Raccoons are adorable but
...they left behind their fleas.
I never would have imagined seeing wildlife while living in the city of Los Angeles. However, the first night in our place, we heard something on the roof. Loud! As if someone was stomping around up there. We then heard things in the walls, rustling and scratching. It was something heavy. Our cat was going crazy, staring at the walls as if possessed and running low along the floor. He was prepared to pounce if something came though the walls.
We called a pest service and set tiny traps and bate everywhere. For months we heard nothing. Then, about a week ago, we saw him. An adorable little raccoon running down the sidewalk in the front. We didn't make the connection until a few nights later. I was on the phone in the living rom at night with the windows open. My sister asked me what in the world was making all that noise as she could hear crow through the phone, sqwuaking and sreaming. I looked outside to see a furry tail in the trees. It seems the crows were frantic about his presence.
My face was right up against the screen and there he was, peeking out from an olive tree that grows right up along our house. He stared at me for moments and crept onto a closer branch. He was only inches away and leaning over to look me right in the eye. He sat and looked right at me for a while, unafraid and friendly. Then, he climbed up the branches above and onto an overhang of the roof. There he sat for a while, leaning over to look at me. He was adorable!
So, I had found the culprit, a raccoon (or so I thought). Later that night we heard the noises, like a big man or two were on the roof, jumping and stomping. We heard it in the walls!
About an hour after it started, there was silence. We took this opportunity to try to sleep. But, we were soon awoken by the backyard motion light and the sounds of squeaking. We peeked outside and were surprised to see not one, but four raccoons playing in the yard. They remained for hours playing on a fig tree. Of course we watched them and listened to their little noises, like a squeaky purr. It sounds very similar to sounds our Maine Coon cat makes, he is very verbal.
Finally, they one by one scurried accross the yard and were onto their next victim, our neighbors orange. The first one to go was the lookout, the same one that had flirted with me earlier that night.
As interesting as this may or may not be, we now have a encountered a monster sized flea infestation. We just discovered our poor kitty having gigantic, (and I mean huge) fleas all over his furr. His favorite spot being the window sill, they must have come in from the lawn.
We've since trimmed their favorite climbing trees and haven't heard them on the roof. We saw two of them again this morning on top of the fence. We like having them around but we'd like to be rid of the fleas.
Now I need a glass of wine! ;)
