We happen to live within a mile of the largest metropolitan park in America.

Griffith Park is in Los Angeles and for the most part is wild with many miles of hiking trails. A lot of wild animals inhabit this park as they always have. Many of our neighbors who live right next to the park regularly spot deer in their yards, especially during the drier months. We've never seen a deer in our yard, but we regularly see coyotes (mostly in the evening and early am), raccoons, skunks, possums, squirrels, red tailed hawks and owls. In fact, there's a family of hawks nesting in a pine tree across the street at our uphill neighbors as I write this. So there's a lot of wild life in our area.

We have three male cats (Leo, Desi and Miles) who are ex-feral and from the same litter. They are indoor/outdoor cats but sleep with my wife and I at night.

We've had a family of Raccoons living in our backyard for about a year now and our cats seem to coexist peacefully with them. There is a mother raccoon and her 3 offspring. By now I can't tell the difference between mama and her young because they are all the same size. We often see the cats and coons together around dusk in the lower patio of our backyard. I always keep a huge bowl of fresh water in the patio for the wild animals of our neighborhood.

Now for the interesting observation. I often put a double bowl of dry cat food outside our den door. When the coons are around at night I like to take the cat bowl out and have them watch me fill the bowls. They watch from a few feet away and will start eating when I go back inside. I always leave the door open so I can watch. Now here's the kicker. Sometimes I see Leo, Desi or Miles eating out of one side of the double bowl and one of the coons eating out of the other side with no problems. But as soon as 2 coons try to share the double bowl, a fight breaks out. And a noisy one at that.

What does this tell us about sibling rivalry? Over the years, in the months of January and February, my wife and I would be awakened around 5 or 6 in the AM to the excruciating sound of raccoons mating.

At first I was reluctant to feed the raccoons because of our cats. One evening, last year, just before dark I happened to look down at the lower patio and there was Leo and Desi touching noses with the four coons. I couldn't believe what I saw especially remembering back when the then feral kittens were frightened by a raccoon that stuck it's head inside our den.

My three homeboys are obviously friends with the coons even though the coons are three times the size of our cats. So I get a kick out of feeding them. They have the cutest faces and when I talk to them they stand upright on their hind legs like they were trying to comprehend me better. They eat with their paws and if there is a bowl of water close by (there usually is), they will dunk the dry food in the water before putting it in their mouth. The coons are used to me now but will back off a little when they see my wife.

All my cats can detect a coyote at least a 1/4 mile away because of their feral upbringing. If they happen to be outside at the time, they scurry into the front yard which is inaccessible to a coyote. If they happen to be in the house they will crawl (with their bellies scraping the floor) under a couch or downstairs under the bed (a favorite). When they are in the house I always know when the coyotes are around.

Last night around 2:00AM a terrific fight broke out among the coons right outside (wouldn't you know it) our bedroom window that seemed to go on and off for around 30 minutes. It was loud enough to wake the neighbors. Our homeboys who sleep with us every night really freaked. They spent the next two hours UNDER the bed.

Copyright © Bill Franks
April 6, 2002