My Raccoons

As long as I forget to bring in the bird feeders or leave some tasty treats lying around outdoors, the raccoons will find it.  Just when you get a little complacent about cleaning up before retiring for the night you are either rudely reminded before you even get to sleep or you find out very quickly in the morning that you did not put everything away like you should have.  I spend half my time between cleaning up after either the bears or the raccoons.  Like the bears, they don't care if my houseplants remain upright or upside down.  They want every last one of those sunflower seeds that the birds left lying around or that crust of bread the grandkids left behind.  Anything will do whether it is edible or not, gets investigated one way or another.  Several times they have left little presents for me to find.  Not just one raccoon but the whole family leaves it one spot.  Usually on the top step just so you know they were there.   Thinking of this reminded me of a raccoon that we had when I was young.  We named him Bobby.  He was the most lovable animal with the softest hands that he would wrap around your neck and give you a hug or pat your arm when he wanted something.  We had dog kennels and he would often play with some of the dogs but he was always very confused because he could not bark like the rest of them.  He would sit for a long time and wait for one of the dogs to bark and he would go to them and watch them bark.  He never did figure it out.