Beasts in the Night

Recently, while surfing for a few programs to record on DVR I saw that an episode of "The Night Stalker" was being aired. I remember enjoying this show when I was a teenager, it was kind of an early prototype of the X-Files. Rather than being a boring, monotonous figure like Mulder (even the name sounds bland), Carl Kolchak was a reporter of many depths exploring unexplainable events. Well, the show was an updated remakes of the original, but the pilot show that I recorded was about beasts in the night. And it was pretty good!

We had a bout with beasts ourselves in the middle of the night last week. Sherry had gotten up to let Mr. Cash (the kitty with no relation to Johnny) out, and apparently there were a few raccoons reconnoitering our residence. Suddenly, Kadie (the treasured family dog) became aware of the little beasts and charged out the door snarling and growling.

I was fast asleep when like the song goes "up on the rooftop there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter". I awoke to hear Sherry screeaaaaming, the dog snarling, and a big old fight going on. We live in a tri-level home, and I bolted out of bed like a duck on a June bug. Running down to the back porch, there was this incredible racket as Kadie and the raccoon(s?) were locked in full battle. I couldn't see a thing, and then remembered that in my haste I had forgotten my glasses. I ran back upstairs and got my glasses, then ran back down to the backyard. By that time the war had moved to the side of the house, and Sherry yelled for me to open the garage door. I ran back into the house, down the stairs to the first floor tripping on the last step (thankfully the last step) and stubbed my toe.

Sherry's intent in the heat of the moment was to maneuver Kadie into the garage and then grab something (such as ripping the bumper off of her car) and smashing the raccoon into a greasy spot on the pavement (you don't get between Sherry and her dog). Well, the fight moved back around to the side of the house and Sherry was still screaming. I ran back up the stairs and to the back of the house, but by that time the raccoon had vanished.

We each checked out Kadie separately to double check for wounds but didn't find anything. The next morning though she (Kadie, not Sherry) was unusually lethargic. She was laying on her side and then we noticed a fairly good gash on her haunch, and some bite marks on her stomach. That made sense, as the raccoon being smaller than Kadie was underneath her at times during the scrap.

Kadie is current on her shots, but Sherry took her to the vet to make sure all was good. They put her on antibiotics for a week and she bounced back the next day.

I went into the yard the next day curious to see if I could see evidence of the fight. Kind of a CSI:Tigard. Well, unfortunately there was a casualty. Laying in pieces on the back landing (our yard is on two levels) were the remains of our small portable barbecue. The handle had been shattered, and the lid bent beyond repair. The grill was about three feet away. At first I thought maybe that's what the raccoons were after, trying to drag away the barbecue. I mentioned it to Sherry, and she said that in her coming to Kadie's defense she picked up the barbecue, and with all her strength flung it at the raccoon.

Like I said, it's not good to get between Sherry and her dog.