The town I live in abounds with animals of all kinds. We have squirrels, rabbits, lizards, rats, doves, ducks, crows, parrots, coyotes, and even mountain lions roaming about. But I had no idea that I would come face to face with a raccoon!
Encountering My Neighbor, Raccoon
One evening, after a walk in the park, I was coming back home with my mother. We were chatting about something I don’t recall when we heard a loud “thump” near a pine tree that grows right in front of our house. For a moment we both thought it was one of the squirrels. But the thump was too loud for an animal that small.
Then, we saw a black shadow scampering back up from where it fell. And to our utter surprise, we saw a raccoon staring down at us!
It was bizarre to see a raccoon for the first time in my life. It looked exactly like it does in movies and cartoons, with its bandit-like fur around its eyes and fluffy black-and-white tail.
We were astounded to see the creature in front of our house and stood in shock for a few seconds. Then we pulled out our phones to capture the cute yet frightening wild animal.
While taking pictures of the raccoon, we noticed that it was as surprised as we were. It was still on the tree branch, looking down at us with, I conjecture, even more amazement and fear. Here is a comic strip I made recounting my encounter with the raccoon:
As we did not know what our wild neighbor might be capable of, we carefully headed inside, staying as far away from him. And as we slithered away, the raccoon also slowly crawled down from the tree and disappeared into the night.
It was an interesting night to say the least! I feel lucky to have met my neighbor raccoon that I did not know existed until that night.
Who are some of your wild neighbors?
P.S. Here are some resources about what to do when you encounter raccoons:
The Humane Society of the United States
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
