Sweet Little Ball of Raccoons, I Think Not

When I first saw the Raccoon ball in the tree on the corner of Glen Road and 9N tonight, I thought it was one big fat raccoon. Then, I realized there was another one underneath.

After walking to the other side of the tree I could tell there were a few more sleeping up there.

As cute as they looked all snuggled up together, I couldn't help but think about how annoying they've been since we moved to Jay.

Here is a short list of how they have wreaked havoc on our property thus far:

1) In an attempt to get some birdfood, they broke our "old lady" clothesline.

2) They knocked over our pumpkins, had a feast and left the mess for us to clean up.

3) The Raccoons have been blamed for the disappearance of the blue jay's nest and their recently hatched babies.

4) After an overnight hiking trip, our packs were in the mud room drying out. The door was left ajar hoping that our cat would return home. Instead of seeing Mango in the morning, we discovered that my backpack was a mess, having been picked over of its food and Benadryl had been consumed. Shortly after, in broad daylight we saw a raccoon strutting across our lawn all pumped up on medication. That was the last night we left the door open for Mango and gave up hope for his return.

I'm pretty sure the raccoons will return to torment me some more. So, as sweet as they all looked in their little sleeping ball, I have no problem saying that I don't really like them.