Wildlife: Heidi Chronicles: A Chill Is In The Air, 1 by DreamOfSpring

DreamOfSpring wrote:
This is the ongoing story of Heidi and friends, raccoons who visit my backyard buffet. The 08 kits are almost grown now, a chill is is the air, and everyone seems to be making preparations for winter (such as it is here in the semi-tropics).

The prior thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/907852/
The original thread that started it all: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/603944

Below is a pic of Jerry, one of Heidi's 08 kits. As a little tyke, Jerry was somewhat timid and referred to stay at the back of the crowd. It didn't take her long to realize that from that position, behind everyone else, she was getting passed over for many of the special treats I often toss to the raccoons during their meal. Being the smart little raccoon kit that she is Jerry found a solution. She started standing up behind the others with her hand up to get my attention. Every time I dipped a hand in my treat bag and looked up there was little Jerry standing up behind the others looking for all the world like a [football] receiver going out for a pass, so that's the story of how Jerry got her name - taken from what I am told is one of the best wide receivers in the game.

Jerry's antics never ceased to bring a huge smile to my face. She has brought me more than a few laughs this summer. Soon Jerry and I were pals. I would see her stand up for a moment in the background somewhere and say "Jerry, Jerry, is that you?" She would respond by standing up bigger than ever as she quickly learned her name and learned that standing up, especially when called, would net her a nice treat. It has been so enjoyable interacting with Jerry this way, yet so frustrating at times because I could never get a decent picture to show to all of you. Jerry's stand up moments are all to brief and are timed to coincide with the time when I am about to toss a treat out, not when I'm holding a camera.

Recently, however, I have noticed that I can now get Jerry to stand up for a moment on command just by calling her name, even if I don't appear to have a treat in my hand - because she knows I will get her one. So tonight, finally, I was able to snap this pic of Jerry standing up on command for a fairly 'long' time, long enough for me to get out my camera, get into position, and snap the pic. I got her to do this by saying "Jerry!" again each time it looked as though she might drop back down on all fours. Of course, after the pic I tossed her a big, yummy frosted cake square

This message was edited Oct 18, 2008 10:22 PM

Edited to change from "09 kits" to the correct "08 kits". Seems I've been time traveling again. ;-)

This message was edited Nov 2, 2008 11:25 PM

Edited yet again because, well, those '09' references keep inserting themselves in this post in the dark of night when no one is looking and then I have to edit to remove them. (P.S., I'll be back in a few days to edit again when the next one shows up.)

This message was edited Nov 8, 2008 1:36 AM