I grew up camping with my family every summer in the great state of Michigan.

It's there that I had the wonderful experience of feeling like a prisoner inside our family's screen tent while the moths gathered on the outside like the plague trying to reach the bright light of our Coleman lantern.

It's there that I spent the evenings cowering inside the family's tent while the rest of my family enjoyed the warmth of the fire and took part in making s'mores. Why, you ask was I in the tent when all this was going on?

Was I being punished? Did I have a fear of the outdoors? No. But if you knew there were skunks lurking all around your campsite, waiting to attack you as soon as you left the safety of the fire, what would you do?! As soon as we would return to the campsite of an evening, this boy went straight from the car to the tent faster than your eyes could move and there he stayed.

My family, especially my sister, likes to remind of that from time to time. Really funny guys!

Anyway, with all my camping adventures as a youngster, you'd think I would have learned a few things about camping. And I did ... like putting your trash bag and cooler inside your car at night so the raccoons can't get into it.

Well, on a recent camping adventure to southern Indiana, I met a challenge that had me yelling at the top of my lungs in the middle of the night. Good thing the campers at the site next to us were in a motorhome, so they didn't hear the noise.

Even after I put the garbage bag away, hid the cooler inside the car, I discovered that the raccoons at Versailles State Park dig Mountain Dew! No joke!!

I thought I had taken all the necessary precautions, but I had no idea that raccoons drink soda pop. Looking back, I recall being awakened throughout the night by various sounds. I figured the little beasts were digging through the pots and pans I left outside. But no ... they were busy chugging almost half of the 24-pack of Mountain Dew cans I left sitting on the picnic table.

When I emerged from the tent the next morning, there was a trail of empty cans strewn from the table to the nearby woods. To look at them, you wouldn't have suspected there was a problem. Not until you picked them up and noticed they were empty and had tiny holes in them would you be any the wiser. Argh!! It's a good thing I don't drink beer because the park ranger would have had his hands full rounding up drunken raccoons.

So that's my story. I can laugh about it now, but it really made me mad at the time. Oh yes, and did I forget to mention that this was after they ate almost two pounds of shaved ham, five Hershey bars (wrappers and all) and a whole package of cheese slices? I also learned that raccoons are no longer nocturnal. They will break into your cooler in the middle of the afternoon while you're away at the pool and steal you blind.

They wear a mask for a reason! They would've worn a knot of the head if I could have gotten close enough.