Dear Nocturnal Bandits

Dear Racoons -
I understand that the 17 acres you used to frollick in were trashed and bulldozed by those folks building town homes - but is it a necessity to climb the trees just outside my fence every night at 2am? This activity triggers the chain events of at least one dog barking - who in turn wakes the other two who are loose to come and see what is in the trees. These three dogs, then wake the other two on the far side of the yard who bark in sympathy - or perhaps because you are twenty feet in the air in that tree, they can see you as well. Their job is to protect the animals in our yard - and these Aussie girls take it pretty seriously.

I was hoping that the million-candle strength spotlight would be enough to let you know you were caught and should shuffle off to another location, but apparently that wasn't enough. We didn't mean anything by using the BBgun to get your attention - it was an encouragement (and seriously, the vision of a half naked husband standing at the doors shooting trees with a BB gun at 2am - well, I'll still be chuckling about that when I am 90).

Raccoons are supposed to be smart - stop climbing trees in a yard full of dogs. Feel free to check out food items in our creek, there are plenty of crawdads and little fish - but stop waking me up with your predawn tree climbing.