Ronny Gets Moved Outdoors

Ronny was larger now. Summer was upon us and Ronny was in need of a true outside experience.

His antics had increased to non-stop. Keeping up with him in the house was a chore. He was also becoming very nocturnal. Nighttime was now investigation time.

So we built a new cage. One that would sit on our deck, near the back door, where he would stay day and night. But he was rarely in his cage. Most of the time he was following me around getting into things.

In the evenings, when hubby and daughter were home Ronny joined us outside his cage, running up and down little trees, squashing the five kittens, who by coincidence were the same age as Ronny. Only smaller.

His favorite afternoon caper was to chase the kittens up a small tree and see how far out on a limb they would go. Ronny would only go so far out on a branch. I think he knew he was too heavy for the ends. But the kittens weren't and they would dangle from the ends of the young branches like Christmas tree ornaments on a windy day.

Another week and the kittens and Ronny were of one mind. Food and frolic. After a round of chasing, first Ronny after the kittens, then the kittens after Ronny, required a respite and a bite to eat. When they'd gotten their second wind, Ronny's next favorite stunt was to stand over the kittens and then flop down upon them, smashing the kittens under his belly. No harm done. The kittens loved it and would dart out from underneath him and then beg for more. When they got tired, they would scoot through the latticework under the deck, through holes that Ronny was a tad too big to get through.

Next we ended up with two outside cages for the deck. One of our neighbors had found a little girl raccoon about the same age as Ronny. She was found in a piece of outdoor furniture from a garage sale, after she had hitched a ride in a pickup.

Wild Willie (female)

We named her Willie. She was identical to Ronny but lighter in color. And WILD! It was hard to care for Willie because she was a vicious little soul. She used her sharp teeth and charging stance the way raccoons are supposed to. To protect themselves and frighten away prey.

Ronny would have loved nothing better than to be in the same cage with Willie. He was so friendly. But Willie was anything but friendly and when he tried to get close to her all he would get for his charm, was a slobbery hiss in his face. But that didn't stop him. He was just satisfied that he had a fellow member of his species nearby. Eventually, they played patty-fingers with their delicate little fingers between the wires of their cages.

Not long after that, the sun became too intense on the deck and their little cages were confining as both Ronny and Willie were growing literally inches a day. We built a tall cage for Ronny, four by five feet, and placed it in the shade of the oaks and next to a stand of lilac bushes. So no matter how hot the days got, they were comfortable.

We kept Willie in her smaller cage. We knew we would never be able to handle her. She was already imprinted by her mother. So we put her next to Ronny's new, larger cage and left her door open. She spent her days in the large oak trees above the house, but always came down to eat and sometimes sleep in her cage. It was the best we could do for her. Give her as much of ourselves as we could, but not interfere with her wild nature.

Willie hung around for several weeks, and then disappeared. My biggest worry was the road in front of our house.

In the meantime, Ronny continued to thrive.