And we have a raccoon.

Do you remember how Rhys got stuck under the house last week? Well, ever since he has been freaking out inside the house, sniffing all the vents and prowling around (do dogs prowl or is it only cats?) and growling, and trying to get back under the house every time he's in the back yard.

T became convinced that there must be something under the house. But we didn't have any other clues, and J thought maybe he could smell the neighbors' cats if we shared vents (which we don't even know if we do). Either way, Rhys now knows where every single vent in the house is located and makes regular rounds checking them all and working himself up into a tizzy.

Just about dusk tonight J took Rhys out in the back yard, unleashed, and T was in the front of the house watering the (sad little) potted flowers (in a desperate bid to keep them for more than two weeks) and all of sudden there is a lot of growling and barking. We've never heard him bark like that before, and in fact T was positive that it was a big dog on the other side of the fence being aggressive towards Rhys and so she looked over the fence to see what was going on. In the process she caught a glimpse of the dog run on the side of our house (basically just a little cemented and gated space between the side of the house and the fence, which we never close off from the yard) and saw Rhys in a confrontation with a medium sized grey dog. She ran through the house and out to the back yard to see if they needed help..."they" because she was sure someone's unleashed dog had gotten into our yard some how and maybe the owner was chasing it down.

When she got out to the yard she found J and Rhys chasing something across the yard; J had our Thanksgiving wall hanging rolled up in his hand and was wielding it like a weapon (he said he got a couple good thwacks in, in defense of Rhys). The other animal made a mad dash for the neighbors steps and ran under their side of the duplex. J caught Rhys just in time, before he followed the raccoon under the house...again.

So now it all becomes clear. Rhys wasn't going crazy after all. He has a few scratches on his legs, but it appears that he actually won that battle. We're keeping an eye on him to make sure he hasn't contracted any dirty raccoon diseases. Hopefully our landlord gets it taken care of soon (and as humanely as possible) so we can have full, worry-free use of our yard again. And so Rhys doesn't lose his mind over this vigilant vent watch. He's just keeping us safe.