Once again, my story starts with walking the dog in the early morning hours. Only this time, instead of almost getting hit, I was almost eaten by a raccoon. I’ve seen plenty of wildlife living out here: rabbits, birds, snakes, skunks, and foxes. But I hadn’t seen a raccoon yet.

The morning in question is a day when I don’t have to go to work, I volunteer instead. Because of this, I don’t have to walk her in the predawn darkness. The sun is up and I don’t need any extra equipment to see.

We take the same route initially but we actually extend the time out. I decided to go around the back side of the pond, in a neighborhood with sidewalks that eventually meet up with our favorite pond. Remy is walking well, without pulling, so I’m enjoying our time together. We are about a mile and a half into the walk when I look to my right.

On the right is the woods that separate the condos from the pond. And in those woods I see a raccoon.

A raccoon!

Now, I think it’s a little strange because raccoons are nocturnal, right? I mean, that’s what I remember from my elementary school days.

So I look again to verify what I am seeing. There, as I noticed before, is a raccoon. And it’s racing toward us.

I’m a little confused because I’m seeing a raccoon in the daytime and it’s coming towards us. I gather up my wits and I realize, with more clarity, that the raccoon IS RUNNING TOWARD US!!!!!

In my mind, this is what I see. I can only imagine a rabid animal coming to attack us. Me and my puppy. We’re about to be bit!

So I start to run.

I look back and that rabid thing is still charging at us. I keep running and I hate running but it’s up to me to save us both. Remy did that last week so it’s my turn.

I’m happy to say that we survived. I don’t know that I’ll take that path any time soon but at least my debt is paid for now. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what other adventures we get into.