As I wandered back from something-or-other late Thursday night I heard rustling near the rubbish bins. Someone taking the trash out that late? No! On drawing nearer I was greeted by beady eyes and snuffling noses belonging to some urban raccoons. Luckily I had my camera (of course!), but this pair weren't half as friendly as their country cousins we'd bumped into while camping.
One of the black and white critters scurried off into another bin while the second climbed a nearby tree and hissed at me! Undeterred I snapped away, thinking only of my blog readers.
The second group of "guests" are even less welcome. Bedbugs! A general e-mail was sent around the village announcing their arrival, but our building is apparently ground zero and so we got a special letter attached to each door. It included helpful advice like "wash bed linen frequently in hot water".
The most worrying section was a paragraph, in the middle, in red:
Alert: If you have recently taken a queen sized bed mattress and/or box spring (with pink flowers printed on it) out of the dumpster in the Ohlone/Kula Gulf garbage enclosure area you may have inadvertently brought bedbugs in to your apartment!
That's the village! Although perhaps the raccoons took it...
Urban raccoons: unfriendly. And with laser eyes.
