Rocky and Rachel Raccoon

Pre-dogs in our family, we had two raccoons that would come up on our porch each evening, after the outside lights were out and we were in bed. We discovered it one night when my husband and I were awakened to a very loud noise outside; we came downstairs, went all around the inside of the house and found nothing. Then we heard it again; we went outside, and looked all around. We have a large metal trash can on the porch where we used to keep animal food. Upon lifting the wooden top my husband had built and hinged to the can, we saw a precious raccoon down inside the can. He had gotten in and could not get out! We left the top open, came inside and let him climb out! I was in love with the beautiful little creature! We began watching every night and would see them come up on the porch and sniff around, looking for some type of tasty morsel. Usually our girls were in bed and asleep by this time (our son had not been born yet). We began opening the window beside our recliner that goes to the floor and would hold our hand out, palm up and flat with an Oreo cooking on it. Over time they would get closer and closer, wanting so badly to retrieve the Oreo, but being skeptical of our intents. I insisted we wake the girls up and let them come and at least watch, if not participate. So we began waking them up and bringing them downstairs to observe, telling them they had to be still and quiet (which was not that difficult since we usually awakened them out of a deep sleep). After a few nights of the raccoons retrieving the Oreos out of our hand and coming back for "seconds", our girls decided they needed to be named. So, "Rocky" and "Rachel" became a part of our nighttime ritual for a short while....until we got a dog....and the rest, as they say, is history! Sweet, sweet memories!