Shawshank Redemptions and Marauding Raccoons

I got up this morning thinking it was going to be a typical Monday. You know, shower, dress, run out the door to work.

Well, Izzy was rather insistent that I get out of bed right then and feed him, but I expected his usual, "part of my bowl is empty, so I MUST be starving" nonsense. Instead, the water bowl was filled with dirt and the food bowl was licked clean. Which means Max paid a visit at some point during the night.

*sigh*

I can't begrudge an animal a meal every now and then, but when he messes with MY stuff, then that's a different story. After feeding the cats and cleaning up the water mess, I went on into the living room and started seeing something strange. Bits of chewed up paper on the arm of the couch and on the cushions. What could it be?

Now, I am an admitted collector of things that make me laugh. And my newest addition was a present from Becci from her trip to Santa Fe. It was Cat Butt Gum, people! Yes, the raccoon ate a box of Cat Butt Gum. Here's what it looked like pre-raccoon:

And after:

I was able to rescue a few pieces of gum from between the couch cushions, but found them full of teeth marks. He also took a bite out of the hand-made soap she brought me. Is nothing sacred?

No, it's not, as I also discovered one of Izzy's fake mice had been beheaded. Oh well, there's at least 29 more of those things around here.

But the morning fun did not stop there. Oh no, that would be too easy! I still needed to go out and feed the rabbits.

I grabbed a couple of carrots from the fridge and headed out to the pen where I saw a cute little pair of bunny ears sticking up high enough to be seen through the screen door. Awww!! They're waiting for me!

But then I see Jake off to the side of the pen, his attention concentrated on something. Imagine my surprise to see a bunny hole! Yes, they had made a prison break to the outside! A quick head count showed all six innocent-looking bunnies inside the pen, so my little guard cat was doing a pretty good job.

Izzy had to come investigate what was going on. He and Jake had a little discussion over the best way to handle the situation...

And then Izzy took matters into his own hands. I've learned that when he doesn't really know what to do, his solution is to pee on it.

Take that, bunnies! I did put a piece of plywood over the hole, as I don't really have a lot of faith in Izzy's pee to keep the bunnies from heading for freedom. I'll get out there and fill it in when it stops raining.