Critters

Entered Monday, July 14, 2008

We are commencing night two of “Camping Trip 2008” and have been successful thus far. Tonight, as we sat in our chairs outside, having finished dinner and were watching the evening showing of Night at the Museum under the stars, Levi climbed in my lap and said, “Mom, this is the BEST camping trip of my life or your life.” That was really sweet. Sure, he doesn’t know what REAL camping is… that many people don’t believe it counts when you take along the dvd player, and turn the antenna to pick up PBS in the afternoons, but if he’s happy, we’re happy.

Yesterday, when we checked into the park, the ladies working the office gave warnings about leaving food out, as the raccoons are “large.” That sounded interesting, but not surprising, as campgrounds must be a wonderful place for nocturnal animals to feast. So, we made sure to put away all of the dry food, and the cold stuff was secure in the cooler, since the fridge wasn’t yet cold enough. At about 6:30 this morning, I woke up to use the restroom, which woke the dog, so I opened the door to take him out. I heard a commotion in the trees, so I told Craig there was no WAY I was going out there. We heard some squealing, so we figured it was the coons, but we all went back to bed.

When we finally got out of bed at about 9:30, we ventured out to make sure everything was in its place. The cooler was closed, and all was well. I got Neco and took him out into the trees, looking for any signs of our visitors from the night. I spotted a zip-top bag like our lunchmeat came in, so I went back to the cooler to see if it was ours. Sure enough, those clever rascals had opened the cooler, stolen the brand new $20 bag of deli turkey, and closed it back. (They didn’t take the sharp provolone.) When I went out to retrieve the bag, I also found our big plastic container of dog food, lid still securely screwed on, out in the woods with holes dig into it. Who would have thought those critters could be so sneaky? Well, I guess they DO have a reputation for that, but I never thought they would open the cooler. When I mentioned it to the woman at the office, she said that if you put a bungee on the cooler, they will either get it off, or chew through it, so they know what they’re doing!

So, tonight, as our movie neared the end, we heard a rustling in the trees. That was enough to send me inside to start on the dishes, and take the kids with me, but on further investigation, Craig found that it was two armadillos about 10 feet from our porch, munching on an apple core. He tried to catch one, and got within about a foot without their making a move, but then they spooked and ran off. Just a few minutes later, a raccoon wandered onto our site, under the camper, and scurried off when I shined my light on him. They all returned later, though.

We got the kids in bed, and Craig went back out to bait the raccoons. We figured we would try to see them tonight, just for the sake of entertainment, so he threw out some dog food. Within minutes, they started coming out, and he got a photo of SIX at once, all chowing on dog food. At one point, they started fighting, and two of them ran up a tree, but he was able to take the boys out one at a time and sit and watch them for a while. I went out with him and sat for about ten minutes on the picnic table (legs out of reach of the ground!) and we watched four or five of them eat, until they got within about 3 feet, and I decided it was time for me to head in. They growl and hiss kind of like cats, and they were fun to watch, but I didn’t like them being THAT close!

So, that is our wildlife encounter so far. Tomorrow night, we are planning to put everyone on the table at dark and bait them again, and watch for a while. Maybe the ones from tonight will tell their friends, and we’ll get more! We also swam in the river for about 3 hours, and made a trip to the grocery and one to the house (that’s why we only went 30 minutes from home!) for a few things we forgot. So far, it has been a fun trip, and we are LOVING our camper. Who needs to camp, when you can just go simple for a few days? No tents for us!