Meri Page caught this feral creature plundering her garbage cans in search of a free meal. Word on the street is that the suspect was searching for cat food.
Meanwhile, here are Seven Fun Facts About Raccoons we all should know:
- Raccoons understand the abstract principles of locking mechanisms, and their learning speed is equivalent to that of rhesus macaque monkeys.
- Raccoons can remember the solutions to tasks for up to three years.
- The word “raccoon” was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the Virginia Colony. It has also been identified as a Proto-Algonquian root ahrah-koon-em, meaning “[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands.” Speaking of which…
- The most important sense for the raccoon is its sense of touch. They have “hyper sensitive” front paws, and two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in the raccoon’s cerebral cortex is specialized for the interpretation of tactile impulses.
- A raccoon’s top speed over short distances is 10 to 15 mph; they can swim at 3 mph.
- Raccoons are highly omnivorous, with a typical diet that includes about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant material and 27% vertebrates. When food is plentiful, raccoons can develop strong individual preferences for specific foods (including cat food from Meri’s back yard).
- The baculum (penis bone) of male raccoons is about 4 inches long. Oh my.
PHOTO: Meri Page
Bernalwood 
IMPORTANT NEW RACCOON BLOG:
http://fuckyeahrabies.tumblr.com/
OMG the raccoons have also LEARNED HTML! Will nothing halt their incredible mnemonic/tactile skillz??
May I remind you of the epic La Lengua Raccoon Wars of 2009. They attack. The LaLeReAnCoA (La Lenguan Revolutionary Animal Control Army) fights back.
Our apologies that they have crossed the Liminal Zone. (Do remember that you demanded free passage.)
Everyone knows racoons are just a gateway animal to coyotes:
http://glenparkassociation.org/2011/05/12/learning-to-live-with-coyotes-tonight/
i love these little guys, even if they do make a little mess sometimes. we had a large white possum spotting on our back fence last week. i love the bernal wildlife.
Raccoons are cute but they’re really mean and nasty. They’ll kill cats, especially older cats who can’t move away as fast as younger cats. They’ll climb your fruit trees and destroy all the fruit on it. And raccoon poop is really, really nasty. You really don’t want them around.
Possums on the other hand are much less evil. They’re happy to co-exist with other creatures.
I think we may have a raccoon (or two) that have taken up residence in the space between our roof and the upstairs neighbor’s deck. I’m worried that veggies may eventually go missing from my beloved container garden. Any other Bernal gardeners out there have tips for protecting the goods?
Forget about the goods and get the racoons out of that space. You really don’t want exposure to racoon feces, which often harbors parasites that can result in brain damage. http://dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Baylisascariasis.htm
You can look up online how to do this correctly, or hire someone, but although human cases are rare, they’re around and its not pretty.
I gave up on vegetables in Bernal Heights because of raccoons, and also possums. They devoured squash in the backyard so I tried growing it in pots on the front steps. That worked out better, but the plants didn’t live as long. I’m doing fine with blueberries and raspberries in containers that I can drape bird netting over.
chicken wire! stretched very loosely, so it wobbles when they try to scramble over.