Under Siege!

Before turning in for the night, we cleaned up camp. All of the food was put in the Burley trailer, and it was securely fastened. Unfortunately, there was not a place in the campground area of the park to take trash. We put it in a bag, and left it out. At 1:00 am we heard the rustling of the bag followed by the sound of a Pringles can hitting the ground. I got the flashlight and opened the tent. There were two raccoons rummaging through the bag for anything they could find. I figured they would get what they wanted, and that would be the end of it. So we went back to sleep thinking we would have a mess to clean in the morning.

At 4:00 am we heard the two barking/growling at each other. This time much closer to the tent and by my bike with the trailer. This time I opened the tent more carefully with the flashlight's gaze catching one of them reaching into the smallest of openings at a corner-seem to pull out a marshmallow and shove it in its mouth. I threw on my shoes and chased it off by throwing pieces of wood and small rocks at them. They were not deterred at all... brazen bastards! Knowing that there was no way I would eat the food they touched, I finally threw the rest of the marshmallows into the woods far from the tent. I checked the Burley to make sure there was no damage and to ensure they could not reach any food still in it.

Half an hour later they were back. I thought I was prepared for them this time because I had brought some empty plastic pop bottles into the tent so I could throw them at the bandit-faced vermin. I carefully opened the tent again, took aim, and threw it as hard as a could. I hit the trailer very close to the creature, and the bottle bounced back toward the tent. He came forward to check it out, and was about 4 foot from the opening of the tent! I took my shoe and stomped the ground which caused him to retreat a little. I was able to chase him off by shooting water from my water-bottle at him.

In the morning it was evident that he did indeed return. He could not open the trailer or reach any more food, but he tried to pull my shirt out of that little space. The bright yellow riding shirt had a few smudges of dirt and several loosened threads from the claws.

Alex suggested that we get a second small tent for the Burley, but I think raccoons would just bite and scratch their way into a tent too. I had some pepper spray that I did not think about until later. I had a pretty good angle and a short enough distance that it most likely would have been effective. I have already had a few suggestions, but one of the most feasible was to toss a rope over a branch and hoist the trash and food up and out of reach. Because the loss of sleep, pepper spray still sounds the most satisfying!