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Letter: A raccoon who was almost composted

Curious critters come up smelling like ... compost

Recently we’ve had raccoons getting into our garbage bin, who have tipped it over, had a gourmet feast, and carried on with the rest of their ‘sneaky’ activities.

The next morning I dutifully picked up the carnage, put it back in the bin, and put a cinder block on top. Fast-forward two nights, and I noticed that the compost bin is open, and so I thought, hmmm, let’s wait until I get back from floor hockey and see what’s happening then.

Well, let me tell you, it was a family dinner hosted by our family. Location: compost bin.

When I arrived, there were three raccoons around the bin, when one peeked its head out from the compost bin, periscope-like. Okay this is too funny; fair play to them.

I did my best to shoo them away and quickly took action…cinder block number two. While they hissed and growled, annoyed that I was asking them to leave the restaurant, I ran over, put a cinder block on the bin, and ran back inside, somehow scared.

Now my garbage and compost bin had matching cinder blocks. That evening I heard strange noises from that side of the house. Were they rocking the bin to get back inside? Or was…I don’t know. I drifted off to sleep. The next night, the same noises, but once again I drifted off to sleep.

Well, let me tell you. The next afternoon when I went to put my compost in the bin, I had this sneaky suspicion that maybe a raccoon was in the bin, and yep, there sure was. I opened the bin slowly, and backed away quicker as I saw this raccoon painted in a gooey mess, and smelled, well, like a gooey mess. It shamefully crawled out of the bin and took its place in the hedge to immediately begin the cleaning process. We shared a moment, this raccoon and I, however fleeting it was, and I like to think he was thankful for not getting composted.

William Moore

Oak Bay