Inspiration Saturday: Crafty critters

I wouldn't say that having a raccoon living in our ceiling was particularly inspiring, but having someone come catch it and take it away sure was a relief.

We'd been hearing some scratching around for a little while and weren't sure exactly what it was.  But when it started following a schedule of noisiness that included scuttling around at five in the morning, we did some Googling to discover that it was probably a raccoon, and called in a professional.  He stalked all the way around the house, including on top of the roof, and set three traps.  The next morning, we had caught two things:

• A very displeased neighborhood cat, and
• A raccoon!

Success!  Stuck in its little cage it looked much cuter and more sympathetic than when it was keeping me from my final hour of sleep before work.  So far there have been no noisy recurrences, so we're hopeful that the wildlife saga is over.  For now.

A year or two ago, I saw a PBS show called 'Raccoon Nation':

The major lesson I took from that is: forget 'Planet of the Apes', it's the raccoons who will one day rule over us.  As we attempt to thwart their advances into our homes and trash cans, we are only teaching them more skills that they can use against us.  We were doomed the moment they evolved into having thumbs.  And we can only hope that they are as benevolent as they are wily.  And that this one will forgive us for kicking it out of the house.

Elsewhere in the animal kingdom, my mom seems to be in a mystery knitalong phase.  Having completed the second shawl in the series, she's now knitting some kind of animal in the Fuzzy Mittion Mystery KAL 2014.  So far her creature has arms, legs, and a smart little cardigan:

Yesterday she received the section of the pattern for creating the head, and finally next week will come the body.  She's really enjoying the guessing game of figuring out exactly what she's knitting and seeing how other people's projects are going.  The strong suspicion of the group is that they are making kangaroos, but soon we'll know for sure.

I've done a little animal-inspired knitting myself.  Like this fox scarf for Christmas two years ago:

And more recently, the monkey blanket/washcloth for a baby who recently arrived into the world:

There are a lot of cute raccoon patterns on Ravelry, but I think I'm going to need a little bit of emotional distance before I attempt any of them.  For example, I love these mitts from tiny owl knits, from the woodsy association:

Photo credit: tiny owl knits

I especially love the little tails at the end of the wrists!

Raccoons are not the only critters to have invaded the house over the years.  We once had a squirrel make his way into the walls when I was in high school.  There's a hilarious story about that which involves my mother and I chasing it around my bedroom in the middle of the night and trying to coax it out of the window with dry cat food.  I haven't knit any squirrels either, but I do have some squirrel earrings, a squirrel necklace, and the unofficial mascot of Sarah Lawrence was a black squirrel.

Do you have any tales of wildlife encroaching on your space?  Do you do any zoo-related crafting?  For more inspiration, go to Woolen Diversions.