Raccoon Rampage

We live in a house backing onto a ravine and the raccoons are plentiful.

When we first moved in, the children and I watched with awe and adoration as a mama raccoon and her four babies walked around our house at dusk. They were a sweet family and my children were charmed. We discussed how lucky we were to back onto a ravine and have this wonderful wildlife in the back yard.

The next morning I came out to find that my green bin had been dragged halfway down into that same ravine with the contents strewn across the lawn between the house and where the bin lay on its side covered in filth. I grabbed some paper towel and used it to hold onto the handle while I returned it to its regular spot. I secured the lid with a bungee cord and made a mental note to douse the bin with the hose to remove the dirt.

I woke up next to a fresh large and smelly present on top of the garbage bin which had been opened and ravaged. I tried to determine how to secure the garbage bin but was happy to know I had solved the green bin problem.

A few days later I came out to put a diaper in the green bin and was confused when I could not find it. I went looking for it. Other than track marks through the lawn and a trail, the green bin had completely disappeared into the ravine, never to be seen again. I still wonder if they were eventually able to open it given the bungee cord securely fastened to the catch.

Whether there are 50,000 seemingly adorable raccoons in this city or 10 times that number, they are a reliable source of both unruliness and destruction.