Evening Invader

Tonight we got home from church and the boys started getting ready for bed. Max was brushing his teeth in the bathroom by Nate and my bedroom. Grant walked into the bathroom to see Max. He stuck his head out into the living room where I was and said, "I saw a raccoon in your room. I saw its eyes." What? Max peered into our room from the bathroom and said, "Mom, he really did! I just him looking at me and rubbing his hands together." Now, at this point I didn't know if they were playing a joke on their old gullible Mom or if they were telling it as they saw it. Just in case, I went and told Nate that the boys said they saw a raccoon in our room. His reaction was the same as mine, "What?" He walked over, looked in our room and said, "Well, I'll be darned. There is a raccoon in there." The little guys and I went into the front living room while Nate found a baseball bat.

Let me pause and say that we finally had our carpets cleaned on Friday. I was not thrilled with the prospect of Nate bludgening a raccoon in our house and making a huge mess. He assured me it was only for show.

While Nate was trying to corral the raccoon out the sliding glass door (which is apparently how it got in the house... one of the sliding glass doors off the back porch was open a little when we got home) I got the phone book and called animal control. Someone at the police station answered saying no one from animal control was on duty but she could send an officer over when one came available. Hopefully, had it been a human invader an officer would have been available immediately. I mean, where were all the cops when you need one to scare a raccoon out of your house?!

While the little guys and I were in the front living room, Nate was telling the raccoon to leave, to get down, to leave that alone, to stop chewing on that, to get out there, etc. That big rodent was making himself at home. He went into our room, the bathroom, behind the entertainment center, behind the couch, on the couch, chewed on Grant's Denver Nuggets jersey, sniffed at my fake flowers and had absolutely no intention of leaving. Nate got an apple, cut it in half and threw it on the back porch along with the Nuggets jersey the raccoon seemed so enamored with. Finally, after about 30 minutes from the time he was spotted, the raccoon ventured onto the back porch to get the apple. Nate went to shut the door and the critter tried coming back in! When he saw that door was closed he walked over to the other sliding glass door to let himeself in. Seeing that door was closed too, he finally accepted defeat and ran into the backyard.... probably to stake his claim in the clubhouse.

You'd think we lived out in the middle of nowhere with the list of random animals to appear in our home : multiple squirrels, the bird, the enormous spider, the snake and now, the raccoon. Animal house seems fitting.

Sniffing the jersey. Maybe he has family in Denver.

No, really, make yourself at home. Can we get you anything? Don't mind us. So sorry to interrupt your private party.

The lone casualty (besides some tissue paper and chewed up crayons). He chewed the felt and tail off of this horse. Its remains were found near our bed.

So long, crazy raccoon.