Heard this God awful noise coming from the kitchen last night. Jack had been in the armoire most of the day, so I suspected he wasnt feeling his best. Asked DH where was Jack? as he too was rising to check out this noise. Found Jack rammed behind his tree house, flat against the cold glass of the slider (its snowing out) and nose to nose with a raccoon! He was beating the snot out of the glass trying to kill that thing. He meant for it to be pummeled. No wonder he is tired all day, he hunts all night!

He spent most of the night going back to his window till he was so cold he was a catcicle and then he would come jump in bed till he was warm. Silly cat! I guess he is feeling better.

That must have been something!

We have a potting table near our outside dining room windows.

One early 6am our late Tippy saw another cat sitting on HER table. We don't have alot of cats visiting normally. Tippy was one for running around the house at night looking out windows. She left nose prints on all of them, and that is how we figured it out. We do have raccoons and possums and other animals like skunks.

Well, we had just gotten up and were stumbling around, and a huge earsplitting scream the likes of which we had never heard before came from the dining room. It wasn't full sun up yet, and we thought someone was DYING. Tippy was about 10 yrs old then, not a new cat by any means. She was totally bonkers, and the volume she put out surprised all three of us!
She never made a sound when other critters were in our yard, but this cat, who was escaped indoor cat from down the way, was definitely worthy of the MEGA scream!

So I can just imagine Jack... must have been some experience!

When I read the title my heart stopped! I thought for sure Jack had been seriously hurt. Glad to hear there was glass between him and the raccoon! I'm also glad to hear he is seeming to be his old self.

My cats have done that when a strange cat appears on the patio. It's the scariest sound to wake up to. It almost sounds like a person screaming. They won't do it for other animals like possums and racoons but let a strange cat appear and they yell. Funny, though......the ferals that live in the barn come and go and all they do is sit and watch. Guess thet've accepted them as family by now.

Well of course they're family. Your indoor cats see you taking care of and feeding them. Their Mama didn't raise no stupid cat..

How nice that Jack seems to be feeling like himself again!

My cat Phoebe is scared of raccoons--as well she might be because the ones I've seen around here are all about three times her size.

I understand raccoons can do serious damage to pet dogs and cats. I hope for Jack's sake that he'll switch to bird-watching--much less risky for him.

I was sitting at my desk.....reading here on NT......and I kept hearing a rattling sound outside the back door. I'd get up to see what it was and didn't see a cat or a dog....just figured it was me hearing things again. Heard it again and tiptoed to the window and there was a baby possum eating some dry cat food that had been left out. I usually take all leftover food inside before dark but I must have left one little bowl. He was so cute...and so little.....just sitting there all by himself holding the little bowl with his front feet so it wouldn't move around. I let him finish and then brought the bowl inside. Bless his heart....he was hungry, too.

possums have the cutest paws. That is about all that is cute on them though!

In snow, or mud, they look like little baby human hands! (the tracks they leave). They have little or no fur on them.

It is kind of you to let him eat too!

I know.....he was so cute from the view I had - his back! His pointy little nose sort of spoiled the cuteness but his little hands were adorable.

Possums seem to be kind of slow - intellectually as well as physically. He knew what he was doing, though. I made sure to bring in all the dishes the cats had used that day because I don't want the cats and the critters to have a chance meeting at night and possibly get into a fight. All of the outside cats are twice as big as this little guy is, anyway.

When we moved here as young early twenty somethings...
after the Vietnam war... I had never been exposed to critters.

Neither of us.... LOL

We learned the raccoon screams during Feb. Mating season, the trilling and chirping of the babies in spring.
We had a huge possum that walked around in the dark along our screened in porch...we couldn't see him, but he sure did WHEEZE. So we called him Weezer. Our cats learned quickly about the 'coons. One summer night we saw two on our back porch( the screened in one with the cat door), with all 3 cats sitting on chairs, watching the coons look for crumbs. Neither bothered the other. It was amazing.

One year we had little possum babies on a bush branch over the path, and all were hanging there by their tails. As we walked under we heard hissing...looked up and there they were. Just like in a Disney movie. I wish I had my digital camera then...which takes pictures in the dark, of all things.

Possums do hiss, and their faces are pretty ugly! But their little "feets" are very cute! I think they have massive survival skills to live in our area, as they do in the winter. It can't be easy with those paws. If the snow is shallow enough their little hands melt outlines of them, and are fascinating to look at.