Raccoons at Night

We've been dealing with a small army of raccoons lately. Seems they have discovered our bird feeders and have decided to make them their nightly pit stop. If I wasn't such an animal lover, I'd probably have a problem with these little bandits cleaning up the seeds each night around 9:30pm. However, they are adorable and fun to watch. They seem completely unaware of our presence, even when we shine the flashlight on them. They simply sit up, stare calmly at us as if to say, "What's your problem?" The last 2 nights, they have been brazen enough to climb onto our deck and railing to invade a small hanging feeder. That usually stirs up the dogs (inside). If it's not chipmunks in the morning, it's raccoons at night now. It feels like the animals are closing in around our little island. I guess it's been a long, hard winter for them too.