I was walking into our building the other night and saw a student crouched over what I thought was one of many cats that hangs around our school. The student said “tanuki desu,” meaning it’s a tanuki (or raccoon dog if you look it up in a dictionary. But a tanuki is a tanuki. It was chowing down on some of the food someone left for the cats. On close inspection, you can see that its right front paw is seriously injured. I’m guessing it got hurt in a trap or something and cannot fend for itself. It has found a ready source of food.

As it left, it turned and gave us a nice chance to take some parting shots. I hope it heals soon.