I shrugged it off, thinking "how could raccoons survive in a city?"

Last night, I was pleasantly/horrifiedly/amused by the emergence of raccoons knocking the water bowl against the deck. I kept getting a glare from the window, so I asked Ryan to turn off the light inside.

After a few seconds, the raccoons realize they can't see me anymore, so they come right up to the window (actually it's a patio door with little panes). I was literally 6 inches away from a raccoon's face! I run over to Maxine and wake her up. I grab her and plop her in front of the window. She stares with amazement initially, but soon gets defensive.

She hisses once, and I think they heard her, because all three stopped looking around randomly and stared at her. (The entire time, their hands were moving in and out of the food and water bowls, and scooping the food they spilled on the deck into their hands so they could munch away).

One of them started mocking me. He/she started chewing with it's mouth VERY open and showing me that I was the one that made it all possible for him/her to eat. What a little brat!

Maxine doesn't take her eyes off the three of them for a second, as she sits in front of me and protects me. I really think she was in protect Carisa mode! I was impressed, since that's primarily a dog trait. Ryan and I talked the whole time about how vicious raccoons are, and how even we were afraid of them. Maxine seemed to know that they were not cats, but she wouldn't really know how to fight them if she needed to. That scares me.

The entire time they were out there, they kept their hands busy. They were constantly moving their hands in the food bowl and hitting the water bowl. They'd be looking off at something else, and yet their hands would be doing something completely different.

Ryan mentioned that raccoons are scavengers, and my only knowledge of them is from Where the Red Fern Grows. I always assumed raccoons were bigger than these three, but Ryan insisted that these guys were plenty big enough.

If you know Mikey, they were about his size, but with leaner legs. The small one was about the same size as how far Maxine's fluff extends.

At two different times, two different raccoons stood on their hind legs, very similar to how a bear would stand if threatened. I mimicked the first one's stance, and he/she went back to all fours quite quickly, but I don't think it was because it was scared by me.

The whole time, they didn't seem phased by any noises or anything. They are definately not a scaredy-cat species. I can't imagine too many things actually hunting them in the city, so perhaps these three have turned out more brave.

I have coined them "The Three Bandits".

I won't be putting food out at night anymore. Oh... one last thing, I noticed the odor that they emitted. It smelled similar to a dog that hasn't had a bath in a long time in the aspect of urine-y smelling. I noticed that scent a few nights ago. After I was certain the raccoons were gone last night, I went outside to smell the air. No smell. Nothing. So... that means that the other night that I was out, the raccoons were damn near if I could smell them through the door!

Maxine was very brave... she even growled at them. (Only one growled back).

Carisa

Happy idea for today:
being amused and terrified at the same time