raccoon!

Late last night, Lakshmi and I had a close encounter with a rather ornery raccoon.

Yes, we co-exist with wildlife in our neighborhoods. Last winter, I even wrote an article about urban wildlife here in Portland.

For several months, I've been hearing from neighbors about one or more coyotes roaming through our neighborhood. No surprise, given that we live on a wetland that's only recently been developed to accommodate suburban sprawl. We've also got ducks, geese, herons, and nutria, amongst others.

There has been the raccoon that likes to get up on my next-door neighbor's roof and peer down into my bedroom at night. Since these condos are built in contiguous clusters, the raccoon is only a few feet from the window, and its presence always drives my cats nuts -- I'm pretty sure that's why it peers in, to mess with them.

But this was different.

I was taking Lakshmi out for her "bedtime potty" when I saw a shadow run along the sidewalk outside my courtyard wall. I (wrongly) assumed this was the stray black kitty that my neighbor has been trying to adopt for more than a year now. Lakshmi also saw this darting form and went after it, sticking her head out below the wall. Unfortunately, this made the raccoon stop, turn, and start spitting and "barking" at Lakshmi.

Still thinking it was a cat, I pulled Lakshmi back, and was stunned to find a rather large -- and rather peeved -- raccoon crawling up from the sidewalk into the courtyard. Still growling, it was actively challenging my dog.

Lakshmi, being an 18-month-old puppy, thought the raccoon wanted to play. With tail wagging, she nearly pulled me out of my shoes trying to get closer to her "new friend."

I dragged Lakshmi back as best I could -- she's a 55-pound husky -- but the raccoon kept advancing. It must have been about thirty pounds or so, and was seriously pissed off. Not that I'd ever tried befriending a raccoon before, but I'd no idea they could be so aggressive.

I got Lakshmi back up the steps by the door, and was astonished to watch the raccoon take additional bold steps toward us. We must have backed off far enough, because it finally scampered across the courtyard and dove under the deck we were standing on. Even though Lakshmi really did need to relieve herself, the raccoon was rustling around underfoot, so I decided to take the dog back inside rather than risk another encounter.

As I pulled the door closed behind us, I whispered to the puppy, "See, Lakshmi? That's why you got vaccinated against rabies." I checked her over for any bites or scratches from those few seconds they were nose-to-nose. I didn't want to think of the series of shots I'd be in for if that critter had gotten too close to me. Lakshmi seemed unharmed but was still excited. She ran to the window to watch for her feisty little friend.

An hour later, I deemed it safe to go back out. It was after midnight, but another neighbor was also outside. I told him about the episode. He thanked me for the warning, and let me know that every encounter he's had with a raccoon has been about the same as what I'd experienced.

Maybe I just read too much Ranger Rick as a kid.