That's really nice - I envy you the raccoons - nice to have smart
wildlife.
Yes, we buy cheap bags of apples and loaves of stale bread to keep up
with the critters - the Cockatoos demand it and will follow you
around the house during the day, tapping on the windows with their
beaks to get your attention.
We buy about three kilos of raw pet meat per week to feed the
kookaburras, magpies and butcher birds. There are about eight in the
kooka family at present and they are mostly quite tame - I call them
the 'chooks' (chickens). They line up on the rail outside the kitchen
in morning and evening and make baby calls at us - it's a scene
reminiscent of Hitchcock at times. The magpies are quite bold and
will walk into the kitchen a few feet. They repay with a magnificent
song, as do the butcher birds which are a thrush-size member of the
same family and prefer to catch piece of meat thrown into the air.
I've trapped and released marsupials for research (cage and tunnel
traps) and almost without exception, they''ll go for a mixture of
muesli, honey and peanut butter (as would I) with the addition of a
little fish oil sometimes to increase pungency. Don't try it on your
racoons - if they get to like it, it'll cost you a fortune. Cheaper
than shoes though.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.pbase.com/afildes
On 08/03/2006, at 1:25 AM, Walt Wayman wrote:
> Our 'possums will eat dang near anything. We have four or five
> raccoons who climb up on our back deck each night and come stand at
> the glass sliding doors on the kitchen end waiting for their
> nightly handouts. 'Coons can be picky eaters, especially if as
> well fed as ours are. For instance, they aren't real fond of
> veggies, love meat and sweets and white bread. We buy an average
> of 6 to 8 loaves of bread a week just for them. They give us dirty
> looks if we run out of white and give them whole wheat, which they
> eat grudgingly while trying to look pitiful and deprived, just like
> little children. The 'possums sometimes come with them, but
> usually arrive later, and anything the coons refuse to eat, the
> 'possums scarf down and ask for more. I don't think we've ever
> left anything out that wasn't gone the next morning, including the
> left half of a pair of deerskin moccasins a couple of years ago.
>
> Walt
>
> --
> "Anything more than 500 yards from
> the car just isn't photogenic." --
> Edward Weston
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Wayne Harridge" <wayneharridge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>
>>> The tamest I've seen was a female that let me check the naked
>>> baby in
>>> the pouch while she was eating the sandwich I made her - they adore
>>> apples, peanut butter and berry jam sandwiches and muesli bars. Some
>>> people declare war on them as they have a taste for rose buds (best
>>> use for roses in my view).
>>
>> I've had them walk into the garage when I've been working there at
>> night
>> with the door open. I think any food I have given them has been
>> eaten,
>> biscuits, bread various fruits & vegetables, haven't tried them
>> with any
>> meat dishes though. They're very cute and I've only been nipped a
>> few times
>> when trying to feed them pieces of food which were too small.
>>
>> ...Wayne
>>
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