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| Image via The Graphics Fairy |
I've been slightly obsessed with raccoons lately.
Hang on a minute - do "slightly" and "obsessed" go together? Isn't an obsession a full-on thing? Hmm...not sure, but let's go with "slightly obsessed" because a full-on obsession with raccoons sounds kind of weird. A slight obsession just sounds a bit kooky.
So, anyway, back to the raccoons. I have a bit in the current draft of my next cozy mystery, Bodies in the Boatyard, which talks about teaching sign language to raccoons. I mentioned it on Facebook last week and immediately got an email from my mother which said, "Raccoons can read."
Now, how many of you think raccoons can read? Go on, raise your hand if you do. Make sure to hold it up in front of the camera on your computer so I can see.
1, 2, 3...Sorry I lost count. But I do know some of you didn't have your hands up. Sounds like you need some convincing. So here you go, proof that they can read.
Once upon a time, we had a bunch of raccoons hanging around our house causing trouble, as only raccoons can do. It got a bit tiresome, so we wanted them to get out of dodge.
{This is where my mother comes in. I bet you were wondering if we'd get back to that.}
So my mom typed up a recipe for raccoon stew and taped it up to the sliding glass window. She made sure to put it at raccoon-level height so they could read it easily. Which they did, cause they stopped coming around after that. Would you hang out someplace where they prominently displayed a recipe for human stew? Of course not. Raccoons aren't stupid either.
If you ever wondered where I got my sense of humor from, I think it's safe to say that that question has been answered now.
By the way, does anyone know what do you call a group of raccoons? A herd, a pod, a troop, a gang, or something else? My mom wants to know.
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At least she didn't have to really try that recipe.
ReplyDeleteAh, but she actually has tried raccoon. Not the ones at our house though. I think once was enough for her.
DeleteFun facts! Not sure if this is true because I got it off the internet but a group of raccoons is called A Gaze.
ReplyDeleteHere is some others:
A crash of rhinoceroses
A corps of giraffes
A bloat of hippopotamuses
A business of flies
A parliament of owls
A plum of seals
And …
A glaring of cats - Really - I confirmed this one with Wikipedia, they can also be called A clowder (Did you know this?)
You are always good when it comes to fun facts :-)
DeleteSome of these are great - like a bloat of hippopotamuses. And a glaring of cats sounds very accurate.
I wouldn't put it past those little boogers. They're waaaay too smart. I suspect if you set two clearly marked bags outside, one that says "cat food" and the other that says "plant food," they'll rip open the cat food every time. Oh, who am I kidding? They'll rip 'em BOTH open... just because they can.
ReplyDeleteThey are crafty little devils :-)
DeleteSo you got your sense of humor from your mom. I love your sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteI love all the facts already added. Way cool.
Have a fabulous day and week, Ellen. ♥
Duwan did a great job sharing fun facts :-)
DeleteAccording to "A Compendium of Collective Nouns" by Woop Studios (an awesome book you should check out) groups of raccoons are a gaze, a nursery, and my personal favorite, a mask of raccoons.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to check that book out - sounds fascinating. I love mask of raccoons - perfect description.
DeleteGreat sense of humor, and i do know raccoons have moxie. There’s one that comes to be fed with the cats at Ms. GA’s house.
ReplyDeleteMoxie would be a good collective noun for raccoons too. They certainly have a lot of it.
DeleteI do know Raccoons can swim pretty well and probably climb up any ropes hanging in the water including mooring ropes. We don't have raccoons here in Africa so don't have any experience with them but we do have honey badgers which are incredibly intelligent but very dangerous so don't try to handle them if you do run across them. A group of them is called a company.
ReplyDeleteA group of cats is also called a Glower.
Blessings and happy sailing from Geoff in South Africa.
I didn't know that they could swim. They sometimes get on my boat, but they hop onto it from the dock.
DeleteOkay, that's funny. They get on your boat? Oh, my. They can do a lot of damage. I don't know what a group would be called, aside from a family. ~grin~ I don't think they hang out in any sort of colony. But I have an opinion what they should be called - a pile, as in poop like we used to find on our deck all the time. Heh... Thank you for the kind word on my eyeglass frames. They are true antiques.
ReplyDeleteYour mom is very inventive! Yes, I see where you get it from …
ReplyDeleteLove your mom. Now I am absolutely certain raccoons can read.
ReplyDeleteWe had rabbits hanging around our backyard for the longest time. Then my husband decided he wanted to catch one. Have we had any since? Absolutely not. I think they can read minds… 😉
And I thought I'd heard pretty much everything. I stand corrected. A nasty raccoon chased my dog and tried to bite his butt. Apparently they don's like labs running at them or running in general unless it involves an old lab that need to learn a lesson.
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
I saw for groups of raccoons "gaze" and "nursery" which others have pointed out in comments. I didn't see "mask" but that's a cool one. I think whether a raccoon can read depends if they belong to a "nursery" or a "gaze." The ones in the nursery can't read yet
ReplyDeleteAw, I guess I'm one of the few here who loves to see raccoons. I know they can be destructive, but they're so darn cute. And the babies! If I ever saw raccoon babies in real life, I'd probably die of cuteness.
ReplyDelete