[Jeff Higgins]

Tough problem. Do your neighbors leave pet food out? That is what I'm facing here, with too many sympathetic people actually leaving food out not for their pets, but for the damn raccoons. I can't believe it. They think they are "cute".

My buddy two doors up our dead end lost his Golden Retriever to raccoons several years ago. Many neighbors have lost cats to the raccoons, and the coyotes as well. A neighbor raises rabbits, who escape his little farm all too easily, adding to our local food chain. So we now enjoy at least two predators who will wreak havoc on our neighbor's pets.

The one upside is that we now also have a nesting pair of Bald Eagles. Little chance of one carrying off my Golden Retriever, and they are making a dent in the rabbit population. Unfortunately, I doubt they would mess with a raccoon nor a coyote. I think the three are at about the same station in the food chain and leave one another alone.

I'm about ready to start shooting coyotes, raccoons, and while I'm at it, rabbits. The city encroached right on past us 20 years ago and we got "incorporated", but it does remain perfectly legal in Washington to shoot "nuisance wildlife", even within city limits.