There's a varmint in that there cement pond!

There's a varmint in that there cement pond!
Originally uploaded by kaymaria.

We have a great house. It's SO Just Right. The Most Fabulous Detail is what we call The Zen Garden - a small, narrow fenced in area off the master bedroom. In it, there's a gorgeous rhododendron pruned to be tree-like, I planted some hosta and lilies, and various other plants. But the best part is the little pond. When we first moved here, there was a crack in it. I'm really proud of myself that was capable of fixing it and I've been slowly but surely adding plants to it and most recently, three cute little koi (or really large goldfish - not sure which).

Upon a couple of occasions I have come out to mild mayhem - a plant has overturned and made the water murky and the fish ticked - what could do this?

Well, I woke up about an hour ago to splashing.

Now, I started reading Coraline last night and my dreams got all a'fluster. FORTUNATELY I did not read it before bed last night or I would have really panicked. OF COURSE Tommy has duty, meaning he's on the boat and I'm alone so for about 5 minutes I laid in bed wondering what sort of ghost kid is playing in the pond. Eventually I got up enough nerve to tippy-toe into the bathroom (you can't see the pond from the sliding glass doors that lead out of the master bedroom but there's a tall, narrow window in the bathroom that overlooks it). It was too dark and creepy to make out what was a'splashin'. So I tippy-toed back and flipped on the outside light then tippy-toed back to the window. (I'm a raging dork, aren't I?)

Sure enough, there was a racoon IN my pond. I banged on the glass and it skittered away but came back a minute later. I watched it for a minute - he would drag his little front arms through the water in front of him then scoot a few steps then drag his arms through the water again then scoot some more. Now, the last time I had to clean out the pond, I couldn't catch the fish with a net (okay, it was a large strainer - but still) and I resorted to literally catching them with my hands and dropping them in a bucket of water - sure, this took a while but I still did it so I was sure this creature with his cute little mask and his pink little hands would succeed if I let him. So I banged on the glass again (but obviously not before I got my camera).

I remember reading that an effective racoon trap is to put something shiny in a hollowed out log, the racoon would stick his hand through a hole, grab the shiny thing, then get trapped because he can't pull his clenched fist back out through the hole - they're to stubborn to let the shiny object go. Well, that might not make sense but it is 2:44 in the a.m. and I am still feeling the effects of the Nyquil I swigged before going to bed a few hours ago so my point is, this racoon saw THREE shiny thing and did not want to let them go. Loud, hissy noises would scare him away, but he was back in no time. I finally had to fling the screen door and jump out there scaring him and myself a couple times.

I think he's gone now and the pond pump is only trickling (normally it slightly gushes) but I'm too scared to go out there, get on my knees, and forage through the muck to see what's wrong.

Today's my birthday - I'm another year older but you wouldn't be able to tell by my actions.