Page One
In defense of raccoons
To the Editor:
I couldn’t agree more with Diane Joy’s response in the Aug. 22 Daily Planet to Linda Maio’s proposal (Aug. 17) to neuter our raccoon population.
We can’t even learn to live with each other, so we focus on our backyard neighbors who can’t read papers or attend meetings or speak for themselves. Raccoons, like possums and skunks, deer and coyotes, not to mention squirrels and birds, have miraculously learned to adapt to the domineering, often cruel, two-legged creatures who have taken over most of their natural turf. And we humans don’t seem willing to learn how to coexist with creatures we can’t own and control like “our” dogs and cats. (Feral cats and dogs, it should be noted, are not truly wild, but are the offspring of animals once “owned” by humans who failed to take responsibility for their domestic pets (read: property).
That’s what it’s about, folks: coexistence – something we talk about righteously and work for tirelessly for in the arena of peace, human rights and social justice. Truth is, we are human–centric. It’s time we gave the same respect to the other creatures in our midst that pay the price every day for our predatory behavior (the automobile being No. 1 killer of animals) and unwillingness to coexist with all life on earth.
Marianne Robinson,
Berkeley
