Last Friday night I glanced out the window and was surprised to see a large orange orb hanging over the harbor. I'd read there was to be another "blood moon" in late July but had utterly forgotten about it until I saw it.
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| That's the Los Angeles Harbor below the moon |
Two nights later I was caught off-guard by a less welcome sight when the cat made a mad dash to the window with a loud hiss. I saw a furry rump round the corner from the side patio along the path to the back garden. What was a bigger surprise is that another furry creature was right behind him (or her). Here are a few outtakes from our security cameras.
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| Raccoon #1 can be seen to the left of the support post in the middle of the shot. See his glowing eyes? |
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| He's just outside Pipig's patio enclosure now |
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| As raccoon #1 moves toward the back garden, you can just make out another furry shape above the Mexican feather grass to the right of the post |
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| Here's raccoon #2. He (or she) seemed slightly more inclined to inspect things along the route but he didn't lag too far behind his sibling. Raccoons are usually solitary foragers, which is why I suspect these 2 must be siblings. |
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| The lead raccoon is shown here atop the fountain in the back garden, their favorite destination. A second set of glowing eyes can be seen mid-way along the path on the right. |
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| I turned on the dining room light at this point. Raccoon #1 held his position but raccoon #2 beat a hasty retreat, or so I thought. |
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| In this screenshot you can see that raccoon #2 looped around to flank his sibling on the left side. See that second set of glowing eyes under the Echium? |
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| That's my blond head coming out the door, flashlight in hand, as both raccoons retreated |
They came back after I chased them off of course. The seashells that fill the upper tier of the fountain were scattered about the next morning. I didn't bother to search the camera feed for further evidence of their reappearance.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
