<div><p>It's hard keeping a clean kitchen with a busy family. With teenagers constantly snacking, pets chowing down in their food bowls and a husband preparing late night snacks, it's enough to feel behind all of the time. </p><p>That's why after putting everything away at the end of the night, and coming down to a mess in the morning, Cori Linder would start pointing fingers.</p><p>"For the past few weeks, I've been blaming certain family members for making mysterious nightly messes in the kitchen. That is, until th<em><em>e real</em></em> culprit was discovered. And I was shocked by its true identity," <a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/">Cori wrote in a post</a>. </p><p>While her husband was out of town, she heard rustling downstairs and came to a mess of snack food on her kitchen counter. </p><div><figure><a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/racoon5-624x468-2.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/racoon5-624x468-2_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/" target="_blank">Babble</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>She immediately blamed her teenage boys, since they were the only other people in the house.</p><p>"I snapped a quick photo and confronted them about it in the morning "” but of course, they both denied it," <a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/">she wrote</a>. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>This wasn't the only instance of waking up to a mess in her kitchen. Over the following weeks, she'd find cracker crumbs, or bits of granola in the kitchen. No one was admitting to making the mess. </p><p>A few weeks later, she discovered her giant bag of dried dog food, had been literally ripped to pieces. </p><p>"My second suspect? Our sweet 18-year-old Rat Terrier, Luci Loo. And I'll admit, I was way less harsh on her," <a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/">she writes. </a></p><p>Cori transferred the dog food into a lidded container and thought her problem was solved. </p><p>Then she discovered this:</p><div><figure><a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/racoon4-624x468.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/racoon4-624x468_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/" target="_blank">Babble</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>In order to make this happen, the container had to be pushed off the counter and then the lid removed. Too complicated for this pouch.</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"I started thinking about some other recent developments, like the fact that Luci had been barking at her doggie door repeatedly, and without explanation. <em><em>Just one new spontaneous behavior to add to the list of recent changes she's been undergoing</em></em>, I thought. <em><em>Like she's been peeing all over the cement patio lately, instead of the grass</em>," </em>Cori wrote.</p><p>After blaming her sons and dog for weeks on end, she was at a loss. Until her husband woke her up in the middle of the night.</p><div><figure><a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/racoon1-624x468.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/racoon1-624x468_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="https://www.babble.com/home/i-thought-my-kids-were-destroying-my-house/" target="_blank">Babble</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>It was a raccoon. Apparently this bandit had been sneaking through the doggy door each week and helping himself to everything in the kitchen. </p><p>After scaring it back outside and blocking the doggy door, he hasn't returned. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>What a rascal! Have you experience anything like this before? Share it with us! </p></div>