We've got a family of raccoons living in our back yard - a mother and three mid-sized juveniles. I'd seen the mother run through a few times (in broad daylight! What?!), but last night was the first time any of us realized she had brought her babies over. They ran right across our back patio while we were eating dinner, stopped dead center, stared at us for about a minute, and then ran off and climbed up the grapefruit tree.
They haven't figured out how to get into our trash cans yet, and our dog doesn't spend time unattended outdoors, so we figure there's no harm in letting them be. While most people consider them pests, they haven't caused us any trouble so far and they're a native species. Maybe if we had a family of Nutrias or Armadillos in our back yard it would be different, but Raccoons don't burrow and they don't chew through wood and when you think about it, fifty years ago when no humans lived out in this part of the city... they were here first.
I can see why they'd like our back yard, though. It's shady, we have a metric ton of fruit trees, and the dog doesn't go poking his nose around where it doesn't belong. So for now, the raccoons get to stay and have their little slice of paradise. :)
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