Tricker #10- Final Voyage

      So we continued with Tricker at 1200 LaVista, some, through the summer of 1977 and she reentered the cage(at times) and led a somewhat reformed life.  After all, even a slow raccoon picks up  on the fact that if you dig a hole through a roof, you get taken on a dove hunt of no return, fraught with rattlesnakes, highway travel, mean dogs,and the like. So there was a rosy time of boy and raccoon united, the two were inseparable, and could be seen wrestling playfully in the yard as birds chirped,  the papayas and limes swelled on the trees, the gentle Valley breezes blew through the din of chicharras(a variety of LOUD locusts in the Valley), and all was good.                                                                                                                  John's boyhood friend, Ralph, had a slew of little brothers and sisters  who thought John, the raccoon tamer,  was a rock star.  They were dying to see this coon, and John was eager to oblige. They  lived in a little farm on Rooth Road northwest of McAllen.  John had spent many a happy weekend there, hunting, fishing, helping with the farm chores, trying to ride calves, riding horses, milking cows and generally having a blast, so he really wanted to give the tykes a full Tricker experience.  John at this point in his life was not good at  event planning though, and never thought about the two or three farm dogs that always ran loose around the place.  As they approached the house, John did finally consider the dogs and made the decision to get out and walk from a distance, you know, sort of sneak up  on the situation and hope boys got the dogs tied up.  Sure enough as the car arrived about a quarter-mile from the place, John and Tricker had just left the car and here come the dogs "a-runnin"!  As the border collie and cur dog blurs came  tearing across the open field he knew there was only one option,---he pulled off Tricker's harness, and let her run! She made a bee line for a citrus grove that was right next to a canal and was never seen again. ---She escaped the dogs, but was never seen again by John, Ralph or the sad little brothers and sisters who had been SO looking forward to a couple days with a coon. So it was all so anticlimactic,  ---poof gone like that!  Ralph said there were many raccoon tracks around the canal and groves so they figured she was as happy as could be!  She never showed up in town either,  --that we know of.  I guess she received the message and decided, somewhat on her terms to kick Us to the Curb!  It was an interesting twist of fate but this time it really worked.   Tricker's cage went on to house some bob white quail and  few others, but there was never another mid-sized omnivorous pet at 1200 La Vista!

Tricker #8 -Homecoming

   So John, in case you didn't know, never let the lack of a driver's license keep him from getting around town.  He was long distance cyclist from way back and patrolled a beat among various convenience stores, sporting goods stores, raspa stands, and most of all pet stores.  He was well known at all these locales and especially the pet stores, as he kept an aquarium, chickens, doves, quail, iguanas, turtles, well ----you get the idea.   One fine day in the spring of the year following the release of Tricker, Ruth received a call from the pet store just south of Lamar School on 10th Street (one of John's favorite hangouts) that someone had a raccoon show up a their house in Edinburg, that seemed very tame(the raccoon, not the house).  They wondered if it was ours.  Apparently the dogs had been giving it a hard time, but they had managed to get it in a cage and had the insight to contact area pet stores.   I can only imagine Ruth's eagerness to retrieve a varmint that she and her lovely home and garden had just began to recover from.  True love for her son prevailed and they took the short trip to the pet store and retrieved the animal.   No one was sure it was Tricker---this animal was much larger, more filled out and a bit beat up from the "dog rassling" but home they went.  All uncertainty was erased when this fat little beat-up raccoon jumped out of the Delta 88 as soon as it his the driveway and ran straight to the screen door and immediately began trying to let itself in.  Thus began a bit of a hiatus, in troubled relations between Tricker and parental forces as they were stuck with a sort of "Incredible Journey" awe,----- yes, a detante of sorts.  Not a hero's welcome, not a prodigal daughter scenario but an uneasy sort of "Wow, now what?"period.  The boy was happy, the coon was happy---what was one to do?

Tricker-Sayonara at Citrus City--- #8

    Dove season was upon us-- probably September 1976, and a nice week-end of hunting was in store in an area known as Citrus City.  This area was obviously known for orange and grapefruit groves watered by a network of canals and drained by ditches like much of the Valley, at that time.  There were also grain fields aplenty and occasional brush fence lines forming corridors for wildlife in the general vicinity.  Citrus City is roughly 12 mi west of Edinburg and 12 mi north of McAllen.   This is foreshadowing!  So it was along one of these brushy fence lines along a grain field, where we parked to find a bit of shade to wait until doves began to fly--- a father, daughter, son, and an unsuspecting raccoon.  As was typical, not a whole lot was going on in the 3-5 pm time frame, but Tricker was in seventh heaven rummaging through the brush behind"the hunters" seated in the shade along the field by the road.  A mixed cacophony of crackling vegetation, earth moving and contented raccoon sounds could be heard behind the waiting group. ---Then suddenly came the punctuating sound of the afternoon,-- an electric buzzing-rattling, that any South Texan instantly recognizes; yes, a sizable western diamond back sounded off behind us!  Father, Kids and an obviously intelligent raccoon, bolted away from the brush and toward the center of the grain field. surprised  by the unexpected noise!!  Tricker, in particular moved away at  rather dignified pace- as if somewhat insulted by the latest development! However her directionality left no doubt as to her response!  Eventually, the frantic surprise was replaced by a humorous response(relief).  So the hunt continued, the raccoon returned to her own devices in an area we felt she would be able to take care of herself.  So the hunt progressed, and when it came time to go , father and kids drove off without the furry critter.  It was a somewhat melancholy drive out of the dove fields that day, but the "Humans" reassured each other that "It was a better way."  "She seemed quite at home ." "She has everything she needs there.etc.  "