actually it was a raccoon

The dog barked suspiciously. Going downstairs to investigate revealed a distinctly raccoon ass disappearing up into part of the unfinished wall…

Two weeks ago or so we thought we a had an opossum messin’ around downstairs. We figured that it was an opossum because of the footprints left on things and because we had actually encountered one in the house already this year. It turns out that opossum tracks and raccoon tracks are very similar…

Last night at 3am we were able to confirm that the newest visitor is a raccoon. The raccoon, who R. promptly decided should be named Charlie, has shown a fondness for cat food, cooked and uncooked rice, and wheat bread.

Charlie appears to be using the unflued chimneys as raccoon highways, and visiting every few days. Our next step is to block the chimneys off at both ends and see if this stops the visits.