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July 31, 2008
Can't hide from me
Lunch Time! Raccoons Eating Cat Food, originally uploaded by One Date Wonder.
I have a long-standing rivalry with the raccoons in Ohio, but I figured I was relatively insulated from the creatures here in Chicago. I once heard that a raccoon had somehow made its way to the top of the Sears Tower, but now I can't find anything about that on the internet, so maybe I'm hallucinating.
Thus, I was running along Halsted Street by Division. I like it there because there's some hills, albeit artificial hills. Just south of Division, the street narrows into a bridge over the Chicago River, and as I hopped onto the bridge, I was suddenly confronted by a posse of raccoons. Raccoons are nocturnal, and supposed to be afraid of humans, so encountering them in the daytime is never a good sign. I stopped running towards them, and waited for them to leave.
All of the raccoons soon scuttled away to some hiding place on the bridge, but one raccoon stayed on the sidewalk and refused to budge. I was running in place, waiting for him to leave, but he was not interested in compromising. I must have run in place for a good 45 seconds. I stared at him, he stared at me. I tried turning around so he wouldn't think I was staring at him; when I turned back around, he was still there.
Alas, this raccoon had won the battle of man versus nature. I ran back off the bridge, crossed the street, and used the sidewalk on the other side.
entry no. 1190
Posted at July 31, 2008 11:14 PM