tigerlily

groggy and fuzzy headed, my dreams were penetrated by the oddest bird songs this morning. weaving themselves into my dreams as visions of parrots, blue footed boobies, or the extinct dodo, it was a good half hour before i really started to register the sounds. insistent trills, made by at least two birds, now soft, now loud and angry. hmmm..fighting parrots? as the dream state grew faint, the oddness of what i was hearing really began to register and it occured to me that, being the bird lover that i am, i probably should go see what it was. then another good 15 minute struggle ensued to convince the rest of my sleep deprived body that, yes! getting out of bed is a GREAT idea!

sticky eyed and bare foot, i slipped on my robe and snuck out the front door, cold marble steps jolting me awake. it seemed that the noise was coming from in between the neighbors house and my own. my bedroom windows open out into the little alley walkway space the two houses, and each house has a little flight of stone steps sloping down to the basement door. a chain link fence divides the walkway.

looking around the trees, i followed the little pissy trills, and as i rounded the house into the walkway, i heard scuffling too. 'oh my god. are they on the ground?' now with full fledged visions of multicolored, fighting, scuffling parrots, i tip toed towards the steps leading down, convinced this was the location of the action. as my sight cleared the small bush in my way, i peered throught the chain link fence to the neighbors side and.....

....bwa ha ha ha!!! hee! i immediately started giggling and did a little dance....

Raccoons!!!!!!!!!! four of them! yay!!!!! one mama and 3 adolescents. ohmyfuckinggodsofreekingcuteiwishicouldpickthemalluprightnow. then sense started to return, and i realized it was a little late after sunrise for raccoons to be out and about. one of the kids was poking his head out of a square hole in the foundation wall, mama had one in her mouth, and the other two were creating a chaotic chorus. still confused, i remembered the disposable camera i've been carting around for a suicide girl camera swap exchange, and ran inside to get it.

when i came back out, i went into the neighbors side and was greeted by one pointy, fuzzy raccoon head poking up at the top of the stairs. took a pic, and then the flash got mama up on her hind legs, hissing. ooops. sorry mom. i scuttled back over to my side of the fence. three of them were smashed up against the fence, playing and cleaning. another pic, another flash, now three pissed raccoons. with a little sweet talking tho, soon only mom was mad, and the kids were batting through the fence at me with their paws.

then the action resumed, and i figured out what was happening. one of the kids had been able to make it up into the hole in the foundation, but the other two were stranded on the stairs, thus all the yelling. i watched as mom grabbed each one in her mouth (they were almost as big as she) and in a clumsy yet graceful way, managed to haul their little fuzzy asses up to the metal banister were they could get a grip, then the sibling in the wall would bite onto their nose to pull them in while mom pushed from behind! yay teamwork!!!

i watched and cheered them on until all were safely tucked away. then i found a large brick and gently placed it below their spot, just in case they need a boost again. and that was that! thought i'd write you, and now i'm going back to bed. yawn.

have a great day!