A pack of raccoons approached me last night as I was heading up the road to my campsite. Raccoons are very smart. They recognized me from previous encounters and know I’m cool, which is why they don’t hesitate to approach me when they spot me. I threw out a bunch of the crunchy cat food for them to eat. Which they really like and gobble up.. . . I’m told the average life-expectancy of a feral raccoon is about 2 years. So they have a tough gig, in terms of survival. They could probably live to about 20, easily, in better times. . . And you can see they’re a very social animal. They run in packs. Have families. Have complex social lives with wives and husbands and children and friends and uncles. They’re a complex creature. They get a bad rap, because they can be such a pain in the ass and nuisance to humans. But they’re not all that enamored with us and our behaviors towards them, either. I mean, we’ll skin them and use their tails for a hat, for chrissakes.
Ace Backwords Photos 