DR. LIVINGSTON, THE STUFFED RACCOON, I PRESUME, VISITS CAPE

Adventurer Dr. Livingstone stopped in Cape Girardeau to visit Casey and Emily Brennan before continuing on his nine-month journey around the country.

Dr. Livingstone, a stuffed raccoon, was sent packing in October by fourth-grade students from Mr. Miller's class in Inverness, Mont.

He arrived in Cape Girardeau Thursday at the home of Calvin and Kathie Brennan.

"He was sleeping on the front doorstep," said Casey Brennan, a sixth-grader at Franklin Elementary School. "He was pretty tired from all his traveling."

Dr. Livingstone came to the Brennans from family friends in South Dakota.

"At each city you are supposed to put something in his backpack," Casey Brennan said. "We're putting stuff in about Rush Limbaugh, whether they like it or not."

Emily Brennan, a second-grader, showed off Dr. Livingston during show-and-tell Friday.

A diary in Dr. Livingstone's backpack chronicles his adventures and the people he has visited.

One entry notes that the raccoon hibernated for two months in New Jersey.

"I assumed he must have been bitten by a tse-tse fly and contracted sleeping sickness," one companion wrote. He took Dr. Livingstone along on his trip to the doctor. The raccoon recovered fully.

Another companion wrote that Dr. Livingstone confided "he didn't miss Mr. Miller's homework assignments one bit."

The Brennans will detail Dr. Livingstone's visit here.

The raccoon has visited Disney World, the White House, a gold mine and now, the home of Rush Limbaugh.

He is slated for a trip to the St. Louis arch and a visit to the mighty Mississippi River before heading to Lexington, Ky.

Dr. Livingstone has been to New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Virginia. He spent time at family gatherings and visited schools.

The note from Mr. Miller's class asks that the raccoon be returned to Montana by May 5. Students will study where the raccoon has traveled as part of a geography lesson.