Cats and Coons

I had an interesting telephone conversation with my buddy Sheldon this evening. Sheldon has lived in his house for about twenty years, and he takes an evening walk around his neighborhood when he isn't working. I've walked with him a few times, and most of the neighborhood cats dash out to greet him when they see him coming. Sheldon knows them by name, and he spends a couple of moments with each one catching up on current events.

Pete the Cat lives at one of the houses that Sheldon passes on his walk. Pete's house has a large tree in the yard, and there are two or three raccoons that live in the tree. Pete's owners put food for their cat out on the front porch, and they have told Sheldon that they've seen Pete and the raccoons sitting side by side eating from time to time.

During our phone conversation, Sheldon told me that as he was walking by, he saw a raccoon on the porch of this house near the food bowl. The raccoon picked up the bowl of cat food with its front paws, and walked upright off the porch and down the side of the house, carefully holding the bowl. The raccoon stopped about midway along the side of the house, set the bowl down and ate a couple of bites, and then picked the bowl back up and continued around the corner to the back of the house.

Sheldon said he wondered whether the homeowners came out the next day and thought "Now, how in the hell did Pete carry that bowl into the backyard?"

This story made me recall a couple of things. First, I thought of my pet raccoon, Jake, who lived in a raised hutch in our backyard. I used to love to watch him eat, because he was so dextrous with his little black hands (paws, I know). He would daintily pick up each bite of food and dip it in his water bowl before he put it in his mouth. His fur was very coarse, and he didn't like to be petted like a cat or a dog; he liked to be stroked from the back to the front.

I also thought about the documentary, Grey Gardens, specifically the scene where Little Edie takes plates of food up to the attic to feed the raccoons that come in through the holes in the roof. Grey Gardens concerns the lives and living conditions of Edith ("Big Edie") Bouvier Beale and her daughter, "Little Edie" Beale in their crumbling and squalid East Hampton mansion in the early 1970's. It's a bizarre film, especially since it's a true story. If you haven't experienced it, you must see it.

p.s. keep your pets away from wild animals!


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