Belmont Shore's Animal Kingdom

I remember thinking to myself, "THAT is the biggest, fattest cat I have EVER seen!" It's back was to me and it was drinking from a pond at the base of a fountain not three feet away, in front of a home on Bayshore. I was taking Max the dog for a walk and we both stopped to look at this immense cat. Max, a tough, sinewy (if somewhat small) canine of dubious heritage is fond of chasing the neighborhood cats, but even he was thinking the odds on this one running, much less running away, were slim.
 
And then, realizing it was being watched, the cat turned around and - surprise! It was a raccoon! It's tell-tale bandit's mask held suddenly wide eyes! Before we realized it, the raccoon, in one bold move, jumped a small fence and disappeared down the side yard of the home. Max and I both stood there in stunned amazement ... that the cat wasn't a cat at all and that anything as big as that could move with such speed and agility.
 
I have seen a number of raccoons in and around Belmont Shore, the oddest was, seeing a pair cross Second Street at Pomona Avenue in the crosswalk. They took their time too. I was on my morning walk on Second Street and was approaching Pomona when they took their stroll. I said hello but they paid me no heed. They appeared to have business to attend to, like everybody else.
 
But my animal sightings have included other mammals. I've seen both big ugly possums and tiny cute baby possums. Max and I encountered a very tiny one once as it made its way across a stretch of driveway. It stopped midway, turned to us, and gave us the most ferocious little hiss it could muster and then trotted on its way proudly. And though I have smelled skunk many, many, MANY times, I have only seen one once. It, too, was crossing Second Street at Palm Avenue, its overly furry coat covered its tiny legs so that it looked like a shaggy and wobbly black and white roomba vacuum cleaner. Needless to say I gave it a wide berth and survived the ordeal unscented.
 
My office backs up to the oilfields/wetlands near PCH and Second Street. One day this week, a fire truck speeding down Second Street, sirens wailing, must have been too much for the local coyotes. Although I did not see them, I sure heard them. One of my officemates says he sees them all the time. Of course, those fields are full of wild creatures. After a rainstorm one evening, I heard what must have been hundreds of frogs out there whooping it up at their wet good fortune.
 
It pleases me that we have not pushed out the former tenants entirely, that they feel relatively comfortable living among us. I hope that they enjoy our antics as much as we enjoy theirs. They are a reminder to me that we actually live in "a natural world" despite our attempts to pave it over and stucco it up. And I like to think, or maybe dream, that they don't mind living with us all that much either.

Tim Bulone is an ardent observer of life on the swirling blue marble. He works at Davis Group Consulting and creates fine art and canvas prints which he likes to sell from time to time at http://www.MyFamilyArt.com He is an early morning pedestrian in Belmont Shore, where he resides with his wife and a variety of pets.