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# Let's start with Raccoons
- URL: https://braindump.allthetrails.org/lets-start-with-raccoons/
- Published: 2026-08-30T17:27:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-30T17:49:33.000Z
- Author: Doug

In the last year or two I've started setting up multiple outdoor cameras around our house and yard. While this might seem like the work of a paranoid surveillance state mind, it's really that I like cute animals and don't like missing out when they make their way through our yard. I'll probably end up posting multiple entries when something interesting goes through, but today I'll just start with some Raccoons. 

A former co-worker, now running [Aizle Impact](https://www.linkedin.com/company/aizleimpact/?ref=braindump.allthetrails.org), does some great weekly posts on LinkedIn (of all places) with some of her trail cam footage and fun facts about wildlife. Her most recent was on Raccoons as well, so I'd been thinking I haven't seen any come through our yard in a quite a while, when lo and behold 2 scampered through the other morning. 

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Raccoons passing through

Over the years we've had a pretty good variety of raccoon encounters, though not all entirely positive (more on that shortly). We've had singles, and groups up to 3 or 4\. We also have a cherry tree, so we've had them sometimes hang out for snack. We haven't had a Jimothy spotting, though have had a tailless one come through. The key positive here has been that they've generally just been passing through. Which brings us to the less positive side, when they decide to hang out for a while. 

On one side of our house we have a covered area that we've used for storing various things, including a couple stacks of firewood. Our dog was not a fan of fires, so we hadn't used the wood in quite a while. Last summer we noticed an unfortunate addition to the wood piles, several piles of something less pleasant. After some investigation and consultation with experts, we discovered our firewood pile had become what's known as a raccoon latrine. While gross, you wouldn't think it'd be that big of deal but raccoon droppings can contain round worm and other nasty things so you should be cautious when cleaning up after them. Which led to this: 

![](https://braindump.allthetrails.org/content/images/2026/08/doug-hazmat.jpeg)

We got to spend several hours on a nice summer day bagging up contaminated firewood in homemade hazmat suits and taking it to the transfer station for disposal. 

Despite the experience, I'm still always happy to discover a new video capture of some neighborhood raccoons on their rounds. 

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Raccoon fence training