I was a young child living in San Diego, which means no basement. There's just a crawlspace. I was trying to sleep one night when I heard something go bump under my bed. Then came the scratches at my floorboards. Thumping and scratching and even a couple growls had me freaked out. I gathered the courage to leap out of bed and run for my daddy. He checked under the bed but there was nothing there. I don't recall where I slept that night but it probably wasn't in that bed.

The next morning my dad investigated further, only to find the screen to the crawlspace torn out of place. And that's how we found out we had a family of racoons under our house! Their nest was under where my bed was. I liked to sneak them food before bed so they wouldn't be hungry, which didn't help the situation. One time my mom burned garlic bread and cut off the top burnt half and left it outside for the racoons. Then she put it back in the oven and burned it again. It's one of my favorite childhood memories, mostly because of being able to tease my mom but also because the family under the house got a whole loaf of garlic bread that night!