So, I had a fabulous night camping last night...making S'mores over a campfire, having a drink, talking & laughing, with a new friend from Florida who was camping a few sites down from me. I went to bed pretty late and just loved laying in my tent listening to the river flowing and a train or 2 passing by. I was content & happy & peaceful until a noise outside my tent woke me up at about 4:30 am. I carefully rolled off my air mattress & reached for my flashlight. While doing so I heard my water jug, that was sitting on the picnic bench just outside my tent, topple to the ground. Ever so quietly, & quick like a Ninja, I unzipped the top window-like part of my tent to peak out through the mesh w/my flashlight. Well right there at my picnic table was a HUGE raccoon.
Of course this is not the actual
raccoon. The one from last night
was much bigger. :)
I could see that he was trying to get into my nylon cooler. I tried shushing him away but nothing. Then I tried shining my flashlight in his face but nothing. He just kept peering at me while clawing at my cooler. I had to do something & since I was too scared to get out of my tent in case he decided to charge at me (come on, it was before daylight & I was half asleep & scared) I did the next logical thing and grabbed my mace. Yes, you read that right, I grabbed my mace. I did not know what else to do and like I said, I was scared. He could have eaten me after all!
I carefully shone my flashlight on my mace to ensure I was pointing it in the right direction and I peeped back through the mesh window and.....sprayed. The big, mean raccoon was not quite close enough for it to go straight into his eyes but the spray must have been close enough cuz he shook his head & started tiptoeing off. That was all good except like I said, I sprayed the mace through mesh so....I think more of it sprayed back on me and IN the tent than on him. My eyes stung & my throat itched & I began coughing. Still though I was able to stumble out & rescue my cooler & bring it in the tent to safety w/me. For the next couple of hours, as I tried to go back to sleep, I cocooned myself in my sleeping bag, careful to bury my head, trying to stop inhaling & being affected by the mace in my tent.
The best part of all this....I now know that my mace works & I know how to use it! Poor raccoon! I hope he's okay. I learned my lesson. No more leaving my cooler out & no more macing innocent animals even if they are big and scare me!!
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