Your racoon story brought several of my experiences to mind.

For the last 12 years or so my primary transportation back-and-forth to work has been a bicycle.  Traveling slower lets you notice all kinds of stuff on and around the road that you'd miss driving in a car. 

For example the antics of local wildlife.  Most noticeably birds ...

Case 1:  About five years back, I was peddling through a residential area when I noticed a car slowly swerving around something in the next intersection.  As I got closer, I saw two large black birds near one curb.  One of the birds was clearly injured, and I swear the other one was standing guard over it's mate.  As another car approached, the "guard" would fly straight at the car, swerving at the last minute to land on an overhanging branch, then swoop back down again next to the injured bird.  I stopped and watched for a minute - sure enough, yet another passing car got strafed by the "guard” – and almost veered ran off the road.  I reached into my backpack, pulled out my winter gloves and gently moved the injured bird onto the nearest lawn – with the “guard” screeching and diving at me the whole time.  Instinct?  Probably … but this bird was clearly able to override its survival instinct – it was borderline suicidal in protecting it’s mate.

Case 2:  I normally park my bicycle under a low metal overhang over the side entrance of a two story building.  As I parked my bicycle in the rack several months back, I noticed that as people entered underneath the overhang, I would hear what sounded like pebbles being dropped on the metal roof.  I got real suspicious when this happened after a third group of people approached the building … so I slowly stepped out from underneath the overhang and looked up at the roof.  And – I kid you not – a “gang” of about 3-6 young birds were perched on the edge of the building.  And I saw one drop what appeared to be a small acorn or pebble on the roof.  It was as if they were bored and were looking for a little entertainment at the expense of us humans.  Not knowing what else to do, I shouted “Hey, cut that out!”  Every bird in this “gang” suddenly started looking at each other or into the empty sky – obviously avoiding eye contact with me.  It was exactly the same reaction you’d expect if you caught a group of kids up to no good.

Damn avian delinquents!