Chaoui and Baby

Just as our children grow older, and the photo ops happen less often, the same holds true for raccoons. Again, who would believe that this young adult coon and elderly doggie would play together? This is their morning ritual in my room while I check my email . . . before I have to put her outside for misbehaving.

Chaoui is getting more and more aggressive in her play with Baby. It has been a wonderful experience raising Chaoui, but I am learning that you cannot remove the “wild” from a wild animal, even when you have been its mommy from one week old.

She is slowing gaining her independence from us. She spends more time outdoors now, which is a good thing because she literally tears the house apart. Even though she is a mix between a dog and a cat, she is way more hyper than either one of those domesticates. She has not bitten any of us, but we are very cautious now when we handle her, respecting the fact that she is, indeed, a wild thing.

Chaoui has been spending her nights outdoors, possibly sleeping in our attic, where she was born. Every morning, I open the kitchen door and call her. She shimmies down from the roof, onto a light fixture just above the door. I reach my hand up to her and she slides down my arm and lets me carry her into the house. I feed her breakfast of dog food, she eats, and then proceeds to find Baby and terrorize her.

She outweighs baby, now. Chaoui tires of this play more quickly and moves on to tearing the house apart. These photos were taken on one of the last mornings that I allowed her to terrorize Baby. Sadly, I had to move her food dishes to the porch, because she is quite aggressive when it comes to protecting her food now. I’m afraid her days as a “house coon” are numbered!