THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 25, 1995 TAG: 9510250455
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
A colleague, Krys Stefansky, has done what many others failed to do - find a way to keep raccoons from taking over a bird feeder.
A few days ago she refilled the feeder, after letting the birds fend for themselves all summer, only to find the first night four raccoons feasting on sunflower seed.
``They are a spunky bunch,'' she reports. Nothing - knocking on the window, turning on the lights, face-making by human beings from inside the house - would scare those raccoons away. ``Nothing got rid of them until I barked,'' she said.
``Yes, barked out the window! I don't know what made me think of it - we don't own a dog - but it turns out the critters are terrified of dogs, or at least the sound of me imitating one.
``I've used the technique every night since - works like a charm.''
That's how great discoveries come about. People tumble into them. Columbus bumped into America that way.
The secret may lie in Krys' voice, a melodious one. Certainly, Boomer, the Lab who keeps tabs on me, has an uproarious bark that doesn't trouble the raccoon family hanging out in our attic.
A year or so ago, I evicted them in June, waiting until well after four kits were born in February so as not to turn them out in the cold. Now they are back, having nosed out another entry under the eaves.
Some nights, after midnight, when they are partying, maybe bowling the Christmas ornaments again, I shout at the ceiling, ``ALL RIGHT UP THERE! HOW ABOUT SHOWING SOME RESPECT FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE TO GET UP IN THE MORNING!''
Silence falls.
I don't know of any other animal as resourceful in adapting from the diminishing wilds to niches in suburbia unless it is the coyote.
Four years ago I placed a raccoon box on the roof. They scorn it. One night, a mother even brought her kits to the playroom's glass doors. I slid one open.
The mother sat bolt upright in the light, watching her offspring as if they were trick or treating. One came up two steps into the room.
Fetching seedless grapes, I knelt and held out one on fingertips. The kit came within an inch of my outstretched hand. Reaching for a grape, it steadied itself a second by placing a small paw on my finger as it took the grape in its teeth.
At the touch of that tiny, leathery pad, a thought flashed through my mind: ``Suppose this little scoper sinks its teeth in my finger.''
Now that Krys tells us how to rid feeders of raccoons, may I remind you that the annual bird seed sale, held by the Cape Henry Audubon Society, will occur Nov. 4, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Carey's Farmers Market at 5651 Virginia Beach Blvd. on the feeder road beside the Military Highway overpass. (Whew!)
For information on prices call 461-1580 or 547-7585. by CNB