Strange things have been happening in the backyard.
Pots are overturned, holes dug, chair pillows moved around, bird baths full of dirt, tomatoes gone missing, gnomes knocked over.
Forrest estimates that it all started mid-summer. But we have so many stray cats around that I really assumed we had some annoying tomcat spending his nights under our deck. But last night while we were spending the evening with friends/cringing at the season premiere of The Walking Dead, we noticed Fitzgerald having a stare-off with something just outside the window…
We turned the lights on outside and…
AHHH! There were AT LEAST FOUR raccoons in our backyard! One was peeking out from behind a little tree, one was ripping up the pansies (oh, yeah, the ones I planted two hours earlier), one was chilling on the steps, and this little creeper really wanted in! It’s extra disturbing because our cats didn’t seem bothered. Like they’ve seen this a hundred times.
We live in downtown Columbia with a backyard no more than 20×20. What the hay are wilderness critters doing on my deck furniture?
Reporting live from the jungle, Liz.
PS- If you know of anything non-toxic, non-fatal to deter raccoons, please let me know. It’s getting sketchy around here.
Domesticated Artists 
Tell Forrest to start peeing outside? (It works for deer!)
Hah! Yes, Forrest should go out and mark his territory!
Also, congratulations to you and Colin! Have you guys set a date yet?!