Pacific Northwest Gardening: Fauna of the NW, 1 by Poochella

Poochella wrote:
I got the cougar-deer photo in an email. I don't know who took it but they deserve kudos, nor do I know the camera set up. I know I won't go into the woods at night though!

For some reason, we just don't have racoons here. Could be the dogs hanging around all the time, I suppose. One night I heard our dog relentlessly barking and when investigating why, I was met by a very unhappy growling/hissing from under our deck. We have fenced in that area to keep housecats safe while they get fresh air and a ground eye view of squirrels and birds etc. So the 'kitty corral' contained some unhappy camper.

I ran downstairs to the window access to the corral and found this quarry (below.) He was really mad he couldn't find the way out again! And I've long ago sealed up the way he apparently got in. That's the only racoon I've seen anywhere near us in 16 years. Odd isn't it? No opossums either. We did/do have a resident bobcat that practically lived in our neighbors' yard hunting squirrels, so that may account for the lack of opossums at least.