… to the last post:
I went down to the same beach where the raccoon was, and I found a policeman chasing kids off and out of the rocks … you've seen the rocks; they're in lots of my photos … they were placed there in order to serve as a "rip-rap" to prevent the waves (they get pretty big, sometimes) from washing away the shore and messing up the carpark … anyway, I asked a bystander what was going on, and he said there was a raccoon living in the rocks, or at least hiding in them. I had noticed that he headed for the rocks when I got too close, so I assume it was the same raccoon.
It's a bit much, I think, to expect an officer of the law to stand about waiting until a raccoon takes it into his head to emerge, and even if he were to stay, when the raccoon came out, what was he to do? Write him a ticket? Serve him with a summons? Shoot him? (Personally, even if I approved of shooting a raccoon who steals garbage, I would hesitate to do it in that environment … too much chance of unintended consequences.)
So, I expect there will be some attempt to live-trap the beastie and release him in some more appropriate spot, if he proves healthy. They are notorious carriers of rabies, among other nasty diseases, and dangerous to humans (and to other creatures, including each other) because of it. So they'll test him before release. If he tests positive, of course, the story (for him) ends there. Poor Procyon!
No pics today … sorry, I'm arranging things.
der Wandersmann 
PainterWoman
June 1, 2009 at 10:06 am
I had always heard that just testing an animal for rabies was an automatic death sentence for the animal because the vets have to test it's brain. Maybe that was just a story I heard when I was a kid.
derWandersmann
June 1, 2009 at 11:06 am
If the animal has bitten someone, that is the quickest way to find out, but if there is no human injury (and sometimes even if there is, depending on the jurisdiction), simply confining the animal for ten days will tell whether there is rabies … rabies kills within that period.
PainterWoman
June 1, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Ah, I didn't know that. I think someone was trying to scare me as a kid.
solidcopper
June 3, 2009 at 9:06 am
No new shadows, eh? I have got mine now. 😆
schlaefer
August 21, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Super article!