Ordinarily, I would post this 'photo-op' on "Throwback Thursday", except for two things: (1) Usually "Throwback Thursdays" involve things from way back in the past, and this digital picture was taken less than 24 hours prior to posting; (2) I'd found this 'photo-op' to be so incredible, I can't wait two more days to share this with everybody... It deserves to be seen NOW!!

In the twenty-plus years that my brother Glenn and I had been living in south Florida, we each have had encounters with all sorts of wildlife. In my case, I was up close and (almost) personal with a grey fox in a Coral Springs parking lot (close to Midnight). Glenn had many animal encounters, too, such as sighting deer and bald eagles, during many trips up in the central part of the state...

And together, we've had many more animal encounters. Most recently, on the way home from Cooper City, Glenn and I spotted a gopher tortoise on the edge of a six-lane roadway... trying to go across it! Quickly, my brother parked his car, ran to the tortoise, picked him up, and took him to the nearest pond (which already had other turtles and tortoises in it).

Well, last night (3-30-15), I was sitting at home, watching HBO, when I received a phone call from Glenn...

"Jed!! You're not going believe what I saw near my condo!..."

"What?" I'd queried.

"A raccoon!"

"Well, that's not so unusual," I'd replied. "Raccoons have been spotted near most condo buildings in the area, from time to time..."

"But you don't understand," Glenn responded. "When I said 'near my condo', I mean he was spotted on the second floor, near my apartment!"

Because it was near the end of March, I was tempted to ask my sibling, "Is this some sort of April Fools' Day prank?"... but he was serious about this.

Apparently, a raccoon strayed over to my brother's building, and went up the stairs to the second floor catwalk. (NOTE: All condo buildings in Oriole Gardens are only two stories tall.) At the time, Glenn was visiting his downstairs neighbor, and as he left, he saw the raccoon at the top of the stairs!

"I took three pictures of him with my smartphone," Glenn told me. "I'll try to send them to your E-mail inbox."

Sure enough, the next morning, I saw the digital pictures that my bro took of the masked invader, and I'd chosen the best 'photo-op' of the three pix, with said raccoon beginning its descent from the second floor. (Naturally, Glenn kept his distance from the critter, as he wasn't sure if it was rabid or not.) One of the lights attached to the condo building - shining behind the raccoon - adds a slightly mysterious effect to this picture... Enjoy!