A man asked for advice on how to keep raccoons out of his sweet corn patch. One man said to plant lots of pumpkins around the garden; raccoons will not go through heavy vines.  The next man said to lay newspapers in the patch; raccoons will not walk on them. The third man said to put lighted lanterns on poles; raccoons will not go near the light. The fourth man said to put a radio in the patch; raccoons will not go near a talking radio. He took the advice of all four. Just before bedtime one night he went to see how things were going. When he came to the patch, a raccoon was sitting on a pumpkin, munching on an ear of corn, reading the newspaper and listening to the eleven o’clock news on the radio.

It must be true – I read it in the Budget! (The Budget is a weekly Amish-Mennonite newspaper published in Sugarcreek, Ohio.)

One second thought, I think it must be a bit of Amish humour. Raccoons are smart, but I don’t think they’ve learned to read yet.