Raccoon at the Lake

‘Twas a beautiful morning: a crystal clear blue sky with an abundance of bright white clouds, not too hot, not too cool, not too windy. It was just right to take the canoe to the lake and paddle its six-miles of shoreline to see what there was to see.

Hadn’t gone too far when a furry creature not far ahead along the shore came into view. As I drew closer it quickly became apparent that it was a raccoon feeding at the water’s edge –

It rapidly probed for edibles beneath the water with its front feet –

As soon as it finished in one spot it would walk a little way along the shore and resume searching for something to eat.

By paddling slowly and being careful to avoid any sudden movements, I was able to get much closer than I would have expected –

Interestingly, although it would occasionally look directly at the human watching it, the raccoon seemed unfazed by my presence – perhaps because it was young – and continued feeding.

It was impossible to see what it was eating, but  frequently there was a series of “crunches”  - probably the sounds of it crushing the exoskeletons of crawfish.

The raccoon and I moved slowly along the edge of the lake, one of us eating and the other taking photos. Finally, the raccoon went a short way back from the shoreline and looked out toward the lake –

Apparently it had enough, either enough to eat or enough of being followed, and disappeared from view.