Heidi Chronicles: The Kits Are Here!

Terese,

Thanks for the heads up on Watermelon Day! I was out of the wonderful stuff, so I just had to run by the store to pick some up on my way home. I wanted to be sure to have watermelon on its special day. While there I picked up cookies and grapes and peanuts for the kit. Unfortunately, by the time I got home and put things away I was so tired I took a nap and just woke up - without feeding anybody myself included. I failed to eat watermelon on its day. I did eat other melons for lunch though in case that counts.

Thanks again.

Ruth,

I used to have a large, black snake who hung out around a small decorative tree in the front yard a lot in spring hoping to nab some mockingbird eggs. I would see him/her all the time. From the literature, it appeared to be a rat snake. One day while I was away, my neighbor, who thinks all snakes are bad and the earth must be purged of them, saw the snake and came into my yard to kill the snake for me and was so proud of himself he told me about it when I got home. Argh!

I can relate to your snake incident, too.

Ruth,

I felt sure you and others knew that Jerry started the standing for treats thing. I just wanted to be sure you guys didn't think I was now trying to take credit for training them to do that as apposed to training them to stay up longer and pose for a pic.

Thankfully, I've never been pepper sprayed, but...one year some time back I grew a bunch of habaneros in my garden, the red ones, the hottest habaneros. They turned out a little too hot even for me, and I like things hot, and unlike the long red peppers, they don't dry well for storage. Trying to find a way to make use of them, I got the brilliant idea to grind them for bug spray and deer deterrent. As you may know, habaneros are tied with Scotch Bonnet peppers for the hottest peppers on the planet. The plants came with warning labels. So I put a bunch of fresh habaneros in the blender with some water and ran it on puree for a few minutes. The plan was to strain the stuff through coffee filters, add more water and a bit of soap. When I lifted the lid on the blender, a small but visible cloud escaped. I immediately launched into a coughing, gagging, choking fit the likes of which I cannot find words to describe. It was a few minutes before I could do anything again. Needless to say, I scrapped the habanero bug spray project and tossed the remaining peppers.

Now there's one of my pet peeves: big strong men who feel the need to save poor helpless females from an evil snake. I always want to tell them that this is not the Garden of Eden, and they don't have to kill the serpent for me to save me from expulsion or terror. We have a multitude of bird feeders, so I'm thrilled to have some resident snakes because we've never once seen a rat, thanks to those evil serpents. And yes, they do snag the occasional bird egg or fledgling, which is sad; but it's part of nature too.

Of course my other half is totally phobic, so it's always my job to deal with snakes; as for example the year one of the black snakes' babies hatched on the front porch. The little guys were no bigger than earthworms, but I had to remove every one from the porch before said other half would step out the front door. No problem; I just carted them all to one of our brush piles, where hopefully they could be safe from predators until they got a bit bigger. I find snakes fascinating; they're such a totally different creature from us, and the clues you use for "reading" mammals are useless. Of course I have no desire to encounter or have to deal with the venomous ones, since I no longer have access to the long snake tongs we used to deal with such types in the shelter years.

ROFL; that "peppers in the blender" story is priceless! No, it doesn't sound like a promising bug spray, however much diluted!

Hi goldfinch,

I have some very good friends who hold PhD's and are not like that at all. I didn't mean to slam all PhD's, but this one...Whew! Really, I think the guy is insecure.

Judging from the responses I got, I can see that I told the story all wrong. That I insisted on questioning his assertions was meant to be an aside to the real point which is that this person, armed with a PhD which causes many people to believe every word he utters, is or at least was, running around telling people this crazy story about raccoon roundworms that burrow into your skin. He was also advising people to kill the raccoons in their yards "before they kill you".

I was trying to use logic, something which should work with a physicist, to get him to rethink his story. At a minimum, whenever I heard his BS I was trying to get others to realize he was wrong - and they didn't need to run out and kill the raccoons. Who knows how many people he told this stuff to when I was not around to defend logic and reason. In this situation, his degree and the increased credibility it seemed to give him (even on a subject so unrelated to his area of expertise) made him dangerous.

My 2nd point was to inquire, just in case, if anyone was aware of a new and 'improved' version of raccoon roundworm.

The part about my attempts to interact with him on this issue were intended more to show how unreasonable and illogical he was about the subject. I'm still amazed by his reaction to my attempts to discuss the matter. I'm accustomed to dealing with more logical people.

Thanks though. There was no way I could let him spread such rumors and get people all riled up against raccoons without at least trying to bring reason and truth into the discussion.

The kit is too cute for words especially when protecting his food.

Cheryl, I think we did understand the story about your co-worker; we knew you were just trying to educate him and especially his audience. But it's also too perfect, and hilarious, that you used logic and science to argue with a science PhD; they should be his natural tools, after all. And if the guy had the slightest understanding of the life cycle of a roundworm, he'd know that infection by contact with unbroken skin is simply impossible; they are, after all, roundworms-not vampires.

Ruth,

Love the story of you having to relocate the neonates so your better half could come out of the house! We humans are a humorous "superior" species, aren't we?

The other night while at the buffet, some kind of insect flew into me in the dark. Instantly and without consulting higher reason, I started flailing at the thing and screaming in a manner which made me more than a little embarrassed when I finally regained my composure and looked up to see the buffet cleared of all its inhabitants, only Heidi remaining, standing their in front of me eating calmly apparently having learned to ignore my human eccentricities. Everyone else had run to take cover as though thinking my moment of insanity an indication of some crisis bigger than a mere moth.

I was surprised that Heidi had remained there at my feet eating through all of that. It seems that in learning to trust me so, she has also learned to ignore my strange behavior. I could only imagine her shaking her head in amazement that humans, big scary creatures that we are, can be reduced to terrified and trembling children by a moth.

I also thought it more than a little amusing that I was embarassed at having the raccoon witness this spectacle.

Been there, done that, LOL; it's the surprise element of the unexpected bug in face that causes one to lose it momentarily. And not to worry, our species has little to lose in terms of the raccoons' opinion; they know we're big bumbling idiots who have lost touch with their roots, but man we do have good food. It seems that when someone finally earns the Heidi seal of trust, much can be overlooked; what a lovely quality.

Ruth,

I really was shocked to see Heidi still standing there less than a foot from my toes eating calmly after all of that shrieking and screaming and flailing around. Heck, she wasn't even looking up at me as if wondering what was going on. She was just eating and ignoring my antics. It is a pretty nice feeling to realize that we are getting to the point where even when I do something loud with violent movements right in front of her she seems confident that I'm not going to harm her - even if she has no idea what the heck I am doing.

Now she has learned to chalk my occasional kooky behavior up to short bus stuff.

Bast didn't show up for the 3 nights prior to me missing last night. That made a total of 4 consecutive nights when I didn't feed her. I was getting pretty worried for her. Every night I fought the urge to say those same tired words, "what if Heidi ran her off?" I say that every time she misses a night or two, and then she shows up. This time I was determined not to say it.

When she wasn't there again tonight, my heart sank. The night, the 5th consecutive night, was almost over when a raccoon walked right up in front of me walking through the area where Heidi usually eats. It's the monsoon season here again. We've had daily thunderstorms and strong showers since at least Friday and every day of our 10 day forecast calls for more of the same. The area back there at the buffet is soaking wet. At the time I went out there it wasn't flooded, but there were numerous puddles including one where Heidi normally eats, so I fed her off to one side instead.

This left Heidi's normal area now a puddle open for the raccoon who now approached me. This was no big deal. These days I keep the bucket of food at my feet to protect it from sneaky little ninja theves. Mishka, Freida, Reba, and others sometimes walk up to the bucket to see if they can get something (read as steal something when the human is distracted). As I always do when they approach this way, I eyed the visitor with extreme caution determined not to loose my bucket.

The raccoon walked up calmly, no sign of fear, nor did it have that "I'm about to do something bad" look I'm only now starting to be able to recognize. As its nose reached the bucket, the raccoon was standing awfully close to where Heidi was eating, yet there was no growling nor any other sign of contention between them. It was about this time that I realized how very much the nose gently touching my bucket looked like Bast's nose. For that matter, the whole face looked like Bast's face. It looked a LOT like Bast's face.

So incredible was the resemblance that I heard myself saying, "Bast, Bast" out loud even as I knew this could not BE Bast. It was Bast's face but not on Bast's body. This raccoon had walked normally as it approached me. I hadn't noticed any sign of a limp. It was standing in a normal manner. It looked like any other raccoon - except that face sure bore an unmistakable resemblance to the missing Bast.

To add to the confusion, this raccoon had not come from the weeded area over by the tractor scoot. I had watched this one descend the fence in the normal manner way before walking down the slope and past the pool to approach me. Bast never does that, at least not since her injury.

Despite all these reasons why it could not be Bast, I knew that face. I put a little food on the ground at her feet, and she began to eat. Still greatly confused by this apparent dichotomy of seeing Bast's face on some other raccoon's body, I thought perhaps my mind was playing tricks on me. Perhaps I was seeing Bast's face out my concern for Bast and desperation not to let a 5th night go by without seeing her eating at the buffet. Maybe I just wanted to one of these raccoons to be Bast...

I took out my flashlight to get a better look at the body. She was standing just across the bucket from me, but I just could not believe that this could be Bast's body. Just couldn't. I shown the flashlight on her body in search of some sign of Bast's body, something 'broken' or crooked or just not quite right, something to set this body apart from the normal raccoon body; but I didn't see anything unusual. The body looked pretty normal. Still not Bast's body.

I really, really wanted this to be the missing Bast. I shown the light on her again, searching. The body was a little thin around the back hips. That was the only glimmer of hope I could find that this might actually be Bast. I still didn't believe it was her, still thought I must be reading Bast into every raccoon, still needed something more concrete to overcome all of the reasons this could not be Bast.

I went to give her another handful of food, sure even now that I was giving all of the food I had saved for Bast to some other raccoon. It was only as I reached to put the food down in front of her that I realized from her body language in reaction to my hand at such close range that this really was somehow Bast. I still could not explain her body, but this was Bast.

I gave her more food, and she ate for a while. As one of the others came near her she issued the "I am injured" warning. This time it didn't have the dying moose sound and didn't sound whiney as it had at the height of her injury, but it was still unmistakable as a variant of the same sound she had used for months now to ask others to give her some space and not take her food. Yes, this really was Bast.

At this point, I had to shine the flashlight on her back legs still trying to see some sign of her disability, but I could not. She stood in front of me eating for a while. Then she walked around to her old spot beside me and sat down. I gave her some more food and a crumpled cookies. She sat upright and held the cookie chunks between her two hands to eat them. She was making a lot of progress in her recovery now.

Bast did not eat a huge amount of food, nor did she seem famished as one might expect had she gone 4 days w/o food. From her demeanor, it certainly appeared as though she had managed to find some food on her own during her absence.

When she arose to leave, however, she walked about 1/2 way across the lawn on her hands before getting back down on all fours to walk the rest of the way. She didn't go back across the lawn toward the arbor path or exit via the weeded area beyond the tractor scoot as she always does. She walked around behind me and then went straight back to the fence just under the Heidi tree. This to me along with her unusual entrance across the center of the buffet seemed a definite indication that she was feeling more secure now about her abilities and less worried that one of the others might hurt her.

Hooray for a wonderful recovery for Bast! Maybe she just needed to rest up to finish healing. Great news!

Tonight when I stepped out of the door onto the patio both of Heidi's kits were out in the open on the patio before me. As I walked toward them on my way across the patio, they did go for cover but didn't run as though terrified. I had cookies with me and hoped that they would show up back at the buffet, but they did make another appearance all night. I'm thinking they must be intimidated still by the rowdy crowd. I say this since the one kit showed no real fear of me. Also, photos of Heidi show that she is still nursing them, so perhaps they are not so hungry yet.

The kits seem to be enjoying themselves playing on the patio while the others eat. On the patio they have things like the patio trunk and a very large planter box to hide behind along with patio sized trees to climb and all of my stuff to play with. I'm surprised though to see Heidi leaving them such a distance behind me and away from the forest. This seems another clear sign of her new found level of trust in me. She seems to have accepted that my backyard is a relatively safe place. I gather that the patio is safer because it is not only away from the buffet but also out of the paths of any of the other adults. The weeded area adjacent to the buffet, the area where previous generations of kits played, is somewhat dangerous now as the adults are often lurking in there and fighting with each other.

Thanks, KyWoods,

Bast still has a little ways to go, but she certainly is making steady improvement these days! I am so happy to see her doing so well and am very optimistic for her future.

Still, I think the fact that she stood so close to where Heidi was eating, only about a foot away, and Heidi did not scold her even gently is probably an indication that Heidi still views Bast as debilitated and thus not a threat of any kind.

Susan,

How are you feeling today? I suspect that you will be feeling a bit bummed for a little while. Although it seems so unexpected, you will be going through the same grieving process as if a loved one had died except that it will be much shorter in duration and much less severe. I say this because I think it helps to understand why you are feeling this way.

When I tried to help the hummer and he died in my hand, I was haunted and troubled by it for days, and I really couldn't understand why I would be that upset considering I had only known the bird for a few hours before he died.

It is a tough thing to go through, and I have no doubt that it would be many times more difficult with a kit vs a bird. I cannot imagine seeing what you saw, experiencing what you experienced.

Hang in there. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Hoping you will be feeling better soon.

What wonderful news: hurray! Yes, full recovery is still in the future for Bast, but she's progressing much faster than I anticipated, and that's spectacular. And yes, the fact that she's still allowed to eat close to Heidi, and that the others still back away from her injury announcement says that Heidi knows she's not yet up to speed. All to the good: the nutritional support is obviously making a HUGE difference in her recovery.

I lost you for over a week and have definitely been Jonesing for Heidi and her family antics. I can rest well now that I've found yu again. I thing the "V-8" slap might be helpful in the continuation memos^_^

Ruth,

Last night Bast was sitting on the patio when I went out. She walked all the way to the buffet the normal way, stood beside me throughout her entire meal, and walked away still on all 4's. She is walking a bit slow but is not limping. I suspect, that if she were to walk faster her gate might be a little stilted or stiff on the back end. She continues to make improvements almost daily. Last night I fed her some slightly overripe cherries, grapes, cat food, and vanilla s/w cookies. When I got the cookies out for Dennis, Bast actually stepped up closer to me to let me know that she wanted some of those, too. This kind of interest and interaction on her part is also a sign of improvement over the days when she sat looking visibly pained and detached, nibbled a few bits of kibble, and dragged her broken body away again.

After all of my efforts to keep her alive long enough to heal, it is so wonderful to see it finally working out.

LOL, Sheri,

I was hoping everyone would know that I meant that V-8 reference in a humorous way, not mean spirited. When all else had failed, it seemed the obvious next step. I'll get right on that.

Glad to have you back with us.

Just a quick note from work.

Did you happen to see the video footage (on the news) where the horse runs over the car?!!! It's unbelievable. If I can find a link later, I'll post it. This horse is galloping up the road towards an oncoming car. I guess the driver must have stopped in the road to avoid hitting the horse. When the horse got to the front of the car, instead of going around the car, he just jumped right up onto the hood and galloped right on over the top of the car and down the back to return to the pavement and keep right on going. He never missed a stride.

Hi all, I have been at my sisters in the Ozarks all week(and we are leaving tomorrow to go back)so due to the fact she has a very slow server and can't get on any site with many pictures I was unable to connect so I just finished catching up! Her husband has Alzheimer's,stage 3 and is hospitalized now. I was telling her about your buffet and she would give anything to read about it. I told her you were going to write a book and she was all excited about it. They have all sorts of critters up there. We saw 4 kits on the side of the road and felt so bad knowing as small as they were the prognosis for their survival was not good. It was early afternoon when we saw them. We did stop to move a box turtle out of the road but couldn't go back to move another one we saw(too much traffic). Didn't see it smashed on the return trip so hopefully it made its way across. It is so sad to see all those that didn't make it,several kits and adults included. She is the one that feeds hundreds of hummers and Goldfinch(among other birds). She goes through 3 gallons of sugar water a day right now!

It is wonderful to hear about Blasts progress! I love seeing all the current photos also.

Judy

Hi Judy,

Sorry to hear about your sister's husband. My mother had early onset Alzheimer's. I was her care-giver so I'm all too familiar with the devastation of that disease.

I once saw a turtle in the street near my house and turned around at the end of the block to go back and move him. Despite my hasty return, I got there just in time to watch him climb up onto the sidewalk. Turns out he didn't need any help after all. As for the kits, remembering raccoon mothers the likes of Diva makes me think it's at least possible the kits were not alone. They could have had a 'Diva' nearby who just wasn't watching them very well. Not the best situation but better than being an outright orphan - I think.

Wow. The idea of someone waiting to read the book makes me feel I need to step up the pace. What better encouragement! Thanks!

(Yawn) Tonight was kind of ordinary. The weather isn't good, thunderstorm icon next to every day for 10 days out every time I check. Distant lightning lit up the sky every few minutes during buffet hours. I feared rain would start before dinner was over and/or the lightening would get too close or comfort.

Again tonight Bast arrived on 4 feet, stood for the entire meal, and left on 4 feet. It is actually becoming difficult to spot her in the crowd out there in the dark. When I 1st get out there, I like to locate Heidi and give her a handful of cat food, then, if Bast is there, I give her the 2nd handful followed by Dennis (if she's there) and then the others. It used to be easy to pick Bast out of any crowd but no more. Now I have to look a bit harder.

No sign of the kit tonight or last night not even at the patio. There was, however a very nasty and sustained 3 raccoon fight that went on so long I had to get out my spray bottle to break it up. Spats are usually over as fast as they start. Occasionally one lasts a minute or so which is quite long for them. This one went on longer than any I think I've seen. I gather it is just that sort of thing that keeps the kits away from the buffet. Amazingly, none of the other kits have been showing up either, this despite the fact that I know Dennis, Reba, Freida, and others have kits somewhere out there.

Almost forgot to mention that while Bast stood the entire time she was out there, Heidi sat about 1/2 the time. Upon learning that I had vanilla s/w cookies she sat down at my side and sprawled out in that big, cuddly bear position popularized by HRH to eat her cookies. She reminded me of a toddler sitting there. It is funny how certain treats will turn an old gal into a kid again even if only briefly.

Brach's chocolate stars do that to me, lol. Tonight we had six racoons fighting over one plate of food, while there was still another whole plateful not three feet away, same food in it. LOL, go figure! Looked like the kits were the ones arguing.

Bast's meeting you on the patio, walking and standing normally to eat are the best news yet! So glad to hear that her recovery is moving along so rapidly these days; it gives me greater hope that she'll hang in over winter when food in the forest is more scarce. Congratulations on helping to pull off another miracle, probably even more remarkable than Fraidy's survival as a kit.

I saw that video of the horse trying to jump the car on CNN's website last night. Scared me to death: I was sure the horse would wind up with one or both front legs broken. Amazing that neither the horse nor the people in the car were injured!

This message was edited Aug 7, 2009 4:02 AM

Tonight the kit, Heidi's more assertive one, not only joined us at the buffet, but the little tyke actually challenged Bast for the right to her spot beside me! I really think he understands even at this early age that I am the source of the food and beside me is the place to be.

The kit showed up at the beginning of the evening. I had barely shown up and sat down when I saw the kit. Before I could get the food out to toss him some, he had quickly made his way up to Bast to try to take her spot and her food. He didn't give up easily either.

Thankfully, Bast did eventually convince him to beat it. The situation, as cute as it seems in retrospect, was quite the quandary at the time because as much as I didn't want to see Bast leave without eating, I could not bring myself to spritz the baby, not not when I have only just begun to make friends with him.

I tossed some food over a little ways from Bast, and, with Bast's insistence, the kit went over there to eat. I also tossed him a few crumbled cookies and a few grapes. I didn't have but maybe a dozen cookies at best. By the time I gave a few to Bast, Dennis, the kits, and Heidi who quickly rushed over to my side for her share, they were gone. I had even fewer grapes, having only put a handful in my pocket for Bast, so by the time I shared with all of them, those were quickly gone, as well.

Between trying to keep Bast, the kit, and Dennis fed, I didn't get back to Heidi in time. There I was breaking up cookies for Bast and the kit when I felt two paws on my right mid thigh. With Dennis sitting at my left foot and Bast standing at my left side, I could not imagine whose feet were now on my right thigh. I turned to find Ms Heidi standing there, feet on my leg, asking for another cookies! I kid you not!

The kit ate his cookie pieces, grapes, and cat food. For the most part, the adults left him alone - and I spritzed those who didn't. I like that little guy because, when threatened, he has the courage to hold down his spot long enough for me to get out the spray. Eventually, I looked up to see an adult sitting down right beside the spot where the kit was eating with her back to the kit, the typical Steal posture. I had momentarily lost track of my spray and had to use the flashlight to find it, but the kit hung in there long enough for me to finally spray the Steal'er and save the stash.

After days of rain, the tray under my scoot (seat) was full of fresh water. When Bast got thirsty, she walked around behind me and stood there. Realizing where she was going with this, I spoke to her, "It's ok" and sat still. I could just barely feel her nose touch my back side and move about sniffing me. I have to admit a tiny voice inside me scream, "Ahhhh! Run before she bites you!" I managed to squash the crazy person inside, and after a minute or so, Bast put her head through the gap under me to drink from the tray. She returned a few times during her meal to drink some more.

Here is a link to a pic of a woman sitting on the same kind of scoot so that you can see why it takes a bit of courage and a lot of trust for them to put their heads in there to drink with me sitting on it: http://www.amazon.com/5A0000-Garden-Hopper-Mobile-Storage/dp/B00004W430/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1249704949&sr=8-2
(Click on the little pic underneath the scoot to see the lady sitting on it. I don't sit 'sideways' like she does. My body/legs are in front of one of the openings.) So far Dennis, Bast, and Heidi drink from it. Others may when I'm not looking. Echo probably does since she is always back there poking me when she wants another treat. Dennis actually goes under my legs to drink from the front.

That must have been quite a dilemma, since you certainly don't want to deter either Bast or the new kit: glad to hear it worked out. That kit has lots of chutzpah, for sure. And the image of Heidi putting her hands on you to ask for more cookies is just priceless: she surely has developed a soft spot for those cookies, and of course being willing to touch you that way is another huge step.

Ruth,

I don't think I expected Heidi to every touch me that way. She will sometimes touch her hands to mine when taking a cookie, but I hadn't expected her to come up and put her hands on my leg like Dennis does. With the exception of Echo who uses her hands to poke my backside (mostly up on the hips and near the waist, Dennis is the only one who comes up and touches me, until now that is. Tonight when I came back with cookies and frosting, Heidi again walked up and rested her hands on my mid thigh while standing beside me.

Cheryl,
that is just so very precious.! the ultimate trust. I can only imagine how your heart swells with the trust of these very special wild animals in your world.
How many years have you known Heidi now?
and my goodness you must have a very high grocery bill!!

A couple of days ago, I cut a seedless watermelon that was just awesome. Uniform, deep red to within a 1/2 of the edge, crisp, ripe, and sweet. Extraordinary. As I have noticed that just as I appreciate a good melon, so does Heidi. I knew she would love this one. I forced myself to leave that last inch or so for her. I took it out tonight. Much as I had expected, Heidi loved it. She ate and ate and ate. This time she refused to share with even Mishka. This watermelon would be hers alone.

After Heidi had eaten all of the loose pieces of melon which I had scooped up and left inside, she stopped for a few minutes to eat cat food for the 1st time. It was then that she allowed Freida to eat a little of the melon. A few short minutes later, when Heidi returned to take her melon back, Freida refused to give it back. Freida grabbed the melon and took off around the pool with it. Unable to find my water bottle in time to intervene, I yelled at Freida and flailed my hands but to know avail. She took off with the melon ignoring me - and I took off after her.

Freida dragged the melon a good 15-20 feet. She was well ahead of me and could easily have dragged the melon the remaining 10-15ft around the pool to get to the safety of the weeds where I dared not go in the dark. Fortunately for me, Freida eventually became unnerved by the sight of me following her this far and still yelling. She dropped the melon and ran for the weeds.

I picked the melon up and walked back around the pool to give it back to Heidi. By this time, even Heidi was a bit unnerved by all the yelling and the sight of me chasing Freida. As I walked back toward her with the melon, Heidi walked around the other side of the pool. I put the melon down and called her, and she returned.

By this time, Bast had also become afraid and had gone over to the edge of the weeds. I had to call her a few times to convince her to return. I guess I hadn't realized just how scary I had been. Freida doesn't back down easily and I had been determined to get that melon back. I had become so accustomed to Heidi, Bast, and Dennis in particular being so comfortable around me, so when I went after Freida and the melon, I went running, stomping, and yelling. LOL. Hey, it worked. And the mere fact that all that commotion didn't clear the house just serves to show how far we really have come. Poor things. They must have been thinking, "Uh, Oh, the human has taken leave of her senses. Maybe she's rabid. Everybody, back away quietly."

I decided to throw a special party tonight with enough cat food for all, cottage cheese, grapes for Bast, the huge blob of frosting saved from my giant cupcake, and animal cookies. I tossed Heidi
2 of the animal cookies, but, engrossed in that melon, she just sniffed the cookies, turned her nose up and continued eating melon. Figuring she was interested in cookies, I fed the whole box to the others.

To make amends for the melon incident, I held the blob of frosting out to Freida. At the same instant, the fragrance of frosting hit Heidi's nostrils, and she leaped over the melon to try to get it, but Freida, not planning to loose another choice treat, grabbed it and ran for the weeds. I was surprised really that anything had taken Heidi's attention away from the melon, but Heidi does love frosting, too. Once Freida ran off with the frosting, Heidi returned to the melon and resumed her preoccupation with it.

About an hour later, when Heidi had finally tired of the melon, she ate the two animal cookies I had given her SO much earlier and then came over to me looking for more. By this time I was all out of everything - not to mention how surprised I was that Heidi could eat all that melon and drink all that juice and still be hungry. It seems in Heidi's mind, I am supposed to know to hold some back for when she finishes her meal. Oops.

After a few minutes of trying to get a cookie, Heidi went back over to eat her cat food - and then Dennis arrived to show her dismay at having missed all of the cookies. I noticed a bit of the frosting on the edge of the bucket, so I turned the large 13in D or so bucket on its side and set it in front of Dennis to offer her this one tidbit. It was only then that I realized in my haste to do so I had also set the side of the large bucket down about 2 in from Heidi's nose and yet she had just gone right on eating. My but we have come a very long way.

It was my night to be a total pushover. Now both Dennis and Heidi wanted cookies, so after telling them I would be back, I headed to the house for a 2nd box of animal crackers. This time I also picked up the can of strawberry frosting. I had only planned to give them a few, but once the top came off the frosting, I was surrounded by Dennis, Heidi, Mishka, Freida, a very sweet unnamed yearling, and Echo. This small group sat around me like children being read to as I sat dipping cookies in frosting and handing them out. The entire group was very well behaved. Each waiting patiently for her next cookie as I made the rounds. Ok, Dennis was a little annoying, but that's pretty normal. Between them they ate the entire 2nd box of cookies and the whole can of frosting. I should add that the 2 boxes of animal crackers they ate tonight were both large boxes of generic cookies.

The really amazing part was Heidi. Recall that she had already eaten all that melon, but she came over beside me and hung in there scarfing down cookies dipped in frosting until the last one was gone. Heidi had recently learned how to take a cookie from me "properly" and with confidence by taking it gently in her two hands. In the past she had been known to take frosting sandwiches in her mouth but was always a bit unsure about how to take smaller items in her mouth without the risk of possibly biting me by mistake. Tonight she finally got it. She learned how to stand with her mouth open and just let me put the item in there - but that takes more trust.

Tonight Heidi was so cute. Each time I would hold out an animal cookie with frosting on the end for her, she would stand upright, her mouth in front of the cookie and open like the hanger awaiting the airplane, her two hands stretched out on either side and curved slightly as if about to execute the pilates 'hug a tree' manuever. As I reached to put the cookie in her mouth, she would stand like this each time. After she had eaten a dozen or more of these cookies and when we were nearing the end of the box, on her last 2 cookies, her hands, which had not touched me up until that time, came in to grasp my hand as if to help guide the airplane into the hanger. It was a little scary. I was hoping she would not get excited and scratch me or forget to give the hand back when she got the cookie, but all went well. Both times, she held my hand gently in hers. She was not pushy nor did she try to 'man-handle' my hand - no pun intended.

While I was passing out the cookies with frosting, Dennis was in front of me standing upright between my legs. About 1/2 way through, Heidi, who was beside me, stood upright and rested her hands on my thigh again as she had done the night before. I must say this behavior of standing with hands on my leg is something I really handed expected from Heidi ever.

When the frosting can was empty, I held it out to Heidi who always likes to lick the can. When I hold the can out to her this way, a very cautious Heidi always bats it gently with one outstretched paw at which point I drop it and she picks it up. I figure this cautious move is intended to insure the can thing is not a trick. Tonight as I held the can out to her, instead of batting it or even taking it in her mouth as some of the others will do, Heidi stood there, put her nose into the can, and began licking it as I held it. She had never, ever done this before. So surprised by this behavior was I that I began to question whether this was actually Heidi. I knew it had been Heidi to whom I was feeding the cookies a moment earlier, but had another raccoon slipped in while I wasn't looking? Had I become confused in the dark?

Now, looking at a forehead sticking out of a frosting can, I couldn't be sure. Was that Heidi's forehead? Maybe not. Of course not. Heidi doesn't act like this. This must be one of the others. I looked at another raccoon standing a short distance over from this one. The other one was oriented such that I was looking at her side and was eating so that I could not see her face buried in the grass as it was. Maybe that was Heidi? Maybe I didn't see them change places. This one might have slipped in while I was feeding cookies to some of the others on the other side of me.

By the time the raccoon whose head was in the frosting can came up for air, I had convinced myself that this wasn't really Heidi. So when she stopped for a break to like her face, I gave the can to the other raccoon beside her instantly realizing I had made a mistake, but the happy recipient wasn't about to give the thing back.

As Heidi turned and walked back to the fence to leave, I heard this the whole way, "UH, EM EMM EHM UHHHHH! UHHM!" She literally grumbled loudly to herself the whole way to the fence. Knowing this was undoubtedly intended for me, I felt SO bad.

Hi Birdie,

4 years. Sometimes I check my grocery receipt to see how much of the bill was for them. I typically find $30-40 of the bill went to 'raccoon food' including treats. That doesn't include the things I buy for me and "share" the part I don't want like watermelon rinds, overripe fruit, left overs, items that expire before I eat them, etc. I don't spend the same amount all of the time though. Sometimes I stock up on things and buy less the next time.

Lately, only Heidi, Dennis, and Bast get more or less all they want of cat food. The others all get some but not a full serving. I take out 7 scoops usually. After I give Heidi, Dennis, and Bast their part, I toss the rest around in the grass so the others have to look for the bits. This slows them down so they don't get through so fast and come back to beg for more. All of the others cooperate except for Mishka and Freida. Heidi usually lets Mishka eat some of her food and melon, so Mishka stays beside Heidi. Freida simply refuses to search for her food in the grass, so she nibbles around the edges of Heidi's food if Heidi will let her, and sits around on the grass pouting if she won't - but still refuses to search for kibble in the grass. Even if I toss Freida some kibble on the grass, she will still refuse to eat it and will go back over there to try to nibble some of Heidi's food if she can.

Sometimes when I'm eating something that isn't that good for me, like that strawberry shortcake last week and all that excess frosting off the top of my cupcake, part way through I will ask myself if it is really all that good or if I could maybe give the rest to the raccoons. That way I get to eat a little bit, enough so I don't feel deprived, and the raccoons are happy to eat the rest of it for me saving me all those unnecessary calories and other 'bad' things. It is easier to give the treat up for a good cause (= endorphins for doing good) than to put the other half away for another day (=feeling deprived and like I'm rationing treats) or toss it out (= guilt for being wasteful).

One of these days I'm going to Wally World or one of those $ stores to see what kind of deals I can find on vanilla s/w cookies, animal cookies, marshmallows, and such. If I find them significantly cheaper than what I'm currently paying I'll stock up.

ROFL at the idea of the raccoons thinking the human might possibly be rabid: good one, Cheryl. And major oops to give away Heidi's frosting can; I can just hear her grumbling all the way to the fence. No doubt she's sure she trained you better than that...

If you have one of the membership discount stores nearby (BJ's, Costco, Sam's Club) you can get great prices on huge bags of the treat items, not to mention the cat food; stocking up once a month would save a bundle. Given the quantity you're buying these days, you'd save enough in no time to more than cover the membership cost.

Well I finally caught up on all of the thread! That will teach me to go away.

I was sitting here holding my breath Cheryl about Bast. Maybe she just needed a little R & R away from the crew...I can relate. LOL

Love all the pictures and the little guys and gals are soooo cute.

I had the giggles also, you debating with Mr. Ph.D. and it seems there is one in every crowd. I just wouldn't let this one know about your back yard....he doesn't seem too nice.

So happy to have caught up with the thread and can do my daily reading now.

Debbie

Poor Heidi, and after finally getting the gentle open mouth hanger door pose just right. I bet she did some grumbling on her way to the fence. Any foot stomping to go with it? Oh how I would love to see a video of some of your ore special evenings such as last night. The looks on the Raccoons faces would have been interesting as you charged after the run away watermelon.
You write so wonderfully that even without the aide of a video I can neaarly seen reaching slurping munching and crunching.
will you be giving Heidi some special peace offering tonight for the frosting can mix up? Could you perhaps get DH to take a pic or two of you wit the group around you or is he uninvolved in this adventure. The vision of the main few,Heidi, Dennis, and Bast, Mishka and Freida, oh and that special yearling all around you on that little stool must be quite a sight to behold.
I remember the ones at Jekyll Island that waited patiently in a little group with their hands up for grapes and leftovers from the restaurant. That is one of my most special life memories and serves to make your Heidi journal com all the more to life as I read it each day.
Is Bast walking pretty normal now and maybe running? Also, Heidi is Mom or G'ma to the above named little group, right? My thinking is that she has her special offspring that have remained tied to her apron strings perhaps a bit more than others. Oh and when you talk of the others out in the weeds or eating the scattered food, how many do you usually think you have at peak season. ANd are all but Bast probably weaning kits behind the fence?
Guess I'll stop with my questions now. Love to the furbies!

Sheri

Ruth,

Hey, you never know. We humans tend to assume that worrying about catching things like rabies only goes one way, but for all we know, the raccoons may be holding meetings in the forest to remind each other not to scratch or bite the humans because you can't tell which ones have rabies. I mean, with humans they can't even use signs like "acting weird" (which describes most of us to them no doubt) or "being disoriented" (i.e. intoxicated), and raccoons certainly can't assume an angry human is rabid since that's pretty much the only kind they tend to see. ; )

We have Costco and Sams. I may give Costco a shot as it is closer. The biggest thing that keeps me from going there is my back. It's a huge store to walk around with back pain. If my back holds up I might give it a try. (... speaking of which, I went to my apt Friday, an appointment which my Dr had made 2wks ago when I got my last shots. My last shots were different, put in a different spot aimed at treating sciatica not SI joint inflammation. The plan was for me to return in 2wks for another set of shots. He called this set of shots the 2nd half because he said most people need 2 sets to get full relief. When I went in Friday with my driver ready for my 2nd shots, and they asked me to rate my pain 0-10, I had to say 0. Right now, I have no pain! The Dr said, no pain, no shots. He sent me away with directions to go out and live my life, try not to kick any 'dogs', and call if I needed him. I did get a TENS device, a portable e-stem device, while I was there. If I have pain, I can use it under my clothes anywhere (except the shower, pool, ocean, etc) to help relieve the pain - even while sleeping.)

Hi Debbie,

So glad to see you back. Yes, I'm really happy to see Bast doing so well these days. It was pretty scary there for a while - for her and for me.

I hadn't actually intended the part about Mr PhD to be humorous, but based on the responses, clearly that is how it ended up. Glad you (and everyone) enjoyed it. I guess it is funny to see (or hear of) someone like that being put in their place now and then. At the time, I was just trying to stop him from using the influence of his educational accomplishments to spread vicious rumors about raccoons.

Believe it or not, he may be coming around, not with respect to the raccoon thing. I doubt he will ever back down on that. Better to sweep it under the rug, but he did drop by on Friday to speak to me. I was shocked. Since the raccoon debate, every time I saw him (before Friday), he would refuse to talk to me and would turn and walk away looking annoyed - trying to characterize this...at these times he reminded me of 'Blue-blood' throwing their nose up, rolling their eyes, and storming off after witnessing some horrid social faux pas on the part of a 'regular' person.

Glad to have you back.

Hi Sheri,

I think that was the 1st time I had heard Heidi walk off grumbling since that one year when she was so 'hugely' pregnant and walked around grumbling non-stop. Her reaction to my frosting can mistake surprised me. If she did any foot stomping, I couldn't see it back there in the dark as she was leaving.

Since we had such a big party last night, we had to tone it down a bit tonight to save resources. I did take out a collection of food I had saved (in addition to the cat food): 4 servings of garlic toast saved from meals at Italian restaurant along with bread saved from other meals, french toast sticks I bought but didn't eat once I saw all the oil on the bag, syrup from the toast sticks, mini cini rolls I didn't eat for the same reason, pint of chicken salad with fruit and nuts from deli that expired before I could eat it, other 1/2 of serving seafood alfredo. Oh, and the other 1/2 of the melon from the day before. I tossed the items around making sure to toss most of it to the back area to keep the 'others' back there.

They fought over the chicken salad. The seafood alfredo was a big hit especially since I left the [poor quality and overcooked] shrimp and scallops with the pasta. When I ordered the dish, I had envisioned delicate, mouth watering sea scallops, not the itty, bitty, gristly, over-cooked bay scallops, but the raccoons did not complain. I try to save all of my leftovers for them, even when I'm out for lunch with colleagues or whatever. Some mornings I get an egg mcmuffin on the way to work, eat 1/2 and save the other half for the raccoons that night. It's just a dry toasted muffin with canadian bacon and poached egg, so the raccoons love it. I find that I want it but am full after a few bites, so I save the rest for them, and we both benefit. Oh, and the french toast sticks were a really big hit. Heidi even ate one of those. (If I take out something she might want, I can always tell by her behavior. Her head will suddenly come up to check out the interesting smell.)

Dennis is Heidi's 2yr old daughter. I believe Freida and Mishka are her grands. I don't really know where Bast came from. She doesn't look at all like Heidi or like any of the kits Heidi has had since I've known her. I suspect that Bast came from the other group, the one the spawned Diva, Cruella, and Ursula. She showed up last year (I think it was) and somehow managed to fit in with the group and has [mostly] been allowed [by Heidi and the others] to hang around.

Bast is walking on all 4's now pretty much exclusively. She doesn't limp but she does walk rather slowly. She can move faster if she needs to.

I future years if I am able to get around better, I may invest in a wildlife cam for out there.

On nights when the group is large, I've tried to count them which isn't easy because they are all over the place. I've counted 15+ and expect that I may have missed one or more in the weeds, so I estimate 15-20. No, they don't all have kits. A number of the yearlings like Echo who stand up for treats show no sign of pregnancy or nursing. I think 1/2 of fewer of them actually have kits.

Tonight, I didn't so much SEE the kit as I HEARD the little guy. All of a sudden I heard that familiar spitting sound he makes when telling the adults to "Back off!" My eyes searched the darkness and found him back on the other side of the pool right in the midst of the others, eating the kibble I had tossed back there, and holding his own with the big girls. It's dark back there at the buffet these days, so much so that I need a flashlight to find things in my bag. The farther they are away from me and the closer they are to the forest, the harder it is to see them as that it even farther from the small amount of available light. The grass back there really needs to be cut, so the little kit is especially hard to see over the grass.

Once I became aware of the kit, I tossed him a few broken pieces of cookie. The kit is so small, that he will hold 1/4 of a regular sized cookie and take bites off of it. My aim is getting incredibly good these days - after 4 yrs of throwing things. I can drop a piece of cookie right in front of the kits nose even way back there on the other side of the pool - a good 30ft or more away and in the dark. Even with adults around him trying to get the cookie, between my ability (now) to place the cookie so accurately and the kits moxy, the adults didn't get a one. (I had given them some earlier.)

That is one smart kit. After I tossed him about 3 pieces of cookie, he headed closer. He got in the pool which apparently means the others had to get out. I guess it's kind of like the way all of us adults are afraid to even speak to or get near other people's kids these days for fear of being pummeled by angry parents. The kit gets in the pool, and the adults scatter as though he were radioactive.

I tossed him more cookie pieces (one at a time) in the pool. OMG! OMG! OMG! there is no possible way that I could do justice to that moment, no way to adequately describe how totally adorable the little tyke was as he stood upright in the pool holding a piece of cookie between his two hands, took a bite, and poked his little nose straight up in the air as he savored the yummy treat. There was no way you could be the least bit confused about whether or not he like cookies. And 1/4 of a cookie looked so HUGE in his tiny hands. I laughed and laughed and laughed as I watched the little fella. He's just so darned cute!

I also tossed some kibble in the pool for the kit - and tossed more kibble outside the pool for the others. From time to time when I tossed him a cookie piece, an adult would try to climb over the edge after it. The kit would lunge at the adult, teeth bared, and making that funny spitting sound, and the adult would jump back out of the pool - probably because they know Heidi can hear that sound, too. One of the yearling tried to use the Steal (outside of the pool) to sit on the cookie I tossed immediately in front of the kit. The kit lunged out and bit the yearling on the backside. The yearling got up quickly and walked away leaving the kit to eat his cookie. Oh, that kit is something else. No wonder Heidi is tired some days. That one is sure to be a terror when he/she gets older.

So Cheryl, do you think this 1 little feisty kit is Heidi's?

Sheri