The Wilds of my Back Yard

I'm sleeping in my tent on the upper deck (3 narrow/steep deck levels behind my house) while they finish refinishing the floors. I went out yesterday afternoon and came home to find a guy working on them, but it'll still be the weekend before I can move back in.

I did about 10 hours of yard work yesterday, ouch. At one point, I heard a noise and looked up to see a 6 point buck in velvet eating the dry cat food put out at the top of the stairs for Ben. He was with a 4 point friend.

I had a growling animal stomping around under the lower deck ~midnight, which scared the heck out of me. I got up and circled the house with a flashlight, finally concluding that it really was staying under the lower deck, and went back to sleep. Talked to Marin Humane this AM, who suspects there's a raccoon den somewhere under the deck, and the mom was growling at a trespasser. That makes sense, if the mom didn't move. I only heard 1 moving animal. I don't know what to make of the puddle of drool-y looking stuff near the side steps. He said probably not rabies, but distemper, IF anything is diseased. Oh brother. The cats' shots are all current, at least.