"Someone is on the boat!" James Island Gang

erps · #1 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

So we left La Conner early on Friday and it paid off. We managed to get the float at James Island State Park for two nights. On the second night, I'm sleeping soundly when Sandy grabs my arm and says "someone is on the boat!" I tell her she's nuts and to go back to sleep. She said "no, I heard the companion way door rattle." Grabbed the flashlight off the wall above the bunk and shine it aft towards the galley and I see the companion way door ajar and hear scampering on the deck. Get up to investigate and find that a raccoon had come on board, opened the companion way doors, climbed down the stairs and got into the trash can that is stowed behind the ladder. It grabbed a bag of leftovers after dumping some coffee grounds onto the floor and took the bag of booty back outside to the cockpit.

Cleaned up the mess and then latched the companion way doors and went back to bed. We heard it walking around on the deck about a half hour later but then it left. The next morning I'm talking to our dock mates and find that three raccoons had been down on a raid. They tipped over one guy's cooler and got into another fellow's boat and made off with some marinated meats. We've experienced the raccoons of James Island before, but I never thought they would actually come inside the boat. We've seen the tracks in the morning from past visits where the raccoons walked around to each deck hatch to peek or sniff inside, including the hatch right above our bunk. That kind of creeped Sandy out a bit.

Oh, and Buddy the Boston Terrier slept through the whole thing. He's fired. No more popcorn for him.

BubbleheadMd · #2 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Absolutely hilarious.

Faster · #3 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Ray... title fixed (will send mailing address for your cheque via PM

)

Newcastle Island in Nanaimo is another place you need to secure your hatches from Racoon invasions.. a friend had dog food in an aft cabin and two racoons got in through one of those cockpit opening ports (left open and unscreened). This too woke the occupants and he got up to investigate.. opened the aft cabin door and startled the two helping themselves to kibbles.

One boogied out the same way they came in, but the other turned on the owner and ultimately bit him quite badly on the thumb. This necessitated a trip to Nanaimo hospital for a rabies shot.

Oh... their dog didn't sleep through it, but leapt into the forward berth with 'mamma"....

tdw · #4 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faster

Ray... title fixed (will send mailing address for your cheque via PM

)

Newcastle Island in Nanaimo is another place you need to secure your hatches from Racoon invasions.. a friend had dog food in an aft cabin and two racoons got in through one of those cockpit opening ports (left open and unscreened). This too woke the occupants and he got up to investigate.. opened the aft cabin door and startled the two helping themselves to kibbles.

One boogied out the same way they came in, but the other turned on the owner and ultimately bit him quite badly on the thumb. This necessitated a trip to Nanaimo hospital for a rabies shot.

Oh... their dog didn't sleep through it, but leapt into the forward berth with 'mamma"....

Hey...how come I just fixed the same problem ?

Faster · #5 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdw

Hey...how come I just fixed the same problem ?

OK.. we'll share the fee - unless you'd prefer Ray send a cheque to the "Save the Racoons Society" in lieu!

jrd22 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Ray- Blakely Island sends all our "bad" raccoons to James Island for "rehabilitation". Sounds like they need a bit more time before they come home.

Faster · #7 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

John - do you know if James Island will accept Canadian Racoons?

tdw · #8 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faster

OK.. we'll share the fee - unless you'd prefer Ray send a cheque to the "Save the Racoons Society" in lieu!

Well I guess they must be distantly related to the clan Wombat....

jrd22 · #9 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Faster- sure, more the merrier, right Ray?

Hartley18 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-03-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdw

Well I guess they must be distantly related to the clan Wombat....

Outside of American movies I have no direct experience with Racoons, but methinks a Wombat would be a tad larger. If you guys think a Racoon is a bad thing to have on a boat, perhaps you should try a Wombat some time. I'm sure he'd damn-near sink you and your Dog would be overside in a heartbeat!!

I'm curious: To date nobodys posted how these little critters get on board in the first place. Can someone enlighten me?