What is that?Oh My God.

So I've been absent (again), but for several, very valid reasons:
Illness throughout the entire family here-at-home, with only "Omma K" (my Mother-in-Law)escaping sickness.
Even our sa-weeeeet German Shepherd, Afton, has been tired.I'd been treating her for a minor illness,but she seemed perky and ready to get outside.
So, I let her out into our (privacy-fenced) backyard, on Sunday. I always scan the yard if it is night-time, as we do live in a wooded area, and it is possible a possum could wander up(this has happened twice, and by virtue of the possum playing you-know-what, those two incidents ended with a possum scuttling off after I secured Afton, no harm done), but since it was very bright daylight, I did not scan the yard.
So, it's around 2:00, Sunday afternoon, and I see Afton hurry down, and then I notice a ball of fur, near where Afton likes to romp.
At first, I thought it was an abandoned dog-toy, but when the "ball" moved, I realized it was a big, fat, gray--oh no! is that our neighbor's cat?
"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed, not in prayer, but in panic and sheer terror, as I saw that the very wild animal my playful German Shepherd was tossing about, had a big, fluffy gray tail--with black rings on it...it was a big fat fluffy....racoon...and since it was afternoon, I knew what that meant:
raccoons are strictly nocturnal creatures; if one is seen in daylight, it's ill, dying, and/or, has rabies.
I screamed again, this time loud enough for my sports-watching curled-up-on-the-sofa-hubby to hear me, , "Oh my God, Jesus Christ, it's a raccoon. Jesus Christ, she's going to kill it..."
What I worried about even more, of course, is that it would kill her--or blind her(raccoons are noted for their razor-sharp claws). Within moments, my husband was calling Afton in.
I had used her name, begging her to "Stop, drop it; leave it...", the command one uses to elicit obedience.
She showed little fear, and seemed reluctant to come upstairs, but did so once "Daddy" was out there, calling with me.
A quick call to Animal Control solved the problem(they'd be here soon, to remove the injured animal), and a call to our veterinarian helped calm me down.
Animal Control removed the poor little creature(who, btw, did NOT injure Afton--we took her to our veterinarian, and there was NO damage!)who would then undergo testing for rabies.
I hoped they could try to save the raccoon, but state law does not allow saving any animal that could potentially carry rabies. That made me very sad.
A word to all you kids out there:
Be sure you keep your companion animals up-to-date on all shots/vaccines.
We're happy to tell you, Afton is always up-to-date, and on Sunday, was given a "booster" of prevention, on top of all her shots she's already received. As for little raccoon, it's suspected she/he was quite ill, but we'll know more, this weekend. Meanwhile, the law says, Afton still must be "quarantined"(because she was thoroughly examined, is current on all shots, and is uninjured, we can (thankfully!)hold her here).
Be careful,and be watchful.
Peace, kids.