Procyon lotor rules our backyard

We recently uprooted our home office, transplanting it from a bedroom in the front house to the room attached to our garage. With the garage building at the back of the lot, I now have a clear view of the yard. Tonight the sensor lights tripped and I had a good staring exchange with a pair of raccoons. The Redwood City raccoon is no Arctictis binturong, but these two were rudely healthy and (I argue) nonplussed to be both illuminated and observed. (I’ll skip over any rivalry with the various, large-lunged cats who’ve decided that the side of our house is the neighbourhood’s romantic nightspot—the healthy trash around here guarantees a champion’s diet to any raccoon with a bit of motivation, making him or her more than a match to a typical kitty.)

Since I now have prime suspects for last summer’s tragic shredding of Ben’s inflatable swimming pool, I’ll see if I can get a picture of these two in the coming weeks.