Today, in an outing to Central Park with my roommate, we came across a raccoon. People commented as he made his way to a tree and proceeded to climb up. Everyone seemed to be satisfied with their sighting but I wanted more.
I quickly got my sandwich out of my bag and cautiously made my way over to his tree. I had his attention as the scent of turkey and bread made its way to him. Within a few minutes he had climbed down to get pieces of bread I'd laid out for him. I could tell he didn't quite trust me yet so I kept my distance. Every once in a while I'd put a piece a little closer, slowly closing the gap between us. After some time, and lots of patience and pictures, Ricky (as we now refer to him) was taking bread out of my hand. I could feel his leathery little hands and his pointy little nails scraping the crumbs from my palm. He even sat back and looked around while eating next to me- letting me know that he trusted me. I ran out of sandwich pretty soon but that didn't stop him from going through our bags. He took the wrapping from my hand (I hadn't offered it but he insisted) and inspected it for leftovers. Finding none, we said our goodbyes. He went back to his tree and Becky and I began our journey home. I left the park beaming.
Most people who know me know I love animals. I love taking care of Ralph, often brag about my cat Pumpkin, have spent time volunteering in an animal shelter, and am passionate about animal rights and cruelty issues. Seeing an animal in pain is the worst thing in the world to me, even worse than seeing human suffering. I have always taken pride in my ability to gain trust from and interact with animals but now I am realizing - this is something I want to pursue.
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