Wildlife: Heidi Chronicles: Nursing The Next Generation, 1 by DreamOfSpring

DreamOfSpring wrote:
This is the ongoing story of Heidi and friends, raccoons and the occasional opossum who frequent my backyard wildlife buffet.

It's nursing time right now. All of the buffet regulars are currently nursing young, and I suspect some kits will be showing up at the buffet very soon.

This year Heidi has apparently battled to keep the number of raccoons at the buffet to a bare minimum. This is better for the young kits. Just as we would be reluctant to take our toddlers to a large, noisy, and very crowded gathering where frequent arguments are the norm, Heidi is similarly unwilling to bring her babies to the buffet when it is crowded with too many other raccoons. Since the buffet reopened in spring, diners have been limited to Heidi plus some combination of 6 yearlings (Heidi's 4 and Frieda's 2) and Freida. Rarely do they all show up on the same evening. Except for Freida no other adults from prior years have been allowed. Since 1 yearling turned out to be a male - and males are not allowed to consume valuable buffet resources this time of year - the ladies ran him off. There are now only 5 yearlings left at the buffet.

Prior Thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1089673/
Original Thread in Series: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/603944/

The photo below is of Heidi. It was taken late yesterday afternoon shortly before dusk. It was taken at very close range with the camera < 1ft from Heidi's face (but sadly not set for closeups).