On the BC coast, if you have trees around, you’ll have raccoons. About three years ago, this fellow and his friends visited our yard and I managed to snap some pictures. It was easy enough to do in the daytime. But it’s the nighttime when these guys are most active. We hear them snapping and snarling and scrambling up and down the trees. Since I don’t have chickens, I don’t mind the raccoons being around too much, as long as they don’t interact with my dogs. I hadn’t seen any raccoons around for a while and had forgotten all about them until a couple of nights ago.

I was in bed, almost asleep at about 11:30 p.m., when the room got a little bit brighter. I got up to find the source of the light. It was outside – the perimeter light on our workshop. Someone or something had walked by near the workshop and made the light come on.  I shone a flashlight around the yard and there he was. He had his mask on and was prowling around the backyard looking for trouble.

I ran for the camera while the Captain held the light on a second bandit who was climbing a tree not far from the back deck. I snapped a picture but it didn’t come out very well. The spotlight was too bright. The gray thing to the left of the raccoon is the utility trailer hitch, messing up the picture even more.

Anyway, we now know what has been causing our light to come on in the yard. I’ll be careful not to let the dogs out at night without a leash. Wouldn’t want them to tangle with one of these guys. They can be quite vicious when cornered.