Kibbles the raccoon...

Living on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area affords a small amount of interaction with wildlife that is often lost on the inner city. Yet it still seems these encounters are rare in my particular area. Sure I get to see a ton of Geese and Ducks fly through, the occasional Nutria (that’s a swamp beaver for those of you not from Oregon), but I had yet to see a raccoon, which is actually supposed to be pretty common even in the city.

Last Sunday I finally saw my ‘coon, and not only “saw” one but it moved into our yard. I was sure after the dogs were finished terrorizing him under our shed he would move on. Luckily this was one chill little raccoon and he stuck around for a few days hanging out in our tree and eventually coming up and knocking on our door and begging for food. We gave in and fed him an assortment of fruit, bread, and pet kibble. His favorite thing turning out to be simple kibble, hence he was dubbed “Kibbles”. It was an amazing experience to have this adorable little visitor, however reality broke in on our childlike glee and by day four of keeping the dogs in the house and navigating raccoon reconnaissance potty breaks for them, practicality and reason overcame our sense of wonder. We finally, reluctantly, led him out into the nearby park with some food and left him to wander.

As joyful as it was to find this little guy and observe his antics, it was equally heartbreaking to come home to an empty yard now that he’s gone. I know at least some little childlike part of me is hoping he’ll be back on our porch some twilight soon….