Raccoons in Double Trouble - Freewrite Day 483 Entry - Prompt: Double Time

in #freewrite5 years ago

Hi everyone reading this :)

This is my response to the Freewrite prompt, a daily writing exercise that I am really enjoying doing. Thank you @mariannewest for hosting these. The Freewrite community has also graciously agreed to “adopt” me, promoting me on their page and giving me daily upvotes. It is much appreciated, and hopefully my writings will be up to their standards.

I’m thinking about challenging myself to make all of the freewrites I do match a particular theme. So far, I’ve had a suggestion to make them about wild animals that tend to get a bad reputation. I’d be curious if anyone else had any other suggestions.


https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-483-5-minute-freewrite-friday-prompt-double-time

Prompt: “Double Time”


These two racoons always did things together. They were a pair. A team. For them, all the time was double time. Roaming the suburbs at night, exploring trash cans to salvage the food that the silly humans had wasted. Didn’t they know that the food was still good? One day, while wandering around, the pair came across the motherload of dumpsters, outside a warm building that smelled of sweet things, the local bakery. In the trash was the old food that the bakers had irresponsibly thrown out. Cupcakes, breads, danishes, a cake. The two racoons locked eyes, thrilled at their luck, and then dove in headfirst. They ate so much they got sick that night, and fell asleep in the trash, even though they knew better. Come morning, the baker showed up, and started yelling, and throwing things. Sigh. Humans always reacted like this. It’s not like they’re eating the food anyways. Well, the two racoons scampered away, mirroring each other’s movements so closely that the baker briefly questioned if they were seeing double.

That next night, the racoon pair decided to try their luck again and return to the wonderful dumpster of tasty food. They crept down the alley, and made it in safely. Tonight was going to be another great night of eating the wasted overindulgence of humans. They’d be more careful not to overeat, and would make it safely back home this time. While they didn’t always understand why humans were so crazy, they did learn. And together, they could handle anything.


I’ve always found racoons to be such adorable creatures. Their little hands, and how they walk around on their hind legs occasionally. When I was younger, we always had racoons come up to our sliding glass door at night, and I would frequently watch them as they walked around our backyard. I’ve never understood the fear/ hatred people have towards these animals. Sure, maybe they sometimes make a mess. But honestly, if you’re throwing away that much food that you’re attracting racoons, I think you should take a long look at your purchasing/ consumption practices. Something wrong is happening. Don’t blame the racoons for taking advantage of their surroundings to survive in a world that we have made substantially less hospitable for wildlife.

Here’s a cute video of a racoon washing its food and running off.

Source


I had a whole lot more to this story in my head. I had to stop, and change the flow of my story otherwise I could have been writing for way longer. I am thinking that I will continue this post in the future. Maybe I’ll use the extended post for my FreeReading. Also, I would be looking for a partner for the we-write contest if anyone is interested. You can find details here.

As my RC is running low, if you’re interested in writing with me, please send me a message on discord, my username is nmcdougal#1503, or on Telegram. I’m trying to conserve my commenting power for posting things. Hopefully, as I keep gaining SP, this will eventually no longer be an issue. I’m too used to Facebook’s commenting, where I don’t have to worry about that. I’m sure it will get better with time, but it definitely puts a damper on my experience on this platform.


Part of being a member of the #ccc community is having this footer on my posts. If you'd like more information about what that is, check out @freedomshift, @team-ccc, or any of the links below.

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Until next time,

Namaste

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I love raccoons, they're so cute. 💕

Right? I'd love to someday be in a situation were I could regularly interact with them. I'm not sure what that may be, but hopefully I'll find a way :)

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I had raccoons come and get my chickens. That wasn't so cute.
Try to apply for a delegation from @thedarkhorse. That will help with the RC problem.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. When I was younger, my family had a pet duck and he was killed by raccoons. They definitely do have their dark side, as all wild animals can. But I think on the whole, the negative image they have is exaggerated. Maybe I haven't seen enough of their dark side, but I like them.

Thank you. I would, but his delegation contest only goes up to 100 SP. I did get another delegation, so I'll be good for awhile yet as I keep building up my SP.

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I've always loved that video of the raccoon running off with the cats food. 😂
We don't have raccoons where I am, so they seem fascinating to me. 😊

As for RC - I noticed that you already have a delegation of 75 SP, but I've just thrown you a delegation for an extra 50, should help just a teensy bit more. Will withdraw it when you reach 50 SP of your own!

It is one of my favorites :) there are so many adorable ones on the internet haha. I can easily get lost on YouTube with cute animals videos.

Are there other larger mammals where you live? Or are you in a big city?

Wow, that is so generous of you. Thank you so much. It definitely will help out, now I can get around to replying to the comments that have been waiting haha. I should hopefully hit over 50 SP of my own when my IFC story pays out in a few days haha. I'll likely make a post celebrating it as a landmark milestone and thank people who have helped me, so I can tag you in that if you'd like the notification.

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I'm in country Australia :) ~ large fruit bats, kangaroos, wallabies, possums, and assorted other creatures. I think there are koalas in my region too, but they're rare. Lots of yowie (australian bigfoot) sightings also ;)

Happy to help, even if it's only for a few days, haha. :) Feel free to tag me if you like, would be happy to celebrate your milestone!! :D

Oh that's awesome :) I've always been kinda jealous of the amount of large animals that are common in Australia. I'd love to be able to head outside and see kangaroos or cockatoos. Haha I've had some friends from Australia, they say it's annoying but I think it'd be fun. I've never heard of an Australian bigfoot, sounds cool. I'll have to check that out.

Cool! I will make sure to do so :)

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Cockatoos! The bane of my mornings at the moment, haha! They sound like a pack of pteradactyls screeching across the skies at 4am ;) thinking of adding a mutated one to an upcoming story in March! :D

Haha birds are the banes of peoples' mornings the world over :p

Oh, cool. I'll have to keep an eye out for that :)

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I like them too. If it comes to making a mess... human beings a great in doing such. And if you leave it open you will attract animals: rats, foxes, cats, dogs, mice, birds, etc etc.

Loved the story

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That is very true haha. At least the other animals are there to clean it up. Too bad they can't help fix the mess we're making of our planet. But I'm hopeful humans will figure that one out soon.

Thank you :)

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Eating the wasted over indulgence of humans. That caught me.

Am here to deliver the weekend freewrite prompt.

Going single with this.
...
https://partiko.app/@mariannewest/weekend-freewrite-2-16-2019-single-prompt-option
....
...
You wanna try the pro version?
...
https://partiko.app/@mariannewest/weekend-freewrite-2-16-2019-part-1-the-first-sentence
...
...
Do have a lovely and a nice weekend.

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You'd love the nonfiction of Sterling North, who called raccoons the smartest animal in North America. Also " Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era," aka Rascal, a 1963 children's book by Sterling North about his childhood in Wisconsin. See The Children’s Book That Caused Japan’s Raccoon Problem via SmithsonianMag.

Awesome :) thank you. I'll have to check that out.

Edit: There's a movie, and an anime. Haha apparently that book was immensely popular.

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