Introduction:

Hi,

Glad you decided to drop by my blog. I enjoy story telling and making up stories. Therefore, I decided to start this blog to share some of my stories with anyone who may be interested. If you enjoy what you read here, please tell others about it. I promise to never post a story here which you would be ashamed to read to your children (or be ashamed if someone caught you reading it).



Blessings,

C. Bowman

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Attack of the Raccoons!

(This little true story is from my book, Okefenokee Tales, which is available on the sidebar.)


Like that title? Well, it was not exactly an attack...more like a raid.
You see, many years ago we were canoeing through the Okefenokee Swamp from the east side entrance near Folkston, Georgia, headed for the southwest exit at Stephen Foster State Park.

I had my little brother with me then and a group of boys and men from a church. We were about 15 miles in and had stopped for the night near the end of the Suwanee canal run. We made camp, cooked supper and had plans to sleep peacefully through the night after the many hours of paddling. I knew we might be visited during the night by raccoons or some other critter, so I instructed the group to hang the garbage bag from a high tree limb, which they did. In fact it was hanging slightly out over the edge of the water in which there were alligators going to and fro on their alligator business.

About an hour after sundown, with darkness in full mode, the raccoons began their attack! Padding almost with ghostly silence they suddenly were everywhere! They first made for the canoes and found our full size ice chest in one of them. With almost no effort, they pulled the lid off which landed with a loud clatter in the bottom of the canoe. This loud, unexpectedly loud and echoing, noise seemed to call the alligators to zero in on the raiding raccoons. It also startled the raccoons themselves.

Our guys shot out of their tents to save the food in the ice chest! The raccoons scattered, the alligators whipped to and fro in the water's edge looking for a careless meal...animal or human would probably have been fine with them. The boys quickly secured the ice chest's top with a menagerie of ropes and crisscrossed paddles and whatever other gear they could find. They also canoed out and retrieved a floating vest which one of the raccoons had knocked into the water. This vest had attracted the attention of an alligator so a paddle was used to whack him in the snout and retrieve the vest. 

Now, the second wave of the attack was launched! The crafty critters climbed up into the large tree and out on the limb from which our trash was suspended. At that point one of them dove down onto the hanging bag and crashed it to the ground! The trash was everywhere and the buffet was open!

Our guys grabbed paddles and shoes to throw and launched a counter attack to try and save the mess from being carried off into the swamp. After a momentary standoff, the raccoons retreated. The trash was gathered and someone allowed it to be put into their tent for the night. Everyone settled down and lay awake for a while inside their tents recounting their individual acts of bravery to their tent mates (in case they had missed it during the fracas). It was a while before they could sleep after so much excitement.

The next day saw us exit the swamp after a difficult push through some very grown over spots along the trails we followed out. We had no further issues with wildlife and the boys (and the men) loved the trip!

For weeks afterwards, boys recounted this night's adventure to anyone at church or school who would listen. I am sure the size and ferocity of the raccoons grew as the stories were told and retold.
The End
If you would like to learn more about the Okefenokee Swamp (America’s largest fresh water swamp), check out these websites:

http://www.okeswamp.com/       (I work here part time)