Well, this morning, around 4:45, my wife shook me because she heard something outside. I woke up immediately, and also heard it. I was instantly alert, and within seconds grabbed the loaded Ruger SR9 from the bed-stand and proceeded to investigate. The sound was a loud rattling from our side yard, but very close to the house. It was near our outside AC unit. I determined that it was likely a large animal and not a human, and proceeded to bang on the wall of the house, at which time the sound ended.
I then proceeded to do a visual check of the front drive and back yard to confirm there were no humans or vehicles present. Going back to the bedroom window, I saw two very large raccoons in the neighbor’s yard. I smiled, put the gun away and crawled back in bed… for 6 minutes until it was time to get up for work.

My wife later commented about how fast I got the gun out and was alert. It was literally seconds. I pray raccoons are the only nighttime visitors we ever have.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

BLC