2007-10-06 - 12:05 p.m.

...nature's revenge...

Remember last summer, when I wrote about our landlords' project to tame our backyard. They ripped out all of the beautiful, overgrown wildflowers and replaced them with sod - that they then watered maniacally through the driest part of Vancouver summer - the only time of year when Vancouver experiences a water shortage in its reservoirs. (Such behavior remains as evidence that water still isn't expensive enough...)

You may also recall that I particularly regretted the loss of the huge apple tree in our backyard - it was the source of many wonderful German apple cakes from K... In the fall, this was a favored hangout for raccoons, who would eat the slightly fermented fruits and be seen drunk and hanging off the limbs in the trees in the morning. Hysterical (if not a bit frightening for the feline furrballs..)

In the absence of this favorite BC drug hangout for the raccoons, they've taken up a new hobby: DIGGING FOR EARTHWORMS.

Incidentally, the scratch marks are just south of where the apple tree USED to be....

This is the second time this week we've come outside and discovered the ground ripped up (our landlords are on holiday and we are watching things...).

Yesterday I went out and carefully folded the flaps of sod back down (I'm not a fan of sod, but I'd rather it only be done once). K went down this morning and discovered the beautiful picture before you.

We know that they are raccoons because of two bits of evidence:
1. poo bits in the sod holes.
2. the presence of two large raccoons in the backyard last night - they had cornered poor Lyra on the fence, and she was a bit too terrified to venture across the lawn and up the back stairs, thereby crossing their path AND the path of Knight Ruprecht (the landlords' three hundred pound cat). Not surprising.

We got her inside and she walked through the house with her own tale the size of a raccoon's for the next ten minutes...

Ah, the excitement of living in a adventurous city in which the garbage collectors have been on strike for three months, and the raccoons are partying.