Wildlife: Heidi Chronicles: Baby Talk 2010, 1 by DreamOfSpring

DreamOfSpring wrote:
About a month ago there was a raccoon who reminded me for all the world of Jerry, so much so that she made me laugh every time I saw her. She showed up ever day, always stayed back by the pool, and stood upright to get my attention when she wanted something. Because she and one other raccoon routinely ate back there, often I would toss some food back there at the start of the meal even if they hadn't arrived yet. If I failed to do so, or if that food ran out, this raccoon who reminded me so much of Jerry would always stand upright with her hands out as if to catch food - or a ball.

Likewise, when I would give out treats, this raccoon would stand upright, hands out, at the back of the crowd asking for a treat. I liked her, so much so that one night I secretly tossed her the much coveted frosting can to lick. I meant to tell you guys about her. She was such an interesting curiosity. She reminded me so much of Jerry, but, of course, she wasn't. Still, I couldn't quite make sense of how she had acquired Jerry's unique method of communicating with me when there was no one around from whom to learn the behavior. Hmm.

Oddly enough, and I do feel silly now in hindsight, but the other raccoon who stayed back there with Jerry was one with a longish, thick, luxurious, red coat quite reminiscent of Reba - but, of course, it couldn't be... Perhaps it was one of Reba's daughters, I thought. I didn't really give it a lot of concentrated thought, just miscellaneous thoughts playing upon my mind as I watched the various raccoons as they ate. At that time, the group consisted of Heidi, her 3 female yearlings, and these 2 unidentified extras, one that seemed like a Jerry clone and one that could have been Reba.

More recently there seemed to be a strange changeover in the dinner guests. No longer could I find Heidi's 3 yearlings among the group. The Jerry clone was gone. The Reba-like one remained along with Heidi and Bast, and a bunch that I could not ID.

In my last 'real' post some days back, I mentioned a very 'sweet' and friendly, smallish 'yearling' whom I could not ID. She had come right up under my hip (the part hanging over the edge of the seat.lol). This was very odd. The various raccoons have different comfort levels around me, but almost none is so comfortable as to walk calmly up under me to eat. At present, Bast is probably the most comfortable around me of all that are out there. Bast routinely sticks her head under me to drink from the bottom shelf of my little Garden Buddy seat. No matter how thirsty they are, the others will not do that. It's a very bold and trusting move for a wild animal, but then Bast surely knows how much I helped her last year when she could not help herself. She was fairly comfortable around me before her injury and now has emerged almost as comfortable as a pet. I can touch Bast, and she is completely unaffected and unconcerned by my touch. But the smallish one that had recently begun coming up beside me to eat was not Bast, so who could she be?

The very next day as I was walking out, that very friendly smallish one was there again. This time she touched my leg a time or two with her nose as I walked out. I was bothered by that. I don't mind being touched by the ones I know like Heidi or Bast but am troubled by the touch of those I don't know so well. I guess it's a little like having a strange person move too close and violate your personal space. It's ok when close friends come into your space but not strangers.

As I sat down this strange new and very friendly raccoon who seemed to have come from out of no where was right up beside me eating the kibble I had dropped while tossing handfuls to the others. I put a handful of food down beside me for her and, once again, reveled in the ease with which she ate so close to me. How curious she was.

The order in which the next events occurred is something of a blur to me. I really don't know which came 1st, the idea or the touch. I only know that I suddenly had a strong urge to touch her back to see how she reacted. If she really was some yearling that had become comfortable near me, she would move away from my touch looking back at me from a safer distance to gauge my intent. Then seeing that I meant her no harm, she would go back to eating but this time would stand at a more cautious distance just beyond my reach.

I reached out and placed my hand on her back. Her body stood firm beneath me. She didn't move away. She didn't even flinch. She stood as solid and motionless beneath my hand as I would expect from Widget. I pressed my hand down on her more firmly, not trying to push her down, just making a very solid connection with her - not a light touch but a very solid one. Still, no reaction at all. OMG! I looked at her. Could this be? Was it possible? But...but it had to be. This 'sweet' and very friendly 'yearling' could ONLY be Dennis. ONLY Dennis had ever been so comfortable with me. ONLY Dennis would behave this way. But, OMG, she was the last raccoon I had expected to find here at my feet 3 yrs later.

For the 1st time, I allowed myself to look at her not as a 2010 yearling but as a possible Dennis. She was small as was Dennis. She was very dark in color as was Dennis. She stood in Dennis' characteristic pose as she ate, that rounded back stance with her weight on her back feet, sort of like a hen. Most of all she was totally nonplussed by my touch. Yes, incredibly, this was Dennis. I felt silly that I had not recognized her sooner. I offered her a marshmallow. She sat upright and, using both hands, took the mm gently from my hand. When she had eaten 2 mm's, I said, "no more" and put the bag away. She spend the next few minutes continually trying to reach into my bag and plunder about in search of those mm's. No matter how many times I told her to "quit it" she just kept nibbling food around the edge of the bag waiting for the next opportunity to sneak a peek in the bag. Oh, yes, this was definitely Dennis! I had no idea what she was now doing here with the 2010 group, but the one thing of which I was absolutely certain was that this was Dennis.

Shortly after I had ID'd Dennis, she was happily eating at my feet, and I resumed watching the group at large. It was then that I saw the Reba-like raccoon as if for the very 1st time. With new eyes, I watched as she picked up the large chunks of Purina Dog Chow that I had tossed back there near the pool. She picked up the chunks one at a time and carried them over to the pool where she dipped them in the water as if to soften them for eating. Note the cover picture for this thread. That's the Reba-esque one dipping a dog food chunk that she had taken to the pool. She did this with every single chunk of dog food, picking them up and walking on her hind legs to carry them to the pool. I had watched her do this so many times before. It had always seemed like a lot of work, but she always did it the same way. I had always been surprised and impressed by her ability to walk on her hind legs while carrying the dog food to the pool, especially as she often had to maneuver around other raccoons on the way.

I say that I had watched this many times because this was exactly what Reba had done with her food a year or so earlier when she had been here. Reba would eat cat food the normal way, but any time I gave her the cheaper, and often larger sized, dog food, she always walked back and forth carrying it to the pool to soak it this way. Sometimes, taking note of this, I would just toss her food directly into the pool to save her the work of carrying it. She like this and would respond by standing in the pool to eat. Now it was so obvious. I didn't know why I hadn't seen it before. This wasn't a raccoon who looked like Reba. This WAS Reba.

Almost as soon as I recognized Dennis and Reba, I saw Cissy's face in the 'crowd', a face I had looked at daily and ignored until now. She had been here for weeks, comfortable around me, not so outrageously comfortable as Dennis but comfortable still. I had known from day one that her face with the frosted salt and pepper look was familiar but like Jerry and Reba and Dennis before her, I had unconsciously rejected the idea of who she was. Knowing as I did that these members of the 2007 and 2008 litters were long gone, I hadn't even allowed myself to consider the possibilities. And now, having bridged that gap to recognize 1st Dennis and then Reba, now I could clearly see Cissy, as well.

I don't know what happened to the 2010 yearlings. Frankly, I don't see them around lately. I see Heidi, Bast, Dennis, Reba, Cissy, and a few others I don't recognize but who are obviously part of the group. I don't know where the 2010 yearlings have gone or why and how these older raccoons have managed to return at this time. Some time back when Heidi had the group down to just herself and her 2010 yearlings, I mentioned that others would likely take advantage of the time when Heidi's kits are young and come to the buffet during that time because Heidi is unwilling to fight (unless absolutely necessary) when her kits are small. Perhaps these older raccoons, remembering the good food at the buffet, have taken advantage of this opportunity to come back while Heidi's defenses are down.

This definitely changes my model for how things work within the group and for who will stay and who will go each year. I had believed I would not see old friends like Dennis again but now I see that I was wrong about this. It seems now that old friends like Dennis may come back every year even if only for a brief time while Heidi is busy raising her young kits.

And, yes, Ruth, you were right. The mother of those kits appears to be Dennis. Like you said, it figures since she is the one who is known to drag very young kits around the forest. The 2nd day when Dennis finished her meal, she went up into the Heidi tree. I was watching her and trying to figure out what she was doing. Then I heard her call the kits. The kits, BTW, were in a totally different tree. They were in the small, black cherry tree a good 20ft further down the fence line. Dennis apparently expected to find them in the Heidi tree. When she called them, they came down from the top of the cherry sapling. They struggled to climb onto the fence and make their way to her. Seeing them, she climbed down the limb of the Heidi tree and headed down the fence toward them. She and the kits met midway on the fence and disappeared into the forest. (The pic below is of Dennis climbing down the limb to collect her kits. Here again, it was dusk and she was too far away to be lit by the flash.)