Moonlight Madness isn't just the title of this Hank the Cowdog offering, it's the excuse Eddy the Rac uses to explain why he's a day angel and a night devil. Who is Eddie the Rac? He's an orphaned half-grown raccoon Hank and Slim Chance rescue from a nasty pack of stray dogs. That pack consists of Buster, Muggsie, and two dogs who are so low on the totem pole that we're not given their names. They've already appeared in Murder in the Middle Pasture and The Wounded Buzzard on Christmas Eve. Pity they haven't met the Coyote Nation. I'd love to see Buster the Boastful try to take on the scariest coyote, Scraunch.

Hank thinks of raccoons as his natural enemy. The fact that Slim and the Lopers think Eddy should be under their care really sticks in his craw. If it starts out as a toss-up between Eddy the Rac and Pete the Barncat for the first slot on Hank's hate list, Eddy soon shows he's even better than Pete for tricking Hank and getting him in trouble. (Sally May's reaction to Eddy's first stunt really set the seal on Hank's total humiliation.)

Drover has only a walk-on part in this one, but the little dog with the stub tail shows more sense than his boss.

I loved the way Mr. Erickson made Eddy sound quite hyper and weird once the moonlight madness hit him.

I sure hope there was no camera present at the end. All poor Slim would need is to have his Miss Viola see a photo of what happened.

There were some old-time tunes, as usual, but the only one I recall was 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.' 'Cowboys [Cowboy's?] Transfusion' was a silly song, but 'Free the Cookies' was a good piece of rationalization. (I managed to refrain from visiting the pantry, though.)

There's plenty here to keep the family entertained for a few hours. (Hope the kids don't take the cookie song seriously...) ( )

Book 23 ( )