Like I said in my previous submission, I heard some growling from the darkness while I was outside. So, I stuck my camera over the fence and found this big girl. She was mean, and I was glad the fence was between us (though, if she wanted to, she could have gotten to me... thankfully, she just stood her ground). The photo is a bit misleading in terms of her size: she was a little bigger than a medium-small dog; I'd say somewhere between 20 and 30 English Pounds (but I'm bad at estimating the weight of stuff). However you look at it, she's bigger than the other raccoons in these pics--after all, she is their mom, I'm sure.

Getting a good pic of her was hard given the darkness and how far I had to lean over the fence just to see her, but I was determined and this one wasn't too bad. I think I'm gonna use it for my wallpaper. She's off-center in the pic, and while I can't honestly say that's what I was going for, I kinda like it that way.

Oh, and you can thank my neighbor for the wonderful landscaping on the side of her house :P. (To her defense, the landscaping in front of her house is very nice, and it's the same in the back. The side of her house--where I took this pic--doesn't get such good treatment).

I gave this raccoon the name "Big Mom" in honor of a book I read recently: Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexi.