Friday, September 02, 2011

Raccoon Encounter

I forgot to mention yesterday I had my first predawn encounter with a Raccoon.  We both survived, thankfully, but I'm not sure who was more scared, the raccoon or me.

It was pretty innocent really.  I was running along in the street (less likely to break an ankle in the wee hours of the morning -- our sidewalks are dangerous) and as I'm crossing another street something starts growling at me.  A nasty growl.  I think crap, someone's let their dog out and I'm about to get chased and I'm not sure how to fend off a growling attacking dog and I really don't want to get bit.  But of course I keep running towards the growling sound (hey, it is early and I'm still not sure what is going on and clearly not thinking straight).  So I get to the other side of the street and look over expecting to see the attacking dog and there is this raccoon huddled up against the wheel of a car just staring at me -- he really was just as scared too -- so I apologized for interrupting him while he was making his way back down the storm drain and I continued on my way.

Oh the joys of wildlife in the middle of a huge city.

2 comments:

RoseRunner said...

hehe, he lives in a storm drain. Our home (in the sticks) when I was a kid was surrounded by raccoons that would mess up the landscaping...so my dad started trapping them, and then releasing them like an hour away. We literally caught a raccoon every day for like two months. It was nuts.

Good luck tomorrow on your race!!! I am considering running the Disneyland half marathon in January, so please share how you like it!

Terzah said...

I'm so scared of getting bitten (or attacked by a mountain lion--too much reading), that I'd literally stop if I heard an animal snarling at me! Glad it was just a coon.

Just read both your new posts--I'm behind on my reading. Yes, I love how easy a 3-miler is right now. I just went for one myself. Glorious at this time of year, when the weather is turning toward fall here and you don't have to worry about pace.

I can't WAIT to hear about your race!! Post soon!! I promise I'll be a more prompt reader this time.