Things that go clank in the night

I must have been sleeping lightly about 4:15 a.m. today because I was awakened by the sound of one of our dogs’ metal food bowls being rattled around on the back porch.

I lay there in the dark thinking about it for a few minutes. It was probably just a raccoon helping himself to some leftover IAMS chunks, in which case I didn’t need to do anything.

But there was an outside chance it was a human intruder who blundered into the bowl in the dark.

Naturally, neither of the dogs in our bedroom took any notice of the sound. Pete slumbered on in his kennel and Ruthie remained an inert lump on the carpet at the foot of the bed.

So I picked up my tactical flashlight and .45, clicking the lasergrip master switch to “on,” and crept to the back door to investigate. I switched on the porch light and there, blinking in the glare, was a raccoon, a piece of dog food clutched in his hands.

By this time, Ruthie had noticed something was afoot and was sniffing excitedly at the door. She started barking excitedly and the raccoon took that as his cue and loped out the open screen door and away to safety.