SONG CHALLENGE WINNER!

The Song Challenge:   Here's the 'beastie bliss' as promised. This challenge idea was suggested by our own dear Bert. Go for it, Challenge!rs!!!   Vienna, May 9 - The illegal stowaway arrived in the Czech Republic with a nasty hangover and was apprehended by the authorities - but not without a fight. But instead of being sent back on the first ship out, he's become a star.  Meet Vaclav, the raccoon who survived for weeks on beer and dog food.   "He was one lucky raccoon," says Vladimir Thichor, head of the animal clinic in Pardubice. "If that consignment of beer had not been on board, he would not have lasted three days."   Vaclav - named by Czechs with a wink at their ex-dissident President Vaclav Havel, another great survivor - traveled in a container all the way from Canada to the East Bohemian town of Pardubice, deep in the provinces. He probably crept in for a free meal when the container was being loaded in Toronto. But when the door closed, he was trapped for more than three weeks.   Vaclav tore into the packs of dry dog-food, then looked for something to quench his thirst. Something told him to sink his sharp teeth into a six pack, and from that moment on, Vaclav was one happy puppy. So to speak.  As a result, when the container was opened, Vaclav did not want to come out: he had found beastie bliss. Two policemen specially trained in the capture of vicious animals were called in. Clad in protective suits and armed with gladiator nets, the team spent two hours trapping the rancorous raccoon, who fought them tooth and claw all the way to his allotted cage.  There, he sulked in a corner and slept it off, suffering the raccoon equivalent of cold turkey. Nor was he charmed when he was given a bath to wash the beer residue out of his matted coat.  Vaclav is now the darling of the Czech media. The Pardubice animal clinic's phone has been jammed with calls offering him a home. Director Thichor, however, was not moved by the outpouring of sentiment. "A raccoon is not a family pet," he said. "Vaclav will go to a zoo where everyone can come and see him - and where we will try to find him a mate."   Now if he could just get a television and a six pack ... 

Many Raccoons of Twenty by Amergin

Chorus:
Many raccoons of twenty said goodbye
They left the forests and the glens
The campers and the garbage cans
I heard the cries of every little beast
Many raccoons of twenty said goodbye

I went walking across the land me boys
Wandered far away me boys
Left me pack and den far behind
I'll never forget that day
When the big ship sailed away
Many raccoons of twenty said goodbye

Chorus

I was walking in the cargo hold
Looking for something cold
When I stumbled on a six pack
I left Canada ever more
And sailed of to a foreign shore
Why must raccoons of twenty say goodbye

Chorus

I ate dog food and drank some beer
As the coastline slowly disappeared
Knowing that I will never return
I lived happy and drunkenly
During the trip across the sea
Many raccoons of twenty said goodbye

Chorus

Now I live locked behind a cage
Brain filled with silent rage
Living like a common prisoner
I remember the days when life was gay
When we would just sing and play
Many raccoons of twenty said goodbye

Chorus

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