Boating Raccoons

We put the boat in the water yesterday. We've had to have a new cover made for it. Two years ago we were out for some lunch. The poodles were happy as they love going on the boat. But they were also very interested in a part of the rear where they spent the trip sniffing - a lot!

When we returned to the dock I happened to lift the rear hatch and an angry raccoon stuck his head up. No doubt he was cross that we hadn't offered him any lunch. He had a lot of "attitude," so I withdrew and did the manly thing. That is report the incident to the dock master and let him deal with it.

Last year on a trip to gas up, another of these little rascals hitched a ride and that meant a repeat - back to the dock and withdraw with as much dignity as possible.  No matter how much I tried to cover the boat, or moor it in the center of the dock, raccoons came aboard. They seemed very fond of my particular boat. They never fouled it or tore it to ribbons which they are quite capable of. They just liked being in it. But then so do we.

Therefore I decided to solve the problem the old-fashioned, American way - throw some money at it. A fine lady, who does all types of canvas work, has made a new tight fitting cover, with snaps every nine inches. We'll hope that this is beyond the capabilities of little rodent fingers.  I do wonder, can Raccoons ever be domesticated?