Update 2010.01.03: Corrected all links to the old Gowanus Lounge domain to the new memorial domain.
I know it’s summer when the fireflies are out in force. As are the raccoons (Procyon lotor).
Both made their first appearance in the backyard about two weeks ago: just two fireflies, and just one raccoon. Tonight, multiple fireflies in everyone’s yards, front and back. And a family of raccoons, as we get every year. I saw three little ones at once. I saw the adult separately.
Here are, I think, two of the young’uns, one in a tree, and one on the ground. It could also be the same young raccoon. The one in the tree climbed down, shortly after which the “other” appeared on the ground.
The groundling was very curious about my camera, and came within four feet of me before it realized the camera was attached to a person.
Gowanus Lounge recently reported on raccoons sighted in Carroll Gardens. Some folks raised concerns about rabies. I left the following comment:
We love our Brooklyn raccoons!
They are annual visitors to our backyard. And our kitchen on the second floor. They climbed my neighbor’s apple tree to get there. They don’t scale building walls, they climb trees and other structures.
They’re scavengers, looking for easy grub. Don’t leave pet food outside. Don’t feed stray and feral cats and dogs. Keep garbage cans and compost bins and piles covered.
As for rabies, Brooklyn is the best off of all the five boroughs, with only 5 animal cases detected in the past 15 years; the most recent, in 2005, was a bat. Rabies is endemic in the Bronx and Staten Island.
Related Posts
Links
- Gowanus Lounge: Carroll Gardens Raccoon Alert: He/She is Up in a Tree
- NYC Department of Health: Rabies (Hydrophobia)
- Wikipedia: Raccoon
Old news
- Attacked by Raccoons, New York Times, September 12, 1897