We interrupt this taut serial drama to bring you a special bulletin titled "We told you so."

OLYMPIA, Washington (AP) -- A fierce group of raccoons has killed 10 cats, attacked a small dog and bitten at least one pet owner who had to get rabies shots, residents of Olympia say.
Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night.

''It's a new breed,'' said Tamara Keeton, who with Kari Hall started a raccoon watch after an emotional neighborhood meeting drew 40 people. ''They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid.''

Tony Benjamins, whose family lost two cats, said he got a big dog -- a German Shepherd-Rottweiler mix -- to keep the raccoons away.

One goal of the patrol is to get residents to stop feeding raccoons and to keep pets and pet food indoors.

Lisann Rolle said she began carrying an iron pipe when she goes outside at night after being bitten by raccoons when she tried to pull three of them off her cat Lucy. She obtained rabies shots afterward as a precaution.

''I was watching her like a hawk, but she snuck out,'' Rolle said. ''Then I heard this hideous sound -- a coyote-type high pitch ... It was vicious. They were focused on ripping her apart.''
The attacks have been especially shocking because raccoons came within five feet (1 1/2 meters) of cats without any problem in previous years, Benjamins said.

''We used to love the raccoons. They'd have their babies this time of year, and they were so cute. Even though we lived in the city, it was neat to have wildlife around,'' he said, ''but this year, things changed. They went nuts.''

In one case five raccoons tried to carry off a small dog, which managed to survive.
The attacks, all within a three-block area near the Garfield Nature Trail in Olympia, are highly unusual, said Sean O. Carrell, a problem wildlife coordinator with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, adding that trappers may be summoned from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove problem animals.

''I've never heard a report of 10 cats being killed. It's something were going to have to monitor,'' Carrell said.

Meanwhile, residents have hired Tom Brown, a nuisance wildlife control operator from Rochester, Washington, to set traps, but in six weeks he has caught only one raccoon. He and Carrell said raccoons teach their young -- and each other -- to avoid traps.

Brown said he had seen packs of raccoons this big but none so into killing.

''They are in command up there,'' he said.

That's right: The New York Times and the fear-stricken greater Olympia community have confirmed that Mike, Loren, and I are on the front lines of a potential Cujo/Pet Sematary situation here in Westwood. We live one city block away from a park where these urban raccoons are likely multiplying by the minute, training one another how to avoid traps, and hatching the types of high-level cooperative attack plans familiar to anyone in our generation who had nightmares about raptors after they saw Jurassic Park. I mean seriously, are you picturing the sight of five fucking raccoons bum-rushing some unsuspecting pooch and dragging the thing away into the broad daylight? How fucked up is that? I would be less freaked out if an actual vampire hopped out of a coffin and sucked out some hapless passerby's carotid artery in front of me. At least then I could be like, "Oh, that's a vampire. Where's a cross and a stake? I'm knocking this fucker out." Or alternatively, "Oh, that's a vampire. Where's my apartment key? I'm running like a maniac back to my apartment, where I know he can't cross the threshold unless I invite him in."

All I'm saying is that no matter how terrifying it would be to see an established monster on your block, at least there are rules. Vampire? Stake him. Zombie? Knock off the head. Werewolf? Chuck a can of Coors Light at him.

But a pack of "urban raccoons"? How do you stop that? Poison garbage? Some gung-ho animal trapper? No tranq gun is getting the job done, I can tell you that much. And they're probably too feisty to be hit with any normal power firearm. After reading this article, I half believe that even if you were to hit one of them with a bullet, the damn thing would either absorb it like the Blob and get bigger and meaner, or some spidery alien life form would just jump out of the exit wound, clamp onto your face like a plunger, and suck your brain out through your eye sockets.

My point is: the raccoon running amok here in Westwood is likely the mother of all of the breed to come, and if we can't stop her now, this neighborhood will turn into the fucking Twilight Zone by Thanksgiving. We need back-up.