A New Tenant

We have a new tenant at Ravensfield Farm. She (we are assuming it is a she, but it could be a he) arrived late Sunday afternoon. My husband and I were in my study attending a a virtual book group. My husband, whose mind tends to stray, tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out the window. “Look who is here!” he said.

A raccoon was waddling across our back patio, looking for birdseed no doubt. After investigating the different bins of bird food, she seemingly moved on her way. This was a good thing as our dogs spend quite a bit of time on our back patio looking for stray seeds and nuts to eat. I didn’t think they would be too happy about sharing the patio and the forbidden rations with a raccoon. I also didn’t want them to tussle with a raccoon—I was worried for the racoon and for our dogs.

Later that night as I was shutting down the lights and heading off to bed, I noticed that two of our cats were lying on the rug near the front door. Actually, they weren’t lying so much as positioning themselves in the “there is a mouse here” stance. Cat owners will know this stance. Cats do it when they see or hear a mouse. Or think they do. Only it usually takes place in front of the stove or refrigerator not inside the entrance hall.

Curious as to what they were “hunting” I looked out the window and saw a big puff ball of fur, curled up by the outside cat food bowl. (Ok, I know—this may be confusing, but remember we have inside semi-tamed house cats and outdoor, completely feral barn cats. The food bowl on the front stoop was for the latter.) So, the cats were hunting the raccoon. (Don’t worry! The cats are indoor cats and truth be told they are terrible hunters—they are easily distracted and mostly lazy).

The next morning, the raccoon was still there, sound asleep. We were worried that maybe she was sick or old or injured. As the day went on, however, she began to move explore her new home and eat. We put water out for her. My husband looked up raccoons to find out what they like to eat—eggs were at the top of the list, which is good, because we have plenty of eggs from our hens. We put out eggs, corn, cat food, and peanuts. As she moved about, we could tell that she was young—probably a juvenile and that she wasn’t sick or injured, maybe just cold and hungry. (It has been a hard winter in Minnesota—so many subzero days!) Yesterday she climbed one of the trellises against our house and slept up high. While she slept, my husband folded an old beach towel into a bed and placed it in a sheltered part of the stoop.

Since she took up residence near Valentine’s Day, we named her Valentine. For now, she lives on our front stoop and in our courtyard.