A raccoon tries to sneak in an attic. Below, pirogues float in the murky brown bayou, and an alligator crawls through the grass on his belly.It's a scene many parishioners at Annunziata Catholic Church in Houma have experienced themselves or heard from their ancestors. And it's now a scene others can view, albeit in miniature form, at the church.

The Rev. Mike Bergeron, with the help of a few church members, assembled a 12-building Cajun village as a Christmas decoration, each log cabin and house sitting 1 to 2 feet tall. The detailed village will be on display through the next couple of weeks before being disassembled. It likely won't be built again, Bergeron said.

“Oh, it was a lot of work,” the said 59-year-old Houma native, who has led Annunziata for two years. “The hardest thing was to find trees without snow.”Fueled by his love for his Nova Scotia roots and the Cajun culture, the priest began collecting miniature houses about seven years ago. People learned about his stash and donated more homes and other pieces.

Two of the homes are replicas of real ones in Cut Off and Upper Little Caillou, the priest said. There's a trading post, a Catholic church named St. Joseph, shell roads and water lilies atop the wide bayou that runs through the village's center. And the church at the far end was built to mimic the Chackbay icon known as Little Zion or St. Luke Baptist Church, which now sits in ruins.

“You can almost walk down the streets,” Bergeron said. “I love the raccoon sneaking in the attic. That's my favorite thing. “The more you look at it, the more you see.”