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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

A Masked Marauder? ...or a Phantom?

I was looking down at the garden in the pre-dawn dusk from the upstairs window and saw a very large lumbering animal walking by the Kitchen Garden.

I thought GroundHOG! but it's a tad too early in the morning for their usual appearance, and it was sort of pear shaped (bigger in the hips) and had a fluffy lighter colored tail and face (hard to make out details in the non-light)

Next I thought "a cat?" but wondered how a huge fat cat like that managed to get in the back yard over 5' picket fence -- lithe cats can clamber over but this one?

I finally thought "Raccoon? Here? Not unheard of but extremely rare". but it went around the corner. So I hurried to a window on that side of the house, and I see it almost to the gate. It's still very dark but I do seem to make out a masked face! I have binoculars by this window, but when I tried to focus on it I find out the the critter's too close, everything is blurry and I lost sight of it.

Now I'm looking everywhere and I can't see it. But it had vanished.

I'm left looking over my Buhl corn patch. Did I really see a raccoon? Was it a recon scout? I don't know if I should be excited if it had been a raccoon... Or anxious! :?

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tomf
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If it is a raccoon then it will get in to every thing and make a mess for you.

sweet thunder
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That's interesting that raccoons are so rare for you. They seemed to thrive in the east coast suburbs I used to live in, and they own the nighttime streets here.

If it was lumbering sort of like a bear, it was probably a raccoon. They don't seem to have much grace, just nimble fingers! If it had a more fluid gait I would say cat or skunk.

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cherishedtiger
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We had a raccoon living in the drains in the street... at night when you looked at the curb and the drain you could see little eyes glowing. Hes been gone for a while now, good thing too he never found my garden. That would have been paradise right in the middle of the city!

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rainbowgardener
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Sounds like raccoon. I'm surprised to hear they are rare for you... I thought they had taken over the universe by now. The other day I looked out to see mom and two babies frolicking around in my garden.

We used to keep dry catfood out for the outdoor cats, but it was mostly all going to the raccoons. So now we only put it out on the deck and only when at least one person is sitting out there with it. Still the raccoon will pop her head up over the top of the deck stairs and only leave if you shoo her away...

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rainbowgardener
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They get bolder all the time! Lately the mama raccoon comes right up on the deck with us even though there are people there. Really have to get a little aggressive shooing her off, in which case she waddles off, irritated but not terrified.

Where I lived before, I had one tamed that would eat out of my hand. I know I could easily do that now, but I haven't wanted to, I think they are better off to stay "wild" (or semi-wild!).

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tomf
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I chased one away and it came back as soon as I went back in side, it was after some bird seed. My cat wanted to go after it, my cat is not to smart.

thanrose
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Of course not, Tom! Not after being kicked in the head by a doe!. :lol:

Raccoons are great opportunists. Pretty smart relative to other wild things of their size. They will live anywhere they can get food, shelter, and water. They will remember easy food sources such as goldfish ponds and stands of corn.

And they can be dangerous, especially when their local population increases due to an introduced food source like a restaurant dumpster.

On the plus side, they are a lot cleaner and nicer than oppossum. Possum is the Pigpen from Charlie Brown. A whirlwind of detritus and unnecessary destruction left behind. Raccoons are a good bit more organized and purpose driven.

Both are vectors for rabies.

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Kisal
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Actually, while any warm-blooded animal can get rabies, it is not common in opossums. According to the Oppssum Society of the United States:
Any mammal can get rabies. However, the chance of rabies in an opossum is EXTREMELY RARE. This may have something to do with the opossum’s low body temperature (94-97º F) making it difficult for the virus to survive in an opossum’s body.
https://www.opossumsocietyus.org/frequently_asked_questions.htm

... 

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tomf
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Q; Why did the chicken cross the road?
A; To show the opossum it could be done.



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