When Trash Pandas Don't Back Down

You know you're in for an eventful camping trip when the most intense standoff of the weekend isn’t with another camper over the best marshmallow roasting stick, but with a gang of raccoons who’ve decided the campground dumpsters are their personal buffet.

Waiting on the raccoon clown show to start

The Raccoon Clown Car Encounter

Our first encounter with the trash pandas happened the night before. We pulled up, headlights shining on the metal fortresses, when suddenly—BAM! —out of the darkness came the raccoon cavalry, barreling out of the dumpsters like some sort of raccoon clown car. We watched in amazement, but we didn't have our camera ready to capture the moment.

So, the next night, we thought we would get this all on video for fun. We gather our trash up and head to the dumpster, this time with the lights on bright and the camera recording.

A Growing Standoff at the Dumpster

Unfortunately, there was no clown show like the night before, just one or two raccoons scurrying off on the other side. Armed with nothing but a bag of trash and a misplaced sense of confidence I approached the dumpster and tossed the bag of trash in.

As soon as the bag landed a growl erupted from within this particular metal pit of chaos. I jumped back like a cat that just discovered the existence of cucumbers, my heart skipped a beat, and in that split second, I was convinced I had just disturbed the leader of the raccoon mafia himself.

Lessons in Campsite Wildlife Safety

Now, I’m not saying I hit a raccoon with my garbage, but there was definitely some sort of misunderstanding between me and whatever was in that dumpster. That growl? Yeah, it wasn’t your ordinary “Hey, you’re in my space” growl. It was more like a “You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life, human” kind of growl.

I suddenly realized that I had no idea what to do if a raccoon actually decided to jump out and settle the score with me. But, to my relief, it chose to stay put. It’s a good thing too because I was on my own as Cerinia died laughing safely inside the 4runner.

Check out what I mean in this video:

Stay safe campers!

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While You’re Here...

If you're looking for more of our stories to help pass the time, check out these recent posts:

• DIY Camper GPS: How we’re feeding accurate location data into Home Assistant (even when we're parked for a freeze).

• The Barebones Telescoping Fire Blower: A cheap tool that saves your eyebrows when you're trying to get that wood stove or fire pit going.