Warehouse bandit!

Last night, I got a call in my radio, and I suddenly realized that I'd have to be awake at 4:30 AM in order to be at a warehouse on time.

This, of course, did not thrill me, as I didn't find this out in time to eat dinner early so that I could get my after dinner walk done and into bed early... So I had to skip my walk. Now, I like my walk. I get to talk to all the dog-walkers in the neighborhood, and, despite the fact that my job involves jumping from the truck bed onto docks and throwing heavy boxes around all day, I don't get steady exercise, it just happens if fits and spurts. The walk keeps my trick knee strong, and compensates for the sitting in a truck seat all day part of my job.

So I was up bright and early this morning, and in a part of town that's covered in warehouses, before most of the warehouses are open...

Now, you don't really realize it, but warehouse districts are entirely different worlds at night than they are during the day... During the day they are loud, unpleasant places, full of rumbling truck engines, banging metal doors and reeking of exhaust fumes.

At night, when the workers have gone home, an almost unnatural quiet envelops them, and as the sun sets, you can hear crickets, and see the quick shadows of feral cats stalking rodents. The pavement glows yellow under the lights, and each light swirls with insects. If you're lucky, and take the time to notice, you can watch the bats swoop in and pick off their dinner...

This morning I was at the warehouse when the night and it's creatures hadn't quite yet surrendered to the day. It's a pleasant enough time, not cool, but the heat of the day hasn't yet begun to bake the pavement. I saw this guy, looking a little scared and confused...

Normally, seeing raccoons, opossums or skunks in the daylight is a cause for concern, as it may mean rabies... but this is a juvenile, and most likely he went wandering last night, became separated from his mother, and couldn't find his way home. Left on his own, he will probably find a hole to crawl into and spend a nervous sleep waiting until his mother finds him tomorrow, or he learns to salvage through the dumpsters on his own.

They're cute as all git-out of course. Many people have succumbed to trying to tame them, with painful consequences later. When Raccoons, no matter how tame they've become, reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 years, hormones take over and they revert back to wild behaviour. I personally know one person who had to have over 100 stitches from the wounds inflicted by a much loved 'pet.'

When things like this happen, the animal, acclimatized as it is to humans, becomes a hazard to anyone around it, and it usually has to be destroyed, a hideous end that could have been avoided by just letting nature take it's course.

I took this pic, then I drove away. No matter what happens to this adorable little bandit, whether it finds it's mother, learns to support itself, or if it dies, it won't be because I interfered in any way.