Roundup starts today out at the company & Jim had to work last night.  So I was trying to be a devoted ranch wife and get everything ready for the day - early this morning.  I get up early & get things ready for myself to get to work & then start lunches for Jim & his dad.  Then at 6:30 a.m. - still dark outside, I head for the barn to catch the horse and get him saddled.  I know ~ sounds like wife of they year material, right?  The cats ran to great me - of course I figure they are out of food & just want me to refill the dish.  The horsed follow me to the barn also & I'm thinking this will be an easy job.  In the summer we leave the top half of the barn door open so the air can flow through & the cats can come and go.  Just inside is the lightswitch:

So I turn the light on and see a saddle on the ground - I'm thinking this is kind of weird, the cats don't usually knock them down:

I put my hip against the bard to undo the latch & my head is in the barn - then I see it!!  Hanging on the halters right above the lightswitch is the biggest raccoon I have seen in my life!!  I just about had a heart attack right there in the barn door.  I just back away & then peer around to look again & sure enough he is still hanging there & staring right back at me - I think he was just as scared as I was.  I knew he would get mean if he was cornered so I headed back to the house for the gun.  Just as I am going out the door with the gun - thinking the whole time - I don't want to do this, I see lights coming down the Jensen lane for home.  Yeah - it was Jim!  I meet him in the driveway with the gun & said help.  Maybe seeing you wife standing in the driveway with a gun when you get home is not the best sight in the world, but it is not the first time for Jim.  He was my hero and shot the darn thing & then saddled his own horse for roundup.  This is the aftermath of the barn:

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but he was huge.  Megan posed for a shot so that you could see how big he really was:

I know they are cute & fun to watch, but when they won't let you in the barn & they are making a mess - what are you to do?  In my defense, he also looked even bigger when he was 2 feet from my head!!