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Date:         Thu, 12 Feb 2004 08:06:28 -0800
Reply-To:     DOUG ELLEDGE <doug@SHIREWOOD.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         DOUG ELLEDGE <doug@SHIREWOOD.COM>
Subject:      Re: RoadHaus - Louisiana Raccoons / The rest of the story
Comments: To: Larry Chase <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Larry, Let us know how they taste. You may be on to something. I haven't heard of any cases of Mad Rat Disease. Doug E. www.Shirewood.com '84 Van-Go

----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Chase" <roadguy@ROADHAUS.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 7:22 AM Subject: RoadHaus - Louisiana Raccoons / The rest of the story

> 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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