spewing from my mouth exceeded an R rating. It was looking more and more like I’d have to jump the fence to keep the cat out of trouble, and that didn’t sound like fun since I was barefoot and wearing only a pair of shorts. If any of the raccoons decided to push their luck, I’d be in trouble.
Therefore, I hastily grabbed more food from Vazra‘s dish and tossed it behind the raccoons. The diversion was a success. They all turned around and walked to the new supply, happily began eating, and didn’t notice the female cat’s hasty retreat around the other corner.
“Clever girl,” I said. My smile turned into a frown when I saw she only moved a short distance away before lying down where she could watch the wildlife show. Well, at least now she wasn’t cornered. She was smart enough to get out of the way if they approached her.
While the two adults and two of the babies ate the food, the third baby found its way to the small pile the cat had been eating. It was consumed rapidly.
Within a minute or so, all of the food was gone and the raccoons began foraging for more. I had no intention of giving them additional cat food since it’s not really the best thing for them. Besides, it was a diversionary tactic anyway, not a strategic one, and I didn’t want to keep feeding them while they could see me doing it.
To my dismay, however, the damage was already done. The recently arrived adult raccoon obviously had taken note of my throwing food out. He came directly to the fence where I was standing and sniffed madly. He undoubtedly smelled the rest of the cat food in Vazra’s bowl. He began reaching through the fence and sticking his face through it as well. I could hear the repetitive sniffing and knew precisely what he was up to. But he wasn’t getting that food.
I kept telling them it was over, time to go, no more food, and whatever other silliness I could think of, yet that didn’t stop his search. The mother and babies could also smell the food but kept their distance — somewhat. But the other adult…
Not willing to accept that no more food was forthcoming, and certainly well aware that I still had some, the critter began to scale the fence. And I was standing right there. That’s what I was afraid of, so I spoke louder and moved quickly to frighten it. For a moment at least, the plan worked and the raccoon backed down the fence in a hurry.
I took a few steps to one side and picked up the cat food bowl, and then I stepped away from the fence and placed it next to the door. In the meantime, realizing there was real jeopardy here, Vazra backed away from the fence and sat down quietly behind me. In this case, I don’t mind being a human shield. I also thought it was nice to see he trusted me enough to consider me protection.
While mother and babies foraged a bit while keeping an eye on me in case more food was to be offered, the other raccoon worked his way to and fro at the foot of the fence, constantly reaching in (and grabbing leaves and other small items to see if they were edible). And then be began to climb again.
“No,” I said sternly as I moved forcefully toward the fence. He again reversed course and got down as quickly as possible. After a few minutes of roaming back and forth, he eventually turned and walked back the way he came. I was relieved.
It was short-lived.