So…I was at the end of an amazing day. I parked myself along the Coaxing Kill at my favourite spot.

The creek winds it’s way over and through the worn granite, on it’s way across the Mo honk Preserve.  

I spent about 3 hours here enjoying a Jack Reacher novel. 

Then back to Pecks Pond for the night. I read myself to sleep and woke with something big crawling over my feet and up my leg! I kicked it off the bed, got up, and ran from the porch to inside the cabin. Turning on the light illuminated a full grown racoon just standing and staring up at me! Fearless he was. I got a broom and tried to scare him away but it wasn’t working. The I slammed the broom  on the floor and he went around the corner. As I followed he peaked back at me from the far side of another bed. I went over and he was gone.

I got a flashlight and began searching for his entry point and found all the screens in tact and nothing there but a small opening in the floor by the fireplace. It was sort or a triangle about 4 or 5 inches on each side. No way he could come through that, right?

Well, I Google racoons through small holes and watch a video of a racoon squeezing through a 4×4 inch hole! Yes, a full grown racoon can fit easily through an opening only 4×4 inches! I couldn’t believe it! 

So I covered the hole and piled a bunch of heavy stuff on top of it. Now what! How am I going to sleep?  That creacher scared me silly. It was like a nightmare that was really happening!  Terrified I was was at that moment.  

I climbed back in my bed and tired to relax. I wasn’t even sure that was the hole he came through! Picked up my book and finally dozed off.

The rest of the night was uneventful.  What unnerved me after all this was the fact that  the racoon had no fear at all. Maybe he gets fed by people up here. There was a tame fawn close by earlier in the evening. 

Wildlife is wild life! It’s not to be played with as I see it. When any wild animal turns on a human,  bad things happen. We are only safe because of our weapons. Without them we are just another animal in the food chain. Like a ranger once told me,”You are a pathetic human Doug. You can’t outrun anything out here in the bush.” 

I know my place in the Natural world and am very happy there.  🙂