Green Tea Doodles

mmm...but that looks even more delicious...

I seem to be continuing my current theme of animals and water… Raccoons are a species notorious for being clever with their “hands”. At our family cottage we used to keep the garbage in a bin… then we changed to a barrel with a tightly screwed on lid… then we added two concrete blocks on top. Each time, the raccoons figured out how to get access to our yummy-to-them left-overs. I’ve pictured the one above in a more pristine setting getting ready to wash and eat some watery delicacy.

UPDATE: This in from TR in the comments… If you want to hear more about his own raccoon adventures, read about it in the comments!

It isn’t easy keeping track
of all the splendid places
where a coon might find a snack
or berries hung in braces

from long vines near water’s edge
where washing on the rocks
can be performed while near the hedge
that hides you from the flocks

of humans who come gawking close
all clumsy and profane
to stick their long and ugly nose
into the coon’s domain

of water, stone and bushes deep
the secret forest places
where a cuddly coon might sleep
safe from human traces.

poem (c) Tom Radcliffe 2010

image (cc) 2010 Hilary Farmer