Raccoons have long memories!

It has been about 18 months since Rocky Raccoon fell out of bed, underneath my den. Here's the story in case you missed it:

http://alisontoon.blogspot.com/2008/08/rocky-raccoon-falls-out-of-bed.html

In that story, take a look at the picture that shows "my home". It was a safe and cosy nook for a raccoon family, a gap at the top of one of the support pillars for the house. They had no access into the house itself, but were high up away from predators, with a small entrance that Mamma Raccoon could protect.

Very soon after the family moved out (which they did a couple of days after Rocky's adventure), I had the underside of the house properly protected and made nice, which included blocking the entrance to the raccoon hotel.

This morning, very early, I heard familiar noises under the house. Went out to the deck, looked down, and sure enough there was a familiar furry foot sticking out. "Hello Racoon," I said.

A very-very cute bandit peeped out and looked right back at me.

We stayed there for a while, having a very one-sided conversation about the suitability of the accomodation and what Bella would say when she woke up enough to notice something was going on. The raccooon didn't agree or disagree, just listened and looked, confident, cute and cheeky... and then very-slowly backed down the pillar onto the grass, and lumbered away into the woods.

Maybe it was Rocky returning to have his/her own litter in the same place?