Saturday, February 13, 2016

Scary Saturday night

Earlier tonight, I let Jackson and Dicey out at the deck door to do their business (Dozer was ensconced on the couch and didn't need to go, thankyouverymuch). After a bit, I went to the front door to wipe eight wet feet and let them in. Only Dicey was there; somewhere in the darkness I heard growling and snarling. In a surge of adrenaline I bellowed for Jackson to come, counting on his reliable recall to get him away from whatever he was tangled with. He came limping up the driveway, but I couldn't find any injuries or blood while thoroughly toweling him off all over. (Later we did find a couple small scratches on a foreleg.)

What made this scary was the phone call I got from our neighbors last night. Laura had gone out on her deck to call the deer in for a snack when she saw a dark form near their trees. She looked through the scope to see a large, tailless raccoon. She tried to startle it unsuccessfully, but when she gave her special call for the deer, it started running in circles. That brought to mind a dead bat they found in their yard five days before, so she felt compelled to call and warn us.

Could Jackson have tangled with a rabid coon? He's current on his rabies vaccination, of course, the sheep aren't, and neither are us humans. Rick loaded his .45, grabbed a flashlight, and went out to investigate. Seeing nothing, he had me follow with Jackson on a leash, hoping he would indicate where the animal had been, but Jackson just got excited at the prospect of a late-night walk. Brian couldn't be left out of the excitement, of course, and came armed with his compound bow and a knife. We saw nothing and went back to the house, but I turned around and headed out again, ostensibly to do chores. Armed with a flashlight and my iPhone, I wanted to look around some more – and spotted a raccoon not far from our entry gate. It was circling a fir tree, starting up, then coming back down, then starting up again. Finally, it headed up with purpose, so I moved in for a closer look. It was the tailless raccoon. I watched for awhile, trying to ascertain if its behavior was in the normal range. Rick went out later and couldn't find it.

Hoping it's moved on from . . .

9 comments:

Retired Knitter said...

That Dozer. He missed all the action (thank God). Bull dogs were made for couches. Glad everyone survived the experience. How scarey.

Unknown said...

Definitely scary! Glad you and your fur babies are safe.

Unknown said...

Definitely scary! Glad you and your fur babies are safe.

Kim said...

hope it's gone for good!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

I bet good money after bad, it's not moved on and is still in the area. If it is sick, it doesn't have enough sense to "move on". If you can kill it, you should; better it dead than one of your dogs torn up. I'm getting rather good at ridding myself of vermin; I don't like to but as a good steward of my animals, it's something I have to do.

Mokihana said...

That's scary... raccoons can be so mean. I hope that it's moved on...perhaps seeing the dogs encouraged him to.

A :-) said...

Oh wow - I'd say something smart about being a city girl, except I actually live in the woods and there are raccoons all over here. Hope Jackson is OK.

Anonymous said...

I've heard more and more positives for rabies cases here in Oregon lately. I worry for the wildlife, our pets and livestock and us. Stay safe.

Fat Dormouse said...

Scary stuff. I hope all is well with you, yours and your Fur Babies.