(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:
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