Raccoons

"Goddamit! We got hit by raccoons
again."
Yep thats right. Those furry little critters caused this damning exclamation from Mr. Vuori. They look sweet don't they? Well at the moment they're mounting a sustained assault on the bins around the house. They seem particularly keen on corn cobs and lime segments. Obviously have taste. Now I've never seen a raccoon, but Niko assures me they're as big as a dog. I struggle to believe this and suggested a stakeout tonight to try and catch a glimpse of the blighters. Pre-empting that this may not occur, however, I went for the Wikipedia source of all knowledge and discovered some fascinating facts about 'coons (as they call em over here):

1. Raccoons are nocturnal and omnivorous, eating berries, insects and even small animals (no mention of corn or lime - maybe I should add this to the wikipedia entry)

2. Raccoons seem to wash their food before eating - a curious behaviour that is reflected in their name in other languages. For example 'waschbar' (German) and 'pesukarhu' (Finnish), which both mean 'washing bear'. Even better is the French 'raton laveur' or 'little washing rat'. Not so cute and cuddly now.

3. Raccoons are notable for their thumbs (although non-opposable??) which, using all their renowned cunning, they use to great effect on closed containers, such as bins. Clever eh? Surely they could think of other good uses for their non-opposable thumbs - like hitchhiking.

4. There are numerous varieties of raccoon, the most exotic being the Crab Eating Raccoon (procyon cancrivorous) from Central and South America. I'll be keeping me eyes peeled for em when I get there.

So there you go. My first post and its all about raccoons. Not sure its a sign of things to come, but I will now try to get a bit of Latin into every post. I aim to educate. Sianara amigos.