My magical night

Net photo there. I just needed a dignified possum. I have this huge possum that's been eating with Indie, or eating Indie's left over Friskies. Indie has decided he is an outdoor cat. I have to force him to come inside now. So, I keep his favorite dry food out there by the door. This week I have put out an extra bowl by the front door for this Possum. And also, some for a big bore Coon and a little young male Coon. Don't ask me why they'd rather come so close to me than eat in the back with the Monkey cat bunch and the yard Coons. I think I figured it out last night. It's because it's less crowded and they have a regular social life going here.

Big bore Coon is enormous. I call him Papa Bear. He has the cutest wide face with white whiskers. He's not afraid of me at all and he shouldn't be. I've been feeding him up on mom's porch, free of people at night, for ages. I feed him seperately because he's so big, I don't want him getting territorial in the back with the younger or smaller animals. But, lately, he's learned to come here about 9 pm and scratch on the door to get me. That's early for a Coon. The first time he did it, it shocked me and I had to turn around and look for Tooney. Toon was sound asleep with a teddy bear. I grabbed some snacks and opened the door again and big bore Coon was waiting patiently. I'd never been that close to him before, except when I broke up that fight last week. I was amazed that he sat right by my feet and the sound of the door and movie I was watching didn't phase him. I held out some strawberry wafer cookies and he politely took them one by one and ate his treat. Treat gone, he walked all around me sniffing my legs and feet. Touching too. I held my breath. Then,(and now it gets weird) he walked over to the table where Indie was sprawled out taking a nap and he flopped down with my Cat! What the fuck? Indie clearly knows this Coon and they have some kind of relationship. He likes this big Raccoon much better than he likes Tooney. He gets pissed at Tooney all the time and rarely plays with him now that he's big and strong. But, he seems to be buddy buddy with this huge-ass wild Coon. They took a nap together. Seriously. A nap! I had my camera right there, but, I was scared the flash might run the Coon off and I wanted to watch. I pulled up a lawn chair right beside them and lit up a smoke. Determind to find out what was going on here.

Half a cig later, my possum friend showed up to eat. He's another special one to me. I will definitely take his picture to show you guys, because you will shit when you see how big he is. I had no idea possums could get as big as this one and I've been around them all my life. I call him 'The Judge' because he's very dignified. He also scratches at the door because Papa Bear Coon usually leaves the food dish empty. So, I went in to fill the dish for The Judge and realized how many animals I had within ten feet of each other. It was a little strange. I got the food, but, I also grabbed a sleepy, protesting Toon and lugged him out too. It was too good an opportunity to see what goes on and how he interacts.

So, The Judge won't let me pet him, he isn't that tame yet, but, I've only been working with him for a couple of weeks. No idea where he came from or why he picked me and doesn't fear me. But, he really doesn't. He just stands there right at the door and shakes his big white head back and forth until he gets his cup o cat food and a treat. I can bend down and put the dish in front of his nose and he never hisses. He never has. I think he's tame enough to let me take some photos and I will, but, not this night. Because I no sooner sat down with Papa Bear and Indie with The Judge only 4 foot away chowing down, then the young male Coon showed up and him and Tooney ran for each other with genuine grins and hugged and flopped over to wrestle right in the driveway! Then two young female Coons who looked like petite twin sisters came up to the driveway to check out the commotion. They are new too. I think they might be from that litter that was under the house all Summer. They moved out, but, about that time, I started seeing these healthy looking twin girls out back eating, once in awhile. But, they are really wild and scared of people. All of these animals were within 10 foot of me and it was pretty well lit by the novelty lights I string around. I sat real still, I dropped my cig in a coffee can I keep out there. I didn't want them to see smoke and spot me. But, I was sitting right out in the open. When the twins joined the boys wrestling game, it became an amazing noise. Coons play rough and growl like horror movie demons. They were banging into my car, thumping and bumping. At the sounds, Papa Bear lifted his head, but, seemed satisfied that it was just yearlings playing. He layed down again on the table, but, this time he cozied up more to the Cat and rested his big head on Indie's hind leg. Wow. Indie lifted his head, saw it was Papa and went back to sleep! At this point, I look around and I am like, wow. But, damn, you just know these two animals know each other really well. That fucking Indie has a whole other life I don't even know about! By the way, my chair was pulled up to the table. Papa was resting right next to me too. I had a brief thought that this could go all wrong and I could end up without a face or something, but, I threw that thought in the trash because this just never happens. And it was fun. And my life is boring. I needed something amazing and I got it.

The youngsters continued to play fight, giving it hell. They made their way like a rolling, growling, giant fur ball over to the table and Toon  pulled his typical move. He jumped up on me, using my leg and arm as a speed board for climbing and was up on the table flipping his shit. The small male Coon followed his path exactly, right up my leg, then my arm. It happened so fast, they are incredibly quick. A bit odd having the strange Coon actually on me, but, I sort of expected it because I believe someone has hand raised him like I did Tooney, but, they turned him out too soon. Also, he was never taught jack shit, you can tell. He'd been scavenging our garbage cans and making a mess because he was intimidated by the animals at the back feeding area and he doesn't have any real scavenging skills. Poor little turd was hungry and had been kicked out too early. Someone probably made the mistake of thinking a Raccoon would be an awesome pet and then freaked out when he wasn't. I can tell he's human raised by the way he acts. So, him sniffing out this place and moving in was certainly a lucky break for him. He doesn't tear up garbage anymore. He's well fed. He's a good play buddy for Tooney, they must have been born around the same time. He even looks like Toon in the face. Toon is a little bigger though. Anyhow, he's pretty tame, I can pet him. He has moved into one of mom's sheds. He sleeps in an old box of stuffed toys. Actually, pretty warm. I found it and put it up high for him. He could Winter in there, no one would care. I need a name for him. Any suggestions? He's really very sweet and dependant. He has a wide eyed, innocent look. He smiles a lot.

Papa Bear got up, hefting his considerable weight and I waited, wide eyed, ready to protect my baby. But, Papa just reached out and slapped Tooney on the shoulder and knocked him off the table. Then he layed back down. Dude is a mature Coon who knows you nap after eating and he has no time for these juvenile  delinquents. I thought it was really a mellow move. Tooney landed with a thud on the concrete, but, he was grinning. Apparantly, these two have worked out their differences on their own. I'm relieved. I thought Tooney would eventually get his ass kicked. For a big guy, he's a pussy in real situations and cries like a puppy for his mommy. I have rescued him from instigated violence three times now in the middle of the night. It's dark as hell out back, but, I am pretty sure it was Papa each time. The big Coon has now come to understand this particular territory and how it works. He has changed his behavior accordingly. (Raccoons are so goddamn smart, it's scary.) My yard is Sweden, goddamn it. Don't fight for real or the crazy old lady will smack you with a broom in the dark.

So, here I was watching all this, just fucking amazed when I got more company. Another Possum showed up and this one was greeted by Ouija! The  kitten ran up to the small possum and nose to nosed him. Possum hissed a greeting and didn't break stride. He knows Ouija! Ouija followed him to the food dish, playing with his bald rat tail. The fact that Ouija felt comfortable playing with this particular Possum, but, left The Judge alone, tells me these two are friends. The Possum seemed to enjoy the small Cat's attention. I'm not sure, but, I don't think Possums have the best eyesight. He didn't see me until I moved. I stayed still so he could eat his dinner. When he did spot me, he froze and looked at me and then all over. Spotting the odd array of wild and domestic animals, he must have decided I was safe. He sat down amongst us and cleaned his paws.

Sitting there, just marveling at what I was seeing. What a privilege, what a gift I was given. I thought it couldn't get any better but I was wrong. We were joined by a good sized Skunk. I could smell him before he arrived. The bad dogs had been running loose earlier, so he must have gotten cornered and sprayed. It was strong, but, not awful. I like the smell of Skunk. Not their direct spray, that would be insane, no, I like the natural musky smell of Skunks. I think it smells like nature and reminds me of deep forests. I dunno, I may be weird, but, it's a smell I like. So, this Skunk trucks on in like he owns the place and every animal there clearly knows this guy and they leave him alone. Smart move. Indie lifted his head and watched the Skunk and I could tell he knew him. The food bowl was empty and I got up to refill it for the Skunk, but, I made sure I moved REAL slow. I wanted him here, but, I didn't want to get sprayed. They do give spraying signals though, usually they tap their front feet. He wasn't giving any signals. When I got up, he backed off into the shadows, but, he came right back to eat once I filled the dish and sat down. Again, I sat the dish where I could watch him. About four feet from my feet. That Skunk must be a regular, he knew right where the dish was.

I continued to sit out there for two hours just watching all these amazing animals. It was a nice clear night, the temp was perfect. The weirdest thing is, I expected most of the animals to take off after they ate. They didn't. None of them! They played with each other, napped, cleaned themselves, played in the water and drank, sniffed around, checked me out and just generally had a fucking social. So, I wondered what I had been missing out there, that all these weird critters know each other and respect each other. They don't just tolerate each other, they enjoy the interaction, you could tell. They were visiting with each other. Seriously. They must feel very safe. It's not unusual to see wild animals close here, I feed them and so does my mom. But, to see all of them at once is a fucking trip, I am telling you. It blew my mind. I just feel really lucky and I am sure it will happen again, now that I know about their little secret club. I will definitely risk taking some photos to put on here. I can't believe the world outside my door at night. I finally got really tired and went to bed. They were all still out there when I crashed. Papa tried to follow me into the house, but, I politely told him, no, sorry. I have to think about that. In the house is fine, but, how would I get him out if he didn't want to go? Ahh ha, there's the question. I can't just manhandle him like I do Toon. At least I don't think so. It's just bizarre as hell, isn't it? Really, really cool though. Sitting out there, touching them, having them touch me, I felt like Snow White or one of those cartoon ladies who have blue birds land on their fingers and mice make them clothes. You know? It was that unreal. But, it happened. It happens just about every night, I just haven't sat out there at the right time. Now, I realize my 3 house pets aren't responsible for all the odd noises I hear out there. Watching them play was fantastic. But, watching the loving way they treated their special friends and which ones they were, well, my brain is still processing that. I just know I feel very magical and blessed.

Oh, and fuck spelling errors. I've been up all night packing and cleaning. Oh, and BTW, I will never put in 'O' in front of Possum. That is just dumb as dirt. Also, do you think Papa and The Judge learned to scratch on my door by watching Tooney do it? Tooney used to do that all the time, but, now he can open the door himself. If Papa figures that out, OMG. If I wake up to him in my bed instead of Tooney, I will piss myself. Or worse.