Procyon lotor
The guys from Acme examine
the holes some animal harrowed
in the ground and say, No, not vole
or mole but raccoon— recorded
on John Smith's list of Powhatan words
as aroughcun, meaning the one who rubs
or scratches with its hands. Or variously,
like a rat or a dog that washes its hands.
And so the eponym, after the brightest star
in Canis Minor. A mask, a troop, a gaze of them
seem to have found our backyard hospitable to
their nocturnal rooting and excretion. Perhaps
they find the fig tree tempting, even if
the fruit is still mostly green. The animal
control guys set a trap by the fence, laying out
a short trail of marshmallows. They'll come out
every day over the next two weeks to check and
replace traps as needed. Of course it is the lure,
the old ferment of sugar. We wonder when we'll hear,
in the dark, the clang that precedes the moaning.
Someone from Acme setting out traps? Good thing you’re not in roadrunner country, or I’d be suspicious. LOL