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Date:         Thu, 12 Feb 2004 09:22:52 -0600
Reply-To:     Larry Chase <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Larry Chase <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM>
Subject:      RoadHaus - Louisiana Raccoons / The rest of the story
Comments: To: "wetwesties@yahoogroups." <wetwesties@yahoogroups.com>,
          VWVANFULLTIMERS@yahoogroups.com, vwcc@yahoogroups.com,
          "Vw-Camping@Yahoogroups. Com" <vw-camping@yahoogroups.com>,
          vanagon@yahoogroups.com, ev_update@yahoogroups.com,
          Syncro@yahoogroups.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Volks,

Sorry ..... Long story!

Yesterday I sent a short report to a few friends about a run in I had with a few Louisiana Raccoons.

See "First Raccoon Report" at the bottom of this page.

Turns out there's more to the story.

- - -

Although I thought my "Raccoon" Adventure was done for the day, it was not to be.

First I was politely educated by my friend Stan Wilder.

Turns out the critters are not Raccoons at all.

The were "NUTRIA" or what is more commonly referred to as "Louisiana Swamp Rats".

Here's a picture:

http://www.roadhaus.com/images/nutria.jpg

Here's some info:

http://www.nationaltrappers.com/nutria.html

Anyway .... Around mid-night ... The fun began again.

The creatures began crawling out of the Abyss of the Louisiana Swamp and tried to overtake the Roadhaus.

OK .... You may find this one hard to believe, but it's true.

After the early episode with the dog food (stored in one of those tough rubber waterproof duffel bags) I threw the bag on top of the Van for the night.

Out of harms way I foolishly thought.

The creatures split into squads of three or four and took turns assaulting the Van. They somehow managed to scale the exterior and made their way to the roof.

Once on the summit they proceed to rummage thru everything in the luggage rack, including of course ... The dog food duffle bag.

Also I might add ... They seemed to have a particular fondness for a gallon of VW Phosphate Free Antifreeze.

Sounds of scratching, clawing and objects being tossed about pierced the damp night air.

Try and sleep thru that.

Grapping my 4'long Mag Flashlight, I throw the side door open, and hit the ground in full USMC Combat stance.

Ready to swing the flashlight to and fro and fight for the dominance of the swamp.

Sweeping the beam onto the roof I see dark vague shapes disappear into the darkness. I hear scurrying down the far side of the van.

Running to that perimeter ....... I hear the nearby dense vegetation rustling with activity.

And then ... This is the scary part.

You might want to chase the children away for this one.

Sweepinjg the flashlight beam in that direction,

I see eyes staring back. But this time it's not 1/2 dozen sets of eyes.

No sir .... I counted at least 12 or 14 sets of piercing, eerie eyes of what I assume was a growing Army of NUTRIA.

Fearing that I was outnumbered I tumble back into the safety of the RoadHaus.

BTW ... Bullet the Watch Dog ... Never showed a bit of curiosity or interest in the event.

She watched the whole ordeal from the warmth and comfort of her LL Bean Down and Fleece covered bed.

To put an end to this tale .....

The rest of the night was a similar repeat permorance.

They would return, I'd work up enough courage to finally rush out and confront what turned out to be ever growing sets of glowing night eyes.

Finally, after literally no sleep I feared that they had gathered enough numbers to cart the Van away ....

I became convinced that there true plan was to take us deep into their territory.

The Abyss of their Louisiana Swamp.

I hurried threw everything into the Van and at around 4:30 am escaped back to the paved byways of rural LA.

Now this morning in a calmer mood, I'm trying to sort thru lessons learned and figure out what I might be different next time.

Here's what I came up with.

http://www.lacoast.gov/watermarks/2000b-06/3recipe/

- - -

First Raccoon Report

Sitting in the Van a few minutes ago, Bullet (Dog) starts going crazy.

Figure she has to go Potty.

I let her out, seconds later I hear a small yelp and here she comes at a run ... back in the Van.

I figure it was a loose dog.

Jump out with flashlight in hand ..... from the thick brush 6 different sets of eyes stare back.

Holly sh_____ I Gasp.

After the pulse rate returns to normal I investigate a little further.

I hate it when curiosity overcomes fear.

Turns out the eyes belong to raccoons who where dragging the dog food bag into the swamps of Louisiana.

Not on your life I shout ...... Jumping into the muck I wrestle the prize away.

OK .... so my shouting actually scared the devils further into the depths of the abyss.

But the other version makes a better story.

The new replacement bag ...... now has new teeth marks and chew holes.

Cool.

The original taken several times by Coyotes of the Southwest and Wild Dogs of Mexico.

But each time I got it back.

That is until I left it on top of the van when I pulled out of camp one day.

Never to be seen again.

- - -

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, But in having new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust

Larry Chase Email: RoadGuy@RoadHaus.com Web: WWW.RoadHaus.com Cell: 408.202.1217 What: North American Road Trip How: RoadHaus - 1990 White VW Westfalia Syncro Today: On the road to Florida


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