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A Noise in the Night

                       Last night about 9:59 I was passing through the kitchen headed for the bedroom when I heard a suspicious noise coming from the side porch. Often the dogs or maybe the cats make sounds that garner my attention but this sound was different. It was a repetitive bump that had sort of a rhythm to it and yet I knew it was not the sound a machine makes, too irregular. It was not the washing machine or perhaps the dryer which had an imbalanced load banging away in the washroom that needed adjusting.  This sound was definitely coming from outside the house. Luckily the flashlight was nearby so I grabbed it and walked to the kitchen door. Peering out into the darkness of the night with the aid of the flashlight I saw two beautiful, winter coated raccoons hanging from the bird feeder by their Front feet and precariously balanced on the porch rail with the toes of their back feet barely touching the rail. They were slipping on and off, banging the bird feeder against the upright beam that supports the roof. Well at least it was not an ax murdered or a bear and I was thankful for that but raccoons are really not welcome at the feeder. They are way too messy and destructive. It's not that they eat all the bird seed which they do. They in their desperation for food tear down the feeder down and take it to the ground where they determinedly dismantle the entire thing. It takes nails, screws, glue, duct tape and an hour and a half to reassemble it again the next day.

                      I woke Moose up from in front of the television and rushed him to the back door. When he saw the Raccoons he became hysterical and began to lunge at the door which made it almost impossible to open with him trying to dig his way directly through the glass to the Raccoons. Realizing that Moose was not going to be that much help I pulled him back into the sunroom in order to put him outside. He went out gladly and quickly. He then raced around the house to intercept the raccoons after I opened the kitchen door and raced out with a broom to frighten them away. There was quite a commotion in the darkness of the side yard which I could not see but needless to say the ultimate outcome of the confrontation was the two raccoons wound up high in a nearby hemlock tree and stayed there long after we went to bed. Before I finally went to sleep I went out to check on Moose and the Raccoons. High up in the tree four round glowing silver eyes peered downward  looking curiously at Moose and me neither of us willing to climb the tree and cast them down. This morning I noticed Moose walking frequently past the hemlock and casually glancing up into the tall tree as though he expected to see the uninvited guests hanging from the branches. They were long gone but I am quite sure we will see them again tonight.

 tbd