I was a bit shocked to find myself face-to-face with the biggest racoon I had ever seen in the aisleway of my horse barn. It was one of the few days we had during the winter when the temperature was a bit above freezing and some of our snow had melted.
It surprised me, as we usually don't have varmints in our barn.
However, since our neighbor stopped trapping such things we have tightened up our belt with stuff that attracts racoons, possums, and skunks so we don't have unwelcome guests. We don't feed any grain outside and we never leave feed pans (that may have a bit of grain pellets left) lying around. Likewise, our cat food is in a stall, where we close the door at night (the prime time when most of these animals are active).
But this was the middle of the day. And there he was in all of his racoon glory. I couldn't help but think he was beyond beautiful!
What was unusual with this one in our horse barn was that instead of running away as I walked toward him (my attempt to shoo him out of the barn) he came closer. He didn't threaten me by hissing or anything. It was like he wanted me to pet him and momentarily I wondered if he by chance was someone's pet?
I have always been partial to racoons. It started a long time ago when on a first-grade school trip to Deer Forest (a popular animal attraction that just recently closed its doors for good) I bought a racoon tail. I just loved that thing and carried it with me everywhere.
Not wanting to take any chances that Mr. Racoon might try to bite or claw me as I upped my antics to get him to leave—I grabbed our plastic pitchfork and put it between us as I walked into him. Eventually I got him down our barn aisle and out through the big front door which was open. I immediately shut the door, and I assumed he would wander off.
Imagine my surprise when a few minutes later my mare Lola freaked out in her run-in. I opened the door to see Mr. Racoon just inches from her! I immediately went into "mother mode" and took my leg and booted him out of her run-in door and then shut it.
Not taking the chance that he would re-enter the barn from the back run-in door, which was open, I shut that one, too. I kept the barn closed up for the rest of the afternoon, even though our visitor did wander away. The last I saw of him he was by the manure pile, which is a ways from the barn.
Although racoons are not as big of a concern as possums (possums carry equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, or the EPM virus in their feces) they can carry other diseases and parasites like roundworms, Giardiasis, Leptospirosis, Salmonellosis and rabies. My vet also told me that a racoon behaving this way possibly had distemper.
Not wanting to invite Mr. Racoon, or any of his friends back, we have been even more vigilant about our barn cat food (dry cat food is a big draw for varmints). Now the door to the stall with their food dishes is left open only when we are in the barn.
One thing we might also try is an Ultrasonic Raccoon Repeller. It's equipped with an infrared motion sensor that activates the repeller. The repeller uses electromagnetic technology and emits a range of powerful, deep-penetrating ultrasonic sounds that supposedly scare away a wide variety of varmints.
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