Pixel and the Raccoon
Our older calico cat Tupper has been an indoor/outdoor cat for as long as we have had her. Years
ago we got a special cat door for her. It has two flaps, one on the interior wall and one on the exterior, and a tunnel
that goes through the wall. The door works great. The two flaps
keep the wind from ever blowing it open. It took awhile to teach Tupper to
use it. For years she has been able to come and go at any time.
Pixel and Shadow, the two burmese cats, are indoor only cats. Despite watching Tupper use the door every day they have never
been able to figure out the cat door. To them it is wall magic. They are cute, but that doesn't
always mean smart. So, we just leave it open at night.
Last month, when Shadow, our
gray burmese, was sick, I heard a horrible racket, thumping and
bumping, coming from the kitchen. Normally, when I heard such a thing,
I would roll over and go back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that,
once again, it was just the cats playing loudly. It takes two cats to make noise like that. But, I knew Tupper
would never play with Pixel and Shadow was too sick to play that
loud. So, I got out of bed.
I found Pixel, the brown
burmese, in the door of our bedroom nervously looking down the hall.
The back half of his little body was poised to make a fast
retreat. His head was poking out our bedroom door just far enough to
see down the hallway toward the kitchen. When I entered the hallway,
and peered down it, I saw this giant raccoon in our kitchen,
by the cat food! Obviously raccoons are smarter than burmese cats.
For a split second I looked at
the raccoon, and it looked at me, then zoom! It ran out the cat door. Tupper was
just sitting in a chair as if this happens all the time. Then, I
realized, it probably does! I ran after the raccoon and turned on the back yard
flood lights. The raccoon just stood there looking at me as if to
say, "what, you got a problem?" Then, slowly, he started walking away
into the night. Pixel went to the door and looked into the darkness. He
seemed quite relieved.
We now keep the cat door locked
at night! We have never heard the noise again. Now there is a heck of
a smudge now on the inside of the interior cat door. I suspect the
raccoon tried to make a quick entrance, only to find it blocked.
2:06:55 PM 
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