Breaking News: This afternoon an intruder was accosted in the backyard of an area resident. The homeowner and his two dogs interrupted the trespasser near an equipment shed. After a brief standoff the dogs chased him up a nearby tree. 911 was called and three police squads responded. The subject refused to come down, so the police shot him. They removed the body and peace was restored to the neighborhood. So that is how the story would be reported on the TV news. Everything is factually accurate but only part of the story. The “subject” was a sick raccoon.
Initial Encounter
I was heading out to the small shed with the dogs out in front of me. Suddenly I heard a noise and looked up to see a raccoon standing in the open with the dogs on either side of him. I immediately tried to get the dogs back, as the raccoon was obviously sick.
Stella in particular is not afraid of raccoons. I was yelling at both dogs and managed to get Stella to back off. Willow was pointing the raccoon from about 5 feet away. The raccoon moved and then both dogs broke. There was a melee at the bottom of a tree and then the raccoon climbed up a little ways. Both dogs were trying to pursue it. Then the raccoon climbed higher and got out on a big branch.
I did not get a good picture of him in the tree because I was trying to get the dogs into the house. after a lot of yelling I finally got them in and closed the door.
I worked in the shed for a while to see if he would come down but he just hunkered down. The more I thought about it, the more I realized this had to be dealt with now. The last thing I needed was a sick raccoon in the yard or out on the sidewalk where everyone walks their dogs and children. I called 911, told them it was not an emergency, then explained the situation. They said they would dispatch an officer.
Police Response
The first officer arrived in about 10 minutes. He told me that there had been a report of the raccoon being out on the sidewalk earlier. He said they were bringing a catch pole but when I showed him how high up it was that was not going to work. The community service officer showed up with the catch pole while we were discussing it.
He did not think there was anything they could do about it since it was so high up on the tree. We talked about spraying it with a hose. While we discussed it, his sergeant showed up. We discussed options and then the sergeant suggested using a non lethal round out of a shotgun. They agreed to try it since it is not very loud and the bean bag that it shoots does not travel far.
His first shot missed but the second and third rounds did connect and the raccoon fell to the ground. They used the catch pole to grab it and put it into a garbage can. They packed up and left.
Wrap Up
The sick raccoon caused some excitement in the neighborhood. It is not often (never) that there are three squad cars in front of our house and an officer is carrying a bright orange shotgun.
After the police left, I let the dogs out. They immediately returned to the tree and staked it out, convinced that the raccoon was still up there.
