Sighted by one of the overnight Walgreens guys, down by the creek, casually walking toward our kids' school.
Of course he was reliable, being bleary eyed and all, and naturally, cougars stroll down the middle of the street.

Never the less, the local fishwrap went into overdrive with harrowing stories of dangerous encounters with fearsome beasts AND admonishments about the tragedy of depredation.

And, predictably, the DNR denies the presence of cougars, wolves, and bears in IA.

Raccoon we have, though. Watch out!

We live in an oak grove abutting a deep, wide ravine - plenty of crows, hawks, owls, foxes, groundhogs, squirrels of all sorts, deer, and other stuff. No turkeys, though.

But the raccoons - there are several boars and a female with youngsters - are the only animals bold enough to come up to the house and look in through the windows at us.

Were it not for our proximity to the University, meddlesome animals would be dealt with via John K's tiered approach, but unfortunately it isn't an option here in the liberal-est bastion of the region.

Enter the dog. Raccoons, say hello to my leetle freng. Raccoon issue solved on night #2, con gusto.

Offending black squirrels and pesky chipmunks, you are next.