urban raccoons and your pets: a deadly combination

Raccoons terrorize a West Olympia neighborhood, killing cats, dragging off small dogs, attacking children. It's the tragicomic story of the summer, illustrating the consequences of congestion on animal behavior.

Raccoons aren't like possums, which, when encroached upon, give up polygamy for a lifetime of monogamous bliss, otherwise remaining calm. No, no. Raccoons are fiendishly smart, their cute Hamburglar looks belying wicked plot-hatchery and tricksterism.

Keeton and Pam Corwin have decided to have "cat coops" built so their pets can go outside and have some room to roam, with protection.

It's not just cats being attacked. Five raccoons actually ganged up on and carried off a little dog, who survived.

One thing that makes these raccoons scary is they have no fear. One neighbor threw firecrackers at them to try to scare them off, and it didn't even bug them, Hall said.

"It's a new breed," Keeton said. "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid."

If I may play Dave Barry for a moment, "Urban Raccoon" would be a great name for a band.