Has to be Santa Barbara - the next thing further north on the coast is Vandenberg AFB and it wouldn’t be lit up like that.

Best guess is that it has mange so definitely not healthy. But like I said, that posture, the feet, apparent size and head shape all indicate raccoon. I’d stake my reputation as an Interpretive Nature Guide and educator in it.

Check out the Dispatches from the Forest Podcast!

Badgers would have a much shorter legs and a broader head. This is a raccoon.

Size, face shape, stance, but most of all the feet all say raccoon. Not a healthy one, but a raccoon.

It’s a raccoon - although it looks like it may not be healthy. Mange maybe but it’s hard to tell.

@wynterrayven.bsky.social someone who lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, also known as “the U.P.” “U.P.” Said fast sounds like “yoop”, therefore “yooper”.

You sir, are a hero.

I love these guys even though they like to spin their webs at face height across gaps in the forest. Trails. Trails are gaps in the forest. I like to mountain bike. You do the math.