Those crafty bandits!

Caution: This entry contains material which may cause nausea.

There are four racoons who come nearly nightly to scarf up the food I put out for Odie, the black feral cat who lives under our house. I try to outsmart them by timing her feeding so that it comes after their visits, but I am not always successful--like last night.

They make a disgusting mess! Today I wore gloves when I cleaned the cat's bowls. Ugh! the smell! Wet dog hair. They wash their food before they eat it, so I can tell when they have been by--the water bowl is always muddy.

This afternoon, while watching an OPB video about forensics, I learned something new about the smartest mammals in North America: they are ranchers. That is, just as we raise livestock to ingest, they raise GLEH! maggots. When they come across a piece of carrion, they poke a hole in it, to allow flies admittance, then they return and dig out those little white larva and eat 'em. Actually return again and again for that tasty snack.

(The video had footage from the body farm in Tennessee of the cute little guys in action.)

I will never look at that water dish the same way again.