[ raccoon! ]

sooooooo...my husband, mike, gets home from work at 9pm last night & his opening line was ~ there's an injured raccoon in our driveway. i made him repeat it about 7 times because for some reason it wasn't registering! a what...?

ok! so the only thing i know about raccoons is that a lot of them have rabies. i really didn’t know what to do... i quickly tried looking up numbers on the internet but didn’t get anywhere. then i remembered my neighbor across the street has the number for animal control... i told mike i was going to get it & i’d be right back. as i was closing our front door mike said don’t stay there chit chatting!! ok ok !

i knock on the door & kris comes out, i tell her we have an injured raccoon in our driveway... she says are you sure it’s not rabid.  no i insisted... it’s a raccoon! (i thought she’s said a rabbit!!) hahahahaha

ok.... so rabid isn’t a word i’m familiar with!! i know the word rabies!! just for the record i’m british & we are rabies free... i did think it was a little odd when she said that... i mean i’m no wildlife expert but i can certainly tell the difference between a rabbit & a raccoon!!

so she gave me the number to the police because animal control would be closed now. then she showed me her new puppy ~ which is GORGEOUS! & we were chatting... out of the corner of my eye i see mike getting something out of his car... then the words 'don't stay there chit chatting' came in my head!! bye kris gotta go!

i ran back & called the cops! a message came on & if it was an emergency i had to press 0... there were no other choices to talk to anyone so i hit 0! a buff police lady answered... after apologizing profusely as this wasn’t a real emergency & explaining the situation... her response was this: the only thing we can do is send someone out to shoot it. then there was a silence, because that was her answer & my chin was sitting on top of my shoe!! i think i actually said... are you serious!!?

i mean really!! is that IT!! not coming from a country that has this whole issue with guns, i’m pretty sure the english bobbies * (that's english speak for police) don't even carry them...

it all sounded very drastic & totally wild west to me! i said 'er... is that your only solution...?' a quick firm 'YES' came back at me. i said 'well let me think about it...' she replied 'call us back if you change your mind....'

i then call the local vets & got hold of the one on call... explained the situation & he told me firmly not to touch it & call the police. but they want to shoot it i whined... he says that's what should happen & that it’s illegal in NJ to treat an injured raccoon.

THIS IS NUTS!!!! don’t vets take the hippocratic oath or something to save any animal's life? remind me not to come back in my next life as a raccoon in NJ!!! (actually i’ve already put dibs on being a koala! they sit around in trees all day, drunk on munching eucalyptus, sleep up to 18 hours & have hardly any predators!)

thing is i’m now super scared of the rabbit, i mean rabies issue... i definitely don’t want mike or myself to handle it... & definitely don’t want any of my pets, or any one else's for that matter to go anywhere near it, god forbid...

mike kept going to look at it & told me to go see.. i said no way... firstly i can just see me taking a peek at this thing, it launching itself for my neck & we’d have a frenzied fight.... secondly if i went to see it i would get attached to this striped ‘vermin’! & would be lobbying for their rights worldwide.

it wasn't doing very well at all ~ panting badly...

after a long discussion we decided the kindest & safest thing to do would be to have it put out of it's misery...

i called back the police, it took 3 calls i kept hanging up before it rang... i felt awful & got an instant 'uncomfortable' rash on my neck... i really really wished there was another option.

the buff lady answered & i said 'ok we've changed our minds, please can you come out & shoot it...'

a police officer turns up, i was a big chicken & sent mike out, paced around the house & fed my boys chocolate!

mike came back in ~ but there was no bang....thankfully it didn't happen because the raccoon was right up against the house.

in the morning it had gone... we looked around but nothing.

later on animal control rang me to see if it was still there... apparently... contacting them should have been an option from the police & if anything like this happens again i should insist on it.

animal control would pick up the animal & take it to the wildlife center.

i also called the wildlife center, who confirmed this & enlightened me that it is only illegal to treat a raccoon in NJ if you don't have a license... vets will only treat domestic animals.

wow... i'm so sorry raccoon... i should have fought for you harder, thank goodness you stayed right up against the house & then had the strength to get up & go!!

so lesson learned... this might be america.. but there is no need to shoot anything!

oscar said are they going to shoot it with raccoon medicine ~ BRILLIANT IDEA!!!

personally i think that the second amendment to the united states constitution that protects a 'right to bear arms' is a typo... it's meant to say a 'right to bare arms' ... someone wanted to introduce sleeveless shirts & jackets for warmer weather, instead of those frilly cuffs... that's all!



*the london police force was created in 1829 by an act introduced in parliament by the home secretary, sir robert peel (hence the nicknames “bobbies” and “peelers” for policemen).