The wildlife around here

Last night, a few minutes after we had put the kids to bed, we hear pounding of feet above us and then down the stairs. Jonas ran in to the living room, eyes wide open, saying "Did you see them????" "Them" ended up being a pair of racoons in our backyard. Brave little suckers, too. We sat in the living room and watched through full size windows, back porch light on, as Racoon A timidly picked through the grass where I had earlier shaken out our dining room table cloth. Racoon B, on the other hand, must have thought we had hidden the good stuff a little higher, as he (she? I don't know- do you know how to tell the difference?) proceeded to climb up the post supporting our covered porch and investigate up there. I had no idea a racoon could climb like that! Then again, this was my VERY first time watching them in action from 3 feet away. They could sing and dance the samba for all I know! It was fun for about five minutes, then Jonas got bored and wanted to go pet one. We convinced him this was not the best idea and sent him back to bed, and the racoon couple slowly made their way back to the shrubs at the back of our yard. Ah- the joys of suburbia!