Raccoon At the Window

I was sitting in the living room yesterday surfing the internets, reading about the latest political OUTRAGE!!!™ when I heard a slight scritching behind me in the dining room. The window was open for air, but the screen was closed. It sounded something like a paper moving or what the fan in that room sometimes sounds like when it swings back and forth, but the fan wasn't on. It's been very cool and wet in Northern California lately.

I looked behind me but didn't see anything in the room or at the window and so I went on with my internet business, and I heard the scritching again. I looked again, and there was nothing there again. I thought maybe it might be a cat, but the cats were outside and the only one who scritches at the window would be very obvious. He's a back and white Maine Coon Cat and enormous.

I went back to the internets, and I heard the scritching again, this time somewhat more insistently.

I looked, and there was a huge raccoon at the window, trying to maneuver the screen open so it could come in. Oh. My. Goodness. It was an older, large, white-ear-tipped raccoon, and it seemed really intent on getting in.

I went outside, and it came to greet me. It seemed very friendly, but quite nervous. There had been a number of people across the street much of the previous couple of hours cutting down a tree, and for a moment, I wondered if the raccoon had been sleeping in that tree. I gave it some dry cat food, which it seemed to appreciate.

But as raccoons will, it became quite sleepy after eating most of the food, and after washing its hands (they have hands) in the water dish, it fell asleep under the van. A cat came to look, shrugged, went on his way.

I went back in the house, and when I checked later, there was no raccoon. Must have gone off somewhere that raccoons go in the daytime.

We've seen quite a few raccoons around here. I counted eight of them one night, most of them quite young. But we've never seen one in the daytime.

Huh. Raccoon at the window.

The picture up top is of a whole lot of raccoons meeting the 18 46th Av/Stonestown bus in San Francisco. They have places to go, yes? Shopping to do.

The video below is of some of the nighttime raccoons here chomping away.