I have to tell you, this is not one of my favorite topics. As an infant, I never gave it any thought. My inclination was to urinate or defecate wherever I was. However, my surrogate parents had other ideas!

Every time I started to squat and get a far off look in my eye, they picked me up and dumped me in a box of kitty litter. At first I couldn't imagine what they had in mind, but then I noticed that there was a scat from another raccoon and the scent of raccoon urine in the box. Between the foreign scats and being dumped in the box every time I squatted, I finally got the idea of what they wanted me to do in the box.

Everything was fine and dandy after that until I was 18 months old. At that point in my life, instinct began to tell me I should mark my territory. Listening to instinct, I found I could do this in several ways. I had developed a scent gland on the back of my neck and I had a great urge to rub it against things. Also I had an urge to rub my heels on things. My surrogate parents didn't object to either of these actions.

However, I also had an urge to leave turds on the periphery of my territory such as in doorways. They did object to that. For the most part, I've given in on this issue and only put turds in litter boxes. But, I do have a strong urge to mark the things I like so they'll smell just like me. This includes my parents themselves. Even though I only put a drop or two of urine on them, they never look too happy. I haven't given in on this issue though. A coon's gotta do what a coon's gotta do!