Those of you who have been receiving these animal notes from me over the years, know that I'm particularly fond of raccoons.
Many years ago, a mechanic friend of mine rescued a family of baby raccoons after their mother was hit by a car. One of them was particularly friendly and curious. His name was "Rocky".
Rocky grew into a very big raccoon. He would hop into the front seat of his owner/pal's car and go shopping, looking out the window with fascination at the world of people. (They all look alike if you're a raccoon.) He caused quite a commotion in the parking lots. Everybody had to come over and talk to him. He was so tame, he slept with his owner (so I'm told). I thought he was supposed to be nocturnal, but one can never argue with a story this charming and true!
I first met Rocky at one of the local airports. The minute I saw him, I went over and had a long talk with him, telling him about other raccoons that I had known and that had become members of my family. He was particularly fascinated by the story of Little Bug, the baby that I was surrogate father/mother to. Well, at least he paid rapt attention as I talked.
I was lying on my belly on the asphalt and he was fondling my nose all the time. We were near the airplane. When he lost interest in my nose, he waddled over to inspect the plane's landing gear. (I guess he's mechanically inclined.) He decided to climb up into the wheel well and inspect the mechanism. After a few minutes, he climbed back out and went on to other things.
Luckily, I had my camera and caught his inspection procedure for you to see.