By dropping a large, master planned housing development in the middle of the woods, Washington State Fish and Wildlife officers say you would expect to see wildlife. There have been plenty of wildlife issues during the 16 years Snoqualmie Ridge has existed.
Bears, and their love of unsecured garbage cans, tend to get the most attention, but there are also cougar sightings every now-and-then, regular deer sightings and coyotes howling on the trails.
Last week, though, a new wildlife issue entered Snoqualmie Ridge resident, Laura Flodin’s, backyard – raccoons. 
Laura resides near Cascade View Elementary, close to, but not neighboring wooded areas. Tuesday, February 25, 2014, a raccoon entered her fenced yard and attacked her family cat of 14 years. On Saturday, March 1st, the family pet died from its injuries.
As it turned out, the raccoon wasn’t living in the woods about 50 feet away. Rather, it had created a den under her back neighbor’s deck some 30 feet away. Those neighbors are now in the process of trying to get rid of the hissing mother raccoon and her three cubs.
Laura said she’s learned a few things about raccoons from the exterminator working to rid her neighbors yard of the protective momma raccoon. She hopes these things will spare others the sadness of losing a loved family pet.
Raccoon Info
Raccoons are not nocturnal and are out and about during the day. They have little fear of humans (especially if cornered), loud noises or even scare tactics. They have become unafraid of humans and are used to being fed in urban areas.
According to the exterminator, even if her neighborhood were to eliminate their three raccoons, three more would likely show up. You cannot completely eliminate raccoon issues, but you can make it safer for pets and potentially small children by doing a few things:
- Secure your garbage just as you would to prevent bear activity.
- Pick up your animal’s droppings everyday. Raccoons are attracted to it.
- Do NOT feed raccoons. They are cute, but they are dangerous and can carry disease.
- Secure bird feeders so they cannot access bird seed.
Washington Fish and Wildlife also recommend keeping pets in at night and feeding them indoors. They also say to place food scraps in only secured yard waste containers and keep barbeques clean.
Nearby Raccoon Activity
The same week, on February 24th, around 3PM, Snoqualmie Police responded to a home a few blocks from Laura’s neighborhood on SE Scott Street, when a resident reported what was thought to be a growling, possibly injured bear in the homeowner’s backyard bushes. Officers, though, discovered a hissing raccoon.
For more information about living with raccoons, visit the Washington State Department of Wildlife.
Comments
Gotta admit – they are cute! But our years on our farm above the Weyerhaeuser mill site taught us to not be miss-lead by their cuteness. They skillfully pack hunt, kill for the fun of it, and all too often begin to eat their prey while it is still alive. We never lost a cat – but many ducks and chickens. Actually, we once had a pet cat come out of the woods without its tail. Close call! The vet sewed up the stub and the cat didn’t seem to miss her tail at all.
Thank you for publishing this Danna… I hope it brings awareness to the Community. I would hate for someone else to suffer the sadness and loss of losing a beloved family pet. Hopefully this will help.
Hi Hope this article helps everyone else, and scary to know they were right next door and NOT in the woods!!!Our thoughts are with the Flodin Family! Tough Times 🙁
Laura and her cat had an amazing relationship. It was one that only people that knew Hannuman (Laura’s cat) and saw how they interacted on a daily basis could understand. We are trying to move forward this week with our daily activities but there is sadness in the air. Our neighbors have rallied around this issue and we are all standing vigil to make sure our kids and family pets are kept safe.