Behind Cellar Doors

Having raccoons in the cellar isn’t all fun and games, let me tell you. You know all those cute animal videos you see on Facebook and YouTube where the pet can open the door or get out of their cage, and you laugh and aw respectively because it’s cute? Well I changed my mind, it’s not cute.  Someone’s dog came over and taught the neighborhood raccoons how to do these tricks and it’s costing me!

We’ve had raccoon problems for a while, but never in the house.  It’s usually just an overturned trashcan here and an empty bird feeder there, but never anything severe enough that I wanted to do anything about it.  Until last month, when I started seeing evidence of an animal in my cellar.  It seemed crazy at the time because the only way to get down there was through a cellar door on the side of the house, and animals can’t open those things! Right?  Yeah, I totally believed so I just tidied up the little mess that I found and said that was that, until two days ago. I went on a week-long getaway with my sister-in-law and expected my house to be in tip top shape when I got home, and I was sorely disappointed.

Pulling into my driveway, already slightly perturbed because of a rough flight – I had a three year old sitting behind me and we all know how that goes – and it only got worse from there. Not only were the trashcans I had left on the curb knocked over and all the contents ripped apart and strewn across the yard, but there were two raccoons slinking out of the cellar that I caught red handed.  Furious, I jumped out of my car and chased them away before I stormed into my cellar, flashlight in hand, to find it completely trashed (literally).  The garbage from outside was littering the floor, cans of food were knocked over, jars were broken, and maybe worse of all feces was everywhere! It smelled worse than a county fair porta potty! I was livid. It took me until about an hour ago to get the place cleaned up and smelling presentable.  Now I’m on the phone with a locksmith and a trapper to take care of the door and the raccoons.  That’s the last time I catch any animals in my cellar!

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