Trash Panda is not impressed with the outside world!

[herding cats]

I thought this was adorable! I have one of these little devils who holds a dance party on my roof every morning at about 2AM. I wonder if this guy wants a roommate?

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Duppers]

1. Persistent booger. 😀

We have 1 who hangs out on our deck at night. We feed squirrels during the day and we think our guy looks for leftovers.

[herding cats]

2. They are persistent!

We feed the wildlife and provide water sources, so I know I'm responsible for my nightly dance of joy on my roof. Right now she's been bringing her three juvenile kiddos up there to have fun each night, too. I can't figure out what the allure is, but they obviously find something fun about it up there.

Maybe if I dig a storm drain system on the property she'll become subterranean?

[Duppers]

3. 😂

Critters! We gotta keep a sense of humor.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. I enjoy my nightly visits. Sometimes there's only a single raccoon on

my back porch. They come in and out the cat door to clean up the cats' leftovers. Two summers ago there was a teenage gang of 5 that nosed into everything on the porch. They got in the cat 'house' and knocked all the cat beds off their shelf. Usually there are 2 or 3.

[TomSlick]

5. There is a raccoon that comes into the backyard most nights.

When it does, the dog sees it through the back window and goes nuts until I let her out. At that point, the dog runs the raccoon up a tree and - I swear - the raccoon sits in the tree laughing at the dog.

I hadn't heard of a Trash Panda before - I like it.

[CozyMystery]

6. The problem with raccoons is Rabies

Rabies in Raccoons

Raccoons act as a reservoir for rabies in the United States. In fact, the majority of rabies cases in the U.S. are in wildlife, with raccoon cases predominating. In the U.S., 90% of all rabies cases occur in wildlife. During 2000, raccoon rabies made up 41% of wildlife cases diagnosed with skunks, bats and foxes making up the balance. To limit the exposure of humans and domestic animals to rabies, it is important for veterinarians to know the current geographic distribution of rabies, the procedure if a human or animal is bitten by a wild animal, and be familiar with rabies diagnostic testing.

https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2003/summer/rabies.shtml

This is why, when my neighbor was delighted to report he saw 14 raccoons in my yard one night (they were all in the same area, beside the shed ... I was not too happy.

We have a strict rule in place that when our dog gets put into his fenced area (we live out in the country, and fencing the entire yard would be cost-prohibitive) -- the fenced area must be checked for wildlife before the dog is put inside. So far, we've only had the neighboring farmers' cats, a skunk, and rabbits.

Besides potentially rabid raccoons, we have lots of skunks and groundhogs around. Groundhogs, for all their fat, waddling appearance, are fierce fighters. We all know about skunks.

[herding cats]

7. Raccoons are very territorial.

I have the one, and her babies, until she runs them off each year, on my property. I can't imagine dealing with 14 of them dancing on my roof at night. I'd probably go nuts!

Yes, they, and all other warm blooded mammals are vectors for rabies. Which technically includes humans, but since raccoons live amongst humans in more areas than the other RSV vector animals do (they're extremely common in both rural and urban areas) they carry the highest incidents reports.

The most common RSV vector species are raccoons, foxes, skunks, bats, and groundhogs. In no particular order. It just depends on if you're rural or urban and what is abundet in your area. I'm in an area where the first three are living on my property. I see more skunks being reported as rabid by the CDC than raccoons in my area, but I'm rural and that's common. I know to be careful, vaccinatte my pets and not to ever forget wild animals are vectors for diseases. It's all about respect for wildlife and understanding they're not domestic, vaccinated, creatures.

[CozyMystery]

8. I live in a rural area,

all those animals are living here, too. Well, I've heard we have foxes and bears, but I haven't seen them. Coyotes, too. Sometimes we hear them howling or barking at night. And tons of deer. I like having them around. They are interesting.

These animals don't get on my roof, though.

My intention is to make sure my dog doesn't have an opportunity to get into a fight with an animal, or to be sprayed by a skunk.