If it happens once, it is an unfortunate coincidence. If it happens twice, it is a disturbing trend. Apparently spring is when raccoons decide to give up the ghost, and under our deck is where they like to do it. God damn Ellesiouville's Animal Control, who refused to come pick this dude up when it was hissing and snarling and stumbling drunkenly across my neighbor's back yard. This time the carcass is not easily accessible; we would have to disassemble the deck to find it and remove it.
William, I need to do something to eliminate the odor. Gunpowder burned under the deck? Vaporub smeared on the decking? What if I swept a large quantity of lime through the gaps in the decking?
Update: It's 4 a.m.. I'm up with a puking kid. There are so many raccoons in my back yard that it looks like a scene from a raccoon-produced A Chorus Line. Except not nearly so well coordinated. And they all look so fecund.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
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10 comments:
Lime's not a bad idea. From experience, though, the smell goes away eventually. Ah, the joys of growing up in the country where all manner of animals crawl into and under houses to die and mean stepbrothers have rotten tomato fights with little sisters in pink dresses on the way home from the bus stop.
Badgers instead of raccoons?
http://failblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/badger-badger-badger/
Uh..if it was hissing and stumbling drunkenly before, there's good chance it was rabid. The best thing that could have been done was putting it down then.
Now, it's still infectious. And there's worse bacteria as it decomposes. The good thing is, it should be gone in a couple of days.
Vaporub will just make you smell it better. I find that strong tobacco or in your case getting a portable metal charcoal grill and burning wood in it might help.
you've got a raccoon wake in the back yard.
Thanks William. I didn't realize it was still infectious. That's nasty.
Animal Control wanted $200 to come and get it. Too bad it's illegal to discharge firearms within city limits.
To prevent this in the future, fence in your yard and get a big, boiserous, territorial dog.
Or move to a high-rise.
When I was a child we had a pet raccoon, Linda. My mother trained her to lay around her neck and pretend to be a fur collar. (It was the 60's.) My mother loved telling the story about paying for her purchase at the liquor store and, putting her change in ther purse, saying "OK, time to go, Linda." Linda then "woke up", jumped down to the counter and then to the floor and followed my mother out of the store.
I'm guessing you don't have enough time to train you backyard visitors, eh?
Instead of animal control, would it help to contact the board of health? Rabid raccoons and the strong possibility of infection of the others ought to get their attention.
(If it hadn't been acting rabid, I'd feel better about the likelihood that other critters may eat the body.)
=Tamar
Lime. It helped to dessicate the carcase when a possum died in an inaccessible air shaft. Yuck. Don't touch.
Can you fence in the bottom of your deck?
We had to put up latticework to prevent a particularly hardy skunk from making our under-deck area his bachelor pad...
As I was passing a construction dumpster on campus tonight I smelled the unmistakable odor of a large amount of decomposing meat. I thought to suggesting to a security guard that she check to see if there was a body inside, but I didn't feel like being detained by the polizei.
I will find out if I am right on Monday.
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