The spouse speaks: Raccoons may be smarter than my husband.

Eric said to "beer me woman", so why not split one beer between the subjects and observe the response? Wonder if the human subject or the critters would scream louder for more?

Happy Halloween!!!! Tonight's food is veeeeeeeery scary!!!

I actually found White Castle burgers, frozen, in a "high end" grocery store out here in food obsessed Northern California. It was with some trepidation that I nuked them and plated them. Firefighter Frank described them thus - "At 49 cents they're the cheapest laxative in the world that works in 15 minutes. Our raccoons love them. Just stay upwind."

As some of you may know, when not searching for E.T. Eric studies the Interstellar Medium. The Interstellar Medium is basically the gas between the stars. It was not my desire to take up the study of the Interlinen Medium - the gas between the sheets. Nevertheless, in the interest of science, I put aside my fears and proceeded with our experiment.

Human Subject - behavioral observations:

Subject took a bite of one burger, chewed it thoughtfully and swallowed.

Linguistic Response:

Eric: It smells like fried onions.
Angela: No it doesn't.
Eric: It's very salty.
Angela: If you say so.
Eric: It's cold in the middle, nuke it some more.
Angela: Something wrong with your fingers?
Eric: I've eaten worse things.
Angela: Don't talk about my sister's cooking that way!
Eric: If they had them in the vending machines at work, I'd probably be tempted every six months or so.
Angela: That's probably how long they are shelf stable.
Eric: Try one!
Angela: No way!!! My mama didn't raise no dummy!


Raccoon Subjects - Behavioral Responses

Interloper Mama approached the plate and made off with the first burger before we could even focus the camera. Bravesy took half a burger within half a minute and Interloper Mama came back for the second half shortly thereafter.

Here is a picture of Bravesy making off with a White Castle Burger half.


Here is a picture of bravesy eating a White Castle Burger.


Score: Still tied.
Human subject - one rejection, three consumptions
Raccoons - one rejection, three consumptions

In the interest of science, how about McDonalds breakfast sausage?

We know people eat em cause McDonalds sells them.

I bet the racoons try to bury them. At least that's what my dog tried to do with one after I gave it to him.

Squeeze Cheese may be another one of those fake foods to try experimenting with.

As some of you may know, when not searching for E.T. Eric studies the Interstellar Medium. The Interstellar Medium is basically the gas between the stars. It was not my desire to take up the study of the Interlinen Medium - the gas between the sheets. Nevertheless, in the interest of science, I put aside my fears and proceeded with our experiment.

Buy a chunk of Lard and try that. I'd bet they love fat.

Great threat Angela and thank you :D. I'm learning about new and interesting types of (ahem) foods. Not to sure if i would be interested in trying some though.
____________

Wanted to do the Spam thing tonight, but Eric was not in the mood. Hmmmm, that sounds dirtier than I intended. Anyway, he promised to try fried Spam for breakfast tomorrow and I will serve the same to the raccoons tomorrow evening. In the meanwhile, here is something to keep you amused.

Fondly,

Angela

You could always try the ultimate in shelf-stable food on your subjects lutefisk and see which ones will eat it.

From the Norwegian Ole & Lena Joke book:
"Well, we tried the lutefisk trick and the raccoons went away, but now we've got a family of Norwegians living under our house!"

You could always try the ultimate in shelf-stable food on your subjects lutefisk and see which ones will eat it.

From the Norwegian Ole & Lena Joke book:
"Well, we tried the lutefisk trick and the raccoons went away, but now we've got a family of Norwegians living under our house!"

Sunday Breakfast at the Korpela Homestead - Spam, spam, biscuits, eggs and spam


Human Subject

Behavioral Observations: The subject took the tiniest of bites, chewed thoughtfully and gingerly, then swallowed painfully.

Linguistic Response:

Eric: It is somewhat blander than I remember.
Angela: Spam, spam, spam, spam...
Eric: This was served with regularity in our elementary school lunchroom.
Angela: Spam, spam, spam, spam...
Eric: The lunch lady called it "Glazed Ham Luncheon Loaf"
Angela: Spamity spam, wonderful spam!
Eric: For a shelf stable meat product, it is not that bad.
Angela: Lovely spam. Wonderful Spam, spam, spam, spam...

Analysis:

I do not think I can classify this food as "eaten" by my human subject. He sampled less than a quarter of one of the three slices I served him.

It seems that I am discovering some methodological problems with my experiment. I did not start off with clear operational definitions of what constitutes "eaten" and what constitutes "rejected".

Since my human subject was only offered a modest amount of Spam, and then he only nibbled tiny sample pieces of the food, I think I am going to have to classify this one as "rejected".

Eric fed some of his Spam to one of our cats. Here is a picture of White Cat.


Yes, we know she is not actually a white cat. Anyway, it is no surprise that W.C. ate the Spam. This is the kind of kitty who thinks she can find love at the bottom of a food bowl. You know the type, I am sure.

I diced up the remainder of Eric's rejected Spam and fed it to a feral cat, who pretty much acted like it was the Best Breakfast Ever!!!!!

Raccoon Subjects:

One of Interloper Mama's rejected babies grabbed a piece of Spam almost immediately. The raccoon made off with the Spam and consumed it in the shadowy recesses of our back yard. We could hear the munching, but we could not get a good photo. Something startled the raccoon and he/she left our yard. About an hour later the same raccoon returned. He/she ate the second piece in the dark again.

Here is a picture of the raccoon seizing the third piece of Spam, spam, spam, spam...


The fourth piece was consumed shortly thereafter.

Score:
Human - 2 rejections, 3 consumptions
Raccoons - 1 rejection, 4 consumtions

Anyone got money riding on the ultimate outcome?

Fondly,
Angela

I actually found White Castle burgers, frozen, in a "high end" grocery store out here in food obsessed Northern California.

Hi Angela,

I've been following your posts with avid interest. You have a family of raccoons that live under your decking??? Thats absolutely amazing! All we get around here in south London is mangy foxes. I think they are absolutely gorgeous looking and I wish I lived where you do. White cat looks a little bit of a tabby to me, and that's nice that you feed a couple of stray (feral) cats. Anyone who likes animals, especially cats, is a friend of mine.

As to this 'ere other half of yours, well I think you have my commiserations really. Doesn't seem to eat much of what you cook does he? Too many biscuits at work with Matt probably!

Sunday at the Korpela homestead looks rather nice actually, posh plate, nice cutlery, trendy tiled brekkie bar, want a lodger?

Only kidding Mrs K :-))

____________
Damsel Rescuer, Kitty Patron, Raccoon Friend, Uli Fan,
Julie Supporter, ES99 Admirer, PETA Member, 1st Childhood

...
Linguistic Response:

Eric: It smells like fried onions.
Angela: No it doesn't.
Eric: It's very salty.
Angela: If you say so.
Eric: It's cold in the middle, nuke it some more.
Angela: Something wrong with your fingers?
Eric: I've eaten worse things.
Angela: Don't talk about my sister's cooking that way!
Eric: If they had them in the vending machines at work, I'd probably be tempted every six months or so.
Angela: That's probably how long they are shelf stable.
Eric: Try one!
Angela: No way!!! My mama didn't raise no dummy!

...

Hi Angela, [snippppp] trendy tiled brekkie bar, want a lodger?

Only kidding Mrs K :-))