Heidi Chronicles: More Life With Baby

This is the ongoing story of Heidi and friends, raccoons who eat at my backyard buffet. Both Heidi and Freida have been bringing their young kits (babies) to the buffet lately.

prior thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1027373/
1st thread in series: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/603944/


CAUTION: Don't try this at home. Professional drivers on closed circuit course.
Seriously though, while this is a true story, it is the culmination of 4yrs of effort making friends with the raccoons. Please don't read this and think that you can approach a wild raccoon in the manner described here without first investing time, lots of time, getting to know the raccoon. Moreover, contact with wild raccoons or any other wild animals is ill advised. Raccoons may carry rabies and/or raccoon roundworm both of which present serious health risks to humans. I have taken steps to mitigate the risk, including: getting rabies shots, being careful to avoid situations where I might be scratched or bitten, and wearing rubber gloves for protection against roundworm eggs when cleaning the pool.

Below is a pic of Heidi and Mishka sharing a watermelon.

Here I am following along. =^..^=

Hi, Susan!

Good to see you. : )

Hope you have a feel good, pain free weekend Cheryl.
Please give little Buster some extra lovin sweet talk for me ^_^
Are you still havin to babysit the Bobsey twins for that rogue momma? And if so , how are the "run and hide when you hear something " lessons coming along? Hope you havn't got stuck climbin the fence ^_^

Happy long holiday weekend

~Sheri

Hi Sheri,

Thanks. I hope all of you are having a great, long holiday weekend, too!

Actually, it didn't take the kits long before they caught on to their Momma's tricks. After 5 or 6 days of being left behind, they learned to keep an eye on Mom at the end of the meal. Pretty soon, Freida could no longer get away with her usual tricks like sneaking off and leaving the kits. I was quite impressed with how the little guys learned to keep track of her so quickly.

The kits, while still small and cute, are just a tad bigger now just enough so that they are no longer like clunky, awkward toddlers who struggle to figure out how to use their hands to hold things and such. Now Freida seems more comfortable with them. Tonight and the kits stayed late. After everyone else had left, the 3 of them were in the pool together. I'm not sure whether she has stopped trying to sneak off because they are on to her now or because at this age they aren't as much trouble for her.

Before I tell you the latest raccoon news, I need to tell you my Widget story, a little OT, but...

Occasionally when the mood hits me, I stop off and pick up a 10pk of McD's nuggets. I bring them home, sit on the rug in the foyer, and share them with Widget. He knows this ritual now. Before I even get in the door he knows from the smell that I have nuggets. He sits down ready to eat. I sit down with him, hand him a nugget, and we eat.

Being such a little guy, 4.5lbs, it takes Widget a while to eat a whole chicken nugget. When he finally finishes his nugget, I give him another. By the time he finishes the 2nd one, I only have 1 or 2 left. Often I get greedy then and either keep them for myself or just give him 1/2 one. Given the differences in our sizes, that seems a reasonable split, 7 1/2 - 8 for me, 2 - 2 1/2 for him. I keep trying to tell him that pound for pound he is getting more than his share, but he always looks unhappy to find that while he was eating his 2, I ate all the rest.

Today I ran out to run some errands and picked up the ceremonial nuggets on the way back. When I came in the door with them, Widget seemed excited as usual. He sat down. Everything was going as usual. I gave him his 1st nugget. Then instead of eating it, he carried it across the room and put it down as though he didn't want it. Then he came back and sat down all excited as though waiting for a nugget. I pointed to the one he had left across the room and told him to go back and eat that one. He looked over there, gave it a kind of "I don't know what you are talking about look" and continued requesting a nugget (as though he didn't have one).

As I ate my 1st nugget, I kept trying to tell him to go over there and eat the one he had left across the room. Finally, Widget went over there sniffed the 'thing' on the floor and then as if to say, "I don't know what that is but it's not food", he came back and sat down still asking for a nugget. I sent him back over there a couple of times. Each time he insisted he didn't know what that was - and he still wanted a nugget.

Confused by Widget's behavior, I thought, well, maybe he somehow doesn't realize there is chicken inside the coating - yeah, right, like a dog can't smell chicken through the coating, but it was the only explanation I could think of for his odd behavior. I handed him the last 1/2 of my partially eaten one holding it out to him with the chicken inside exposed. He ate it and wanted more. Again, I pointed to the one across the room thinking surely now he will be able to connect the dots and see that it is also chicken. Again, Widget went over there, sniffed it, turned up his nose to say, "nope, not chicken" and returned to ask for another.

As Widget and I continued to eat nuggets and he continued to refuse to eat that 1st one that he had left across the room, it occurred to me at one point that he might be saving that one as a way to increase his overall share of the nuggeets, but I thought, "no, don't be silly. he's not that smart."

Widget and I continued to eat the nuggets. After giving him 2 halves from which I had taken a bite to expose the chicken, I gave him another whole one figuring surely by now he will realize that there is chicken inside. Sure enough, he did get it. Realizing it was chicken, he sat down and ate that one. Now, Widget had eaten the equivalent of two nuggets, his usual part, and I had finished the rest. The only difference from the norm was that now what would normally be the last nugget, the one that I would normally scarf down while he stood asking for one more bite, that one was sitting across the room on the floor where he had left it earlier insisting it wasn't food - and now as I sat packing up the trash, Widget walked across the room, picked up that nugget from across the room, and sat down to eat it. He had outsmarted me. He had gotten over. This time he had gotten 3 of the nuggets! This time he had gotten that last nugget that I usually eat without sharing with him. This time, having learned that eat nuggets faster than him, that I eat them all up so fast he only gets 2, this time he stashed one aside. The little rat!

Edited to add: I keep telling you animals are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 3:11 AM

Smart move on Widget's part: sneaky, but very smart (lol). And good for Freida's kits to have figured out her system, and thwart it by watching her closely. And of course I agree with you on the intelligence of animals: they outsmart us all the time, and we don't even always realize it.

ROTFLOL, Ruth!

LOL, how cute! Do you think the raccoons have secretly been giving him lessons?

KyWoods,

Sounds like it for sure, but then maybe Widget is smarter than I think. Now I'm wondering what else he pulls over on me. I wish you could have seen him obediently going over there to sniff the seemingly inedible nugget on command over and over and each giving it a shrug and a thumbs down and then returning to wait for more. And then the instant the last nugget (other than that one) was eaten, he went right over there and sat down to eat it.

The incredible thing about it is that he had to (1) remember from prior episodes that I had gobbled up all of the nuggets before he could get he fair share and (2) plan ahead from the beginning of this episode to put one back (over there across the room) in order to effect a more acceptable division of assets in our little McD's ritual. That is way smarter than I ever dreamed Widget to be. I need to keep a better eye on him from now on.

Strange things have been happening at the buffet these past few nights. Just at a moment when all was going so well and the kits were learning to come to me and sit around eating treats, suddenly another force began to take shape, one that didn't seem to make any sense at all, but then I wonder...

It began, or at least I first became aware of it, a few nights ago, the last night i described to you, the night when the kits and others all circled around me as I passed out animal cookies dipped in frosting. It was a fairly tale night, and I told you about the magic, but then something else, something disturbing also happened that night. Due to time constraints, I never got around to telling you about this other thing that happened at the end of the evening. A lot has been going on. I've been busy, and the pain, really bad pain has come back. It was difficult for me to sit up for very long thus limiting the amount of typing I could do. During all of this, I really thought the whole thing, the thing at the buffet, would smooth over and be forgotten before I had a chance to tell you about it, but it has not.

That night when all the kits were sitting so close up around me enjoying cookies, Heidi who also loves frosting, was standing in front of me right at my knees eating cookies and frosting. Every time I turned around from the kits on my right to the kits on my left there was Heidi standing upright at my knees her mouth agape waiting to have another cookie put in there. It was a grand party, and everyone was having a blast.

When the frosting ran out, I struggled with just who should get the honors of licking the can. I wanted to give it to Buster. It's so fun to watch youngsters as they enjoy new experiences for the 1st time. Still, I know how much Heidi always loves to lick that can, so I decided I had better give it to her. She was right there at my knee standing 1/2 way up and asking for more. I held the can out to her as I have done so many times before. I expected to see her take the can and happily enjoy this 'end of the frosting' treat.

Heidi stuck her nose into the end of the can. I thought she was licking the frosting from it. I was waiting for her to take the can, and then suddenly and for no apparent reason, she suddenly jumped backward away from the can, jumped backward into and through the pool until she came to rest some 20 ft away from me and standing on the opposite side of the pool.

She looked distrustful, looked as though I had done something really bad, something to betray the trust i had worked so hard to earn all these years. Horrified, I had no idea what I might have done to frighten her this way. I called out to her to let her know that everything was ok, that her suspicions were false, "Heidi, Heidi, It's Ok, Heidi." But she would have none of it.

I called Heidi hoping she would calm down and return to take the can, but she just stood there giving me that awful accusatory look and then turned and headed up the fence and into the forest. No amount of calling and pleading would convince her to come back. I sat there crestfallen and confused. I had no idea what I had done or what Heidi perceived that I had done, and I sure hated to see the evening end on this note.

As 'crazy' as those events were, there were other things about the picture that didn't fit. As I've mentioned before, one of the kits is a Momma's boy or girl. When the kits get semi-full, the others wander around playing and discovering, but that one often curls up at Heidi's back feet and sleeps while she finishes eating. It's adorable to see, but probably not the best signs for the kit's development. The thing is, when Heidi jumped backward through the pool to get away from whatever awful thing she thought I was up to, when she was so terrified and running for her life, she left the sweet, defenseless, little Momma's kit curled up there on the ground alone in front of ME, the 'monster' from whom she was fleeing. That is so not like Heidi at all, and as I watched the confused kit wake up to find himself alone and exposed (where he had gone to sleep in the comfort of Mom's skirt tale), his Mom now gone, I struggled to make any kind of sense of what I had just seen.

The kit got up, shook off his slumber, and waddled toward the fence looking for his Mom. Suddenly, there I was sitting alone, holding the much coveted frosting can with no one to offer it to. Freida, Mishka, the other kits, everyone had disappeared. Some were still in the yard, but whereas only moments ago they had all been sitting around me enjoying treats, now they were peeking out at me from the relative safety of the weeded areas and shrubs and such. I called them, but no one dared come near me. In an instant, I had become a pariah.

I saw Freida standing some 20 or more feet away at the edge of the shrubs and tossed the frosting can to her. She grabbed it and ran behind the shrubs to enjoy it. In the weeded area, I could hear some of Heidi's other kits calling to her. In her haste to get away, she had left them behind, too. How odd, I thought, that such a doting Mom as Heidi would leave all 4 of her babies behind while fleeing from danger. Was Heidi becoming senile? Was there such thing as raccoon Alzheimer's Disease? The Heidi I knew would never have left those kits under such circumstances.

I went back to the house, hoping that whatever I had done would be forgotten by morning and realizing that I had just learned the true extent to which Heidi's acceptance of me or lack thereof controlled the behavior of every raccoon in my yard. I was ok only as long as Heidi said I was ok. She was not just the key to gaining the trust of the others, she was the key to keeping it.

Oh, my! Is it possible that some item of your clothing, or jewelry inadvertently hung down and touched her?

Did the can cut her? How awful.

I am also sorry to hear your pain has returned. I feel so bad for you. :((

Was there perhaps a burr on the can that stuck her?

I wonder if she was expecting you to be holding the can and when it covered and rested on her head it just spooked her.

I'm so sorry and sure hope they return to normal tomorrow. I also know how much comfort a relationship with ones wild neighbors brings aong with peace and serenity.

Hugs and prayers,
Sheri

The next night, last night, hoping to put all of this distrust behind us as quickly as possible and get back to the fairy tale, I went out with more animal cookies. This time I took the much beloved strawberry frosting - as a bribe of sorts.

Heidi was waiting on the patio with Freida and the kits as usual. She walked out to the buffet with me and came to get her food when I called her. She ate in her usual spot in front of me. She even stood there in front of me with her mouth open over and over waiting for me to stuff frosted cookies in it. Is that the way you behave with someone who just tried to harm you the day before? Still, she seemed a bit distrustful, just not quite herself. When I would lean forward to hand a cookie to one of the kits, she would back away a step or two looking wary - yet oddly enough when awaiting her next cookie, she would stand there in front of me with her mouth open once more.

The kits had started out beside me as usual, but watching Heidi's cautious behavior had caused them to move back and behave in a more cautious manner as well. Even those kits that stayed to take cookies from me directly did so by standing back a bit and stretching their necks to reach the cookie. Whereas before they had been sitting upright beside me like so many little squirrels taking cookies from me and eating them there beside me, now only the bravest kits remained there a few steps away from me straining to reach the next cookie while the others stood back near the brush waiting for me to toss cookies to them.

Quite coincidentally, when the frosting ran out, Heidi began to back farther and farther away from me. Now she was standing with her backside against the pool as far from me as she could get and still eat her food, food which she now had to lean way forward to reach. This was the same Heidi who only last week ate comfortable with her head in a watermelon that was pressed up against my boot, the Heidi who had been completely nonplussed even as I reached into the bag beside her head to crinkle plastic while getting more cookies.

I hated that it had come to this. Hated that Heidi had apparently misconstrued something I had done and was now wary of me. To add to my injury, not only had I, for the moment, lost my friendship with Heidi, but now just as the night before, I had lost everyone else with her. When the frosting ran out and Heidi started backing away more and more and acting so odd, Freida and Mishka beat a hasty retreat and the kits slowly disappeared - much like a repeat of the night before. Heidi kept back away until finally she left altogether.

I sat there alone holding the empty frosting can over which the raccoons had always argued in the past. It was like a repeat of the night before. Buster was still nearby, not close mind you, but within site range. I called him and tried to offer him the frosting can. He looked at it as though it were a weapon of torture and ran away to hide. Wow. Things sure had changed in Heidi Land. Seeing Mishka hiding in the weeds nearby, I picked the can up and tossed it to her. She disappeared into the weeds with it.

A few minutes later as I was sitting there all lonely and dejected and gathering my things to leave, Heidi reappeared. She came up to me. She was looking for something. I was so happy to see her. I SO wanted to be friends again. I held out a cookie, an unfrosted cookie. She walked up and sniffed the cookie. She reached out with her hands and took the cookie, then dropped it on the ground. It wasn't what she wanted. She kept hanging around me, sniffing my bag, peaking in the bucket. She wanted something. She was very insistent. Whatever it was she was convinced that I had it, and she wanted it - and she was sure I was supposed to give it to her.

This went on for a while. The kits were gone. She had apparently taken them home earlier. It was just Heidi. She kept hovering around me insisting on getting the thing, whatever it was. I was just so happy that she was paying attention to me again, but I was very confused, not just about the identity of the thing she wanted but also about her ongoing rather schizophrenic behavior. Then it dawned on me, she wanted the frosting can. Now I was even more confused. The night before she had run away in terror when offered the frosting can. Tonight she had taken the kids home and come back for the frosting can. But, thinking she was gone, I had already given the can to Mishka.

Confused, I held my bare hand up as I do to symbolize, "no more" and tried to explain that the can was gone. She went over in the weeds. I gather she found Mishka and the can because I heard a her over there grumbling loudly. Moments later she headed back up the fence and disappeared into the forest.

Once again, crestfallen and forgotten by the raccoons who usually hang out around me so freely, I came back inside confused by Heidi's rather bizarre behavior. At time she had acted wary of me, extremely so, yet when the frosting was flowing, her mouth had been open and waiting for another round. Now you don't let someone you distrust stuff food in your mouth, do you? Certainly a raccoon as savvy as Heidi wouldn't do so. I could have understood and accepted Heidi being frightened by something and being wary of me. It could happen. But the pieces just didn't fit. She had left the kits with me even as she ran from me all wild eyed and terrified. She continued to let me, no ask me to, put cookies in her open mouth. Yet at times she kept backing away as though distrustful. I had known Heidi long enough to know this didn't add up. It wasn't that long ago that Heidi didn't trust me enough to take food from my hand. Back then it didn't matter what it was or how much she wanted it, either I tossed it to her, or she didn't get it. It was that simple. How odd now that she would be at one moment be saying (to everyone), "I'm afraid" and yet the next be standing passively with her mouth open like a baby bird waiting for me to put cookies in it.

Tonight was more of the same. It began with me stepping out onto the patio to find a kit sitting there looking quite calm even as I stepped out of the door. Then there were the kits coming up to me as I sat down, and then things got all weird. Heidi was acting weird again. Soon everyone was backing away from me and disappearing. Quickly, I reached into my bag and took out a can of frosting. I dipped a few cookies and tossed them around. Heidi appeared at my feet seeking cookies, and soon kits were at my feet as well, slightly wary now, but near my feet and taking cookies once more. The rest of the evening went like the others. The frosting ran out, Heidi left, and everyone else hid out in the brush as though afraid of me.

As I came back to the house, an idea every bit as strange as the events of the past few days began to take shape in my mind. If Widget could turn Academy Award's actor and pull off that "I don't know what the nugget is" scene with all the skill of Hollywood's best, could Heidi be acting wary of me to teach the impressionable young kits, Freida's included, that they shouldn't be too trusting of any human, even me? Could even that incredible moment when she bounded backward into the pool and stood glaring at me in wide eyed distrust have all been an act for the sake of the kits? Had I not witnessed Widget's incredible method acting performance with the nugget, I would have thought this a ludicrous question, but now it seems less unrealistic.

If it is an act, it would explain a lot of inconsistencies like why a seemingly terrified Heidi would run away and leave her baby behind and why she would stand there waiting for me to put cookies in her mouth - she still loves frosting after all. If Heidi really thought I was trying to harm her, she would never have left her kit with me, but if she were trying to teach a lesson leaving the kit behind (where she knew it was perfectly safe) to observe her act, I mean behavior, would make sense. If she was actually teaching the kits, she could afford to take a time out to grab some frosted cookies - and then back away and look wary when the frosting was gone, right? That would still work. It did work. It is working. Each day the kits stand back a little more even from the beginning, even before she starts her act.

I believe Heidi is teaching the kits a valuable lesson, just like we teach our kids. When they are older, they like she will be able to make their own decisions about whether to approach me or not, but maybe while they are so young and impressionable it is dangerous for them to be so comfortable around me, not because of anything I would do, but perhaps because of the danger that they might transfer that comfort to all humans. I am proud of her really, and amazed at her wit. I will miss the days of kits sitting beside me showing no fear at all, but I know she is doing what is best for them. I think she will likely allow them to come to me for treats. She just wants them to stand back a little and realize that they should be wary of humans. That is best.

Today I went by the local Publix. The lady at the register remembered me and asked about the raccoons. The young guy who was packing my groceries heard this and asked questions. Later when he was putting my groceries in the car he said that his father hunts/eats raccoons. That's the 2nd guy from that same store who has said something about hunting them. I gather that this must be a trend with certain people who live in that area. I say 'that area' because while that store is relatively near me it is actually in a different municipality. It is near the border between the city where I live and a rural, island municipality where I suspect this hunting is going on. Heidi and her gang are lucky. They are not in any danger as they live in city limits where hunting of any kind is prohibited and on land which belongs to the city. Still, I quite regrettably end this story on this rather sad note because I think it fits. It fits because it reminds us all how very important it is for the raccoons not to grow up believing that people are their friends.

Oddly, I don't really begrudge the hunters their right to eat raccoons. I don't love it, understand, but I feel it would be hypocritical of me to eat meat and protest the eating of meat. There are pretty much no predators here to keep the raccoon population in check. As we have discussed before, overcrowding only aids the spread of disease, so human predators probably play a vital role however ugly it may seem to us. Admittedly I wouldn't be so understanding if I thought Heidi and her group were in danger. Still it is best the raccoon babies not think that all humans are friendly, and this is especially true of the males who may find themselves one day living far from home.

So sorry to hear the pain is back, Cheryl; why must this always happen over a weekend when there's no chance of finding help?? Always seems to happen that way, and it's just wrong.

Fascinating information in these posts. Your thinking in interpreting Heidi's behavior seems very logical, and I suspect you're right that she is teaching the kits a lesson. Of course this leaves the question as to why she would teach the human lesson in this way this year, when she's never done so before? Then again, her own behavior with you is much more trusting than before; maybe this made her feel the need to firmly impress on the kits that no human is totally trustworthy. Or perhaps Buster, that most adventurous of kits, made some attempt to approach another human in hope of treats; that certainly would set in motion a dramatic plan on Heidi's part to establish safe limits; as you say, the fact that he is likely male makes human contact an especially risky idea for him. I've always had some background concerns that having the kits feel so comfortable around you might get them in trouble with less understanding and accepting humans, and I'm sure Heidi is very very well aware of the dangers of contact with other humans. Guess this is just her way of letting the kits know that yes, the diner is great fun and this human is usually trustworthy as short bus types go, but you can never be really sure humans are safe. They can turn on you at any moment, you know; they're just too wild to ever take for granted....

Whatever the reasons, the result is hard on you; but as always, you're taking it in the right spirit and thinking of what's best for the kits. This does make you a most rare and special human, and one of the very few who could live this saga.

And BTW, it's no surprise that Heidi's apparent concern about your trustworthiness would have an immediate ripple effect through the whole community. It's very clear that Heidi is not only the leader, but that all the others listen implicitly to her (mostly nonverbal) rules and guidelines. They may grumble and argue a bit on occasion, but she is never directly challenged or ignored. And with each new discovery of another aspect of her character and subtlety and leadership, it becomes more clear that she is simply irreplaceable; I can't imagine another raccoon able to become her equal.

Hi Ruth,

Actually, I had been in increasingly intolerable levels of pain for about 2 weeks. I had tried not to mention it, but lately had decided maybe I should as it is probably having a noticeable effect in my writing. For a couple of weeks I didn't have anything for pain because my Pain Dr "doesn't believe in pain meds" which is convenient considering he isn't the one in agonizing pain. Friday I went for more shots and I had a serious talk with him about this issue my basic point being that he can suspend pain meds when he finds a solution to the problem causing the pain.

As a result of that talk he agreed to give me medication. I was so relieved since the pain had reached a level which made it intolerable and i was unable to work. However, instead of giving me the stuff I had been taking and which was working fine w/o making me feel weird, he gave me something different. He gave me 2 types of medication. I am only to take one or the other not both. Both are long acting. 1 is 12hr, the other 24hr. Neither can be halved to take a smaller dose. The 24hr one is the milder one. He said to try it and change to the other only if it didn't work. Saturday around noon I took 1 of the so called milder drug. It did a great job of killing the pain, all pain. Within 30 min I was high as a kite and headed on a wild 24hr ride that I am not eager to repeat.

After penning an epic, I called a friend and heard myself talking a million miles an hour. I could tell that I was seriously not right. Then I went outside to clean the pool and change the water for the raccoons. I felt so good, no pain, I also ran the weed wacker until the battery died. Then I noticed the dirty glass on the patio door and cleaned that. I was really on a roll and feeling great. I wanted to take care of the entire garden, but about that time I noticed I was very thirsty, so I came inside for a drink.

I drank a pint of water, then immediately barfed that up along with lunch. Still thirsty a bit later I drank another pint of water - and then barfed that up. After that things just got worse quickly. Bottom line, while I loved being pain free (for over 24hrs btw), and was thrilled to be able to do all of the things I hadn't been able to do (at least for an hour or so before the barfing started), I really, really hated the way it made me feel. By the time i was myself again, the pain was back.

Now I'm in pain and have 2 strong drugs and am afraid to take either of them because I don't want to be in some totally high, euphoric state for another 24hrs. If the mild one took me on such a wild ride, I can't imagine what the other one will be like, and I don't think I want to go on another 24hr ride with that one drug anytime soon. Well this is certainly a problem I hadn't anticipated. (BTW, I know euphoria is supposed to be a good thing but, there are limits and, besides, I prefer to be just myself.)

As for Heidi, actually, last summer she 1st led Calvin and Timba over to the watermelon that was about 12in or less from my foot. She led them over to the watermelon because they were afraid to come near me. Later, however, when one of them started to walk past the watermelon to come over to me, she stopped him, and that was it. Neither of them nor their less assertive siblings ever came to me after that until they were almost yearlings at which point they would only come up close enough to reach out and take a treat and then leave. That one 'word' from Heidi, that instant when she told Calvin not to go (to me) made all the difference. It meant that they would never be like Dennis.

I didn't say a lot about it at the time in part because while I can still 'see' her stopping him (in my mind), I am at a loss to articulate how she did it. The signal was very brief, but the kit listened completely, much better than human kids, but then I suppose kits must somehow understand that their lives depend on listening to Mom. I can't describe the signal yet I knew immediately what it meant. I believe their was a short duration, maybe 1 or 2 syllable audible part which was not very loud, but there was also a facial expression or body language component which was clear in its message, clear even to a human. The whole signal took only a second or less. I have actually seen this signal a few other times. I saw Diva tell Rupert not to go to me, to stay back behind her. As bad as she was at parenting, she did very clearly warn him to stay away from me. I saw it a couple of other times, too, with other Moms. In all cases, it is the absolute death nell of any real contact with the kit.

When I saw Heidi tell Calvin to stop (when he was coming closer to me), I wondered then why she had done that when she hadn't done so with Dennis - but then again, maybe she did try to tell Dennis to stay back. Dennis wasn't one to listen very well.

I think you are also onto something about the difference in my relationship with Heidi over the years. When Dennis was a kit, Heidi was eating 10 ft or so away from me I guess, at least 5. With Calvin and that group she was eating more like 2 or 3 ft away and was bringing them over to my feet part of the time to eat melon. This year for the 1st time, she is eating 12in or less from my toes. This year for the 1st time she is eating from my hand and even letting me put cookies in her mouth. I think she probably is aware of the example she is setting for the kits. Each year as she gets more and more comfortable with me, she sets, in many ways, a worse example for the kits, or risks doing so.

Also, the problem this year started with Freida and her kits. After i had that 1st interaction or so with Joey, Heidi stopped bringing her kits around at all for a week or so. When she did bring them back she left them over in the weeded area where the kits have always played or on the other side of the slope near the fence. She was careful to keep them segregated and off to themselves for another week or so. Eventually, however, as Heidi's kits sat over there in the weeded area watching her eating so close to me and seeing Freida's kits eating all kinds of yummy things from my hand without getting hurt, eventually they came over to me, too - even though I was tossing them treats the whole time, but in time they wanted to be in the center of the action like the others. I think that is what tipped Heidi off, because Heidi's more adventurous kits had just begun to come over to me around the time she started acting weird.

However, if you recall, back when Heidi came back from having the kits and she was all friendly with me, I said way back then that her attitude would change when the kits showed up. I was actually surprised that it took this long for her to start to back away a bit, but I have seen her do this every year, and by this I mean getting close to me before she gives birth and then backing away again when the kits start coming to the buffet. It seems though that each year she doesn't go back as far as the year before so that while it is 2 steps forward and 1 back the overall trend is forward in terms of getting more comfortable with me. I guess, if you think about it, this is all very new for Heidi, too, so sometimes she probably doesn't know just how to work out the challenges between being comfortable with me and her need to teach the kits to stay back. It is interesting though that I predicted that some of her extreme friendliness with me would end when the kits arrived and now we see it happening to a degree. I think it is easier for her to be friendly with me when she is on her own, but much different when she is responsible for the lives of kits.

I'm sure it is all for the best, and as always I am very proud of her mothering skills. I'm just happy for the time I did have with the kits when they were very young.

KyWoods,

Last night we cross posted. I 'sent' the 1st part of the post to break up the size and then kept on typing. No, I'm very much aware of that sort of thing and would have noticed it if anything at all had fallen towards her. In summer, and it is still summer here, my standard nightly outfit at the buffet is pants, tank or T, and boots, no jewelry of any kind and nothing to flop around - of course, the real reason for this scaled down, minimalist attire is that it offers nothing extra to hold heat. There have been times over the years when something happened to scare her at such a critical moment like for instance the flashlight falling from my lap or once my rhuana fell towards her, but nothing of the sort happened on the night in question which is why I found the whole thing so odd. Also, in the past even when my rhuana fell toward her or the flashlight fell on the ground, she would come back and be fine once she realized what it was.

Hi Susan,

Thanks for your concern and support RE the pain. It surely has been a drag, especially at work where the constant, unrelenting pain makes it so difficult to get anything done.

No, although I call it a can for lack of a better word, the frosting cans are made of plastic, so they are not traditional metal cans that might have dangerously sharp or ragged edges. The plastic 'cans' are very smooth and even flexible. They have a foil seal like many yogurt containers do and then a plastic lid for saving leftovers.

Hi Sheri,

No, no burrs on the can. It was plastic, not a real can. I didn't let the can drop down and rest on her. I just held it out for her expecting her to use mouth to take hold of it and carry it where ever she wanted. Because the can was pointing away from me, I couldn't see exactly what was happening. It looked as though she either stuck her nose to the edge of the can to sniff it or put her nose in just far enough to lick some of the frosting. Then she bolted away.

What a mystery! Could she have sensed something suspicious in the surrounding area, like the neighbors yards, or the woods? I hope she gets over it soon, whatever it was.

Oh, forgot to mention but as I told KyWoods, I was typing the 2nd half of the post when all of you posted, so I cross posted with all of you.

Tonight went much better. Buster was waiting for me at the door with his mom and Heidi. When I stepped out he was sitting on a cooler right beside the door. He sat there looking at me not seeming terrified at all by my presence. He got down when I turned to close the door, but then as I started to walk across the patio he reappeared standing right in front of me, facing me and again not looking at all afraid as I towered over him there in the darkness. That's going to be my 09 Dennis for sure.

Bast showed up tonight, and I was happy to see her again. I hadn't seen her for days. Heidi has clearly been slowly and quietly eliminating the crowd from the buffet for a while now, so these days it is reasonable to wonder if Bast will return each time she goes missing. It took me a while to notice that raccoons were missing. I guess it mostly happened while I was preoccupied with the kits. The way she gets rid of them one at a time makes it much less noticeable until one day you realize that except for Heidi, Freida, Mishka, and the kits only a few others like Echo and Calvin remain. Now Echo hasn't shown up for days. Dennis hasn't been around for weeks. Reba was around for a while after Dennis went missing, but has now been gone for a while herself. Both Reba and Dennis had kits although neither had brought them to the buffet. In the past, allowing all of the kits to come to the buffet and stay when the Moms are asked to leave has resulted in a burgeoning population. Perhaps this year Heidi thought it better if kits other than her own and Freida's 2 were never allowed to get used to the buffet. For whatever reason, the crowd is gone now. Bast is the only one left now who is not part of Heidi's inner circle.

Bast is doing well. Even though she only eats here maybe 2 days a week now, she is maintaining her weight quite well. The once atrophied muscles in her hind quarters have filled out now, and her once mishapen body is returning to its sleek, catlike appearance. She's not 100% back to her former beauty, but I see definite signs that she is well on her way. I hadn't expected her to get her former features back, but she is. Only if you look very closely can you see the slight stiffness in her back end as she walks. This plus a slight roughness still in her coat are the only remaining artifacts now from her injury.

Tonight Heidi was closer to her normal self; however, with the exception of Buster all of the kits kept a safe distance. Even Buster didn't come up and sit right beside me as he used to. He came up in the safer more 'parent approved' position where only his 'pointy end' (I like that, Ruth) was oriented toward me. That's the 'safe' position used by all but Dennis and Bast. In that position if threatened you can always back away using the pointy end (face) for protection.

When Heidi's kits came close for treats, they all lined up pretty much side by side adjacent to her and all facing me (pointy end 1st). They all stayed more or less behind an imaginary line established by Heidi's own body which was also facing me. Joey stepped forward gingerly and with extreme care to take cookies. The others waited for me to toss the cookies over to them. With this order reestablished Heidi was quite calm once more.

When Buster approached me, I handed him a cookie, and was shocked when he turned up his nose and refused the vanilla s/w cookie repeatedly. Yet he seemed to be seeking something. What could he want more that a s/w cookie? Talk about spoiled. That's when I realized that after 3 full days of eating animal cookies dipped in frosting, plain old vanilla s/w cookies, once quite coveted were no longer good enough. I had to laugh though at the moxie of the little guy as he stood there firmly insisting on what he wanted.

As it happened, I still had the frosting can from the night before with a small amount of frosting in it, so I ended up feeding Buster (and the others) vanilla s/w cookies dipped in a little bit of frosting. Yep, that did it. That was what he wanted. He stood up and started licking the frosting off the end of it. A minute later he raised his little hands to support the cookie from below. As I pulled my hand away, he took the cookie. That was what he wanted.

Even though Heidi had a watermelon, as soon as she saw the top come off the frosting can she anounced her interest in having some, too. There was only a small amount of frosting left, and Heidi likes it gobbed on her cookie, so it didn't last long. Soon I was forced to offer Heidi a 'plain' old vanilla s/w cookie. However, while scooping that last bit of frosting from deep within the can, I had gotten some frosting on my hand. I had tried to wipe it off, but when I held the cookie out to Heidi she quickly realized that (1) there was no blob of frosting on this one and (2) she could smell frosting on my hand. Instead of taking the cookie, she put her nose past the cookie to sniff my hand. Hoping she wouldn't bite me, I held my hand still. And then much to my surprise, Heidi started licking my hand, licking the area where the frosting had been. Make no mistake. There was no visible frosting there anymore. (I had wiped that on my pants.lol) Still she could smell the remains, a film perhaps, of that frosting, and she stood there licking it from my hand. She has never done that before. So much for being afraid...or, was that maybe her way of saying, "sorry about the last few nights. had to teach the kids, you know."

Hi KyWoods,

When something from next door alarms her, these days Heidi usually looks at me as if to say, "Well? What do you think?" Then if I say, "It's ok" she stays. Sometimes, depending on how scary the sound is, she may give me the, "Are you sure?" look, but if I persist in telling her "It's ok" she will almost always go back to eating. It's pretty incredible to see.

I really think the past few nights she was teaching the kits. Either way, tonight she appeared to be back to normal - and then some considering she licked my hand.

Rolling my eyes at your pain doctor; what on earth was the man thinking, if in fact he was thinking? There are times when I believe some doctors, who have never experienced the problem we're presenting with, prescribe something much stronger than needed just to shut us up; and that's just wrong. Eons ago, as a teenager, I had a serious problem with monthly cramps; they really were quite incapacitating. The (male) doctor I saw subtly expressed an attitude that made it clear I was a whiny female, but he did prescribe something for me - and it did work, though it had the strange side effect that I could never sleep during that "time of the month." He kept refilling the prescription for years, with just a phone call, so I continued to take it into my early twenties - all the while thinking it rather odd that I could never sleep at those times. Then a new roommate, who happened to be a doctor's daughter, went into the medicine cabinet one night and emerged from the bathroom holding my prescription cramp pills. "Why are you taking speed?," she asked. She called her father to confirm and yes, my prescription drug was a trade name for a heavy-duty amphetamine which had been prescribed in a megadose. After all the years of taking the drug, I was actually addicted, and went through something like cold turkey when I stopped taking it. Well, that certainly explained why I couldn't sleep, and why I always crashed in total exhaustion after each monthly set of doses. What a clever doctor: he certainly stopped that whiny adolescent's complaints.

I'm so glad that Heidi is still allowing Bast to come to dinner on occasion, despite the vast improvement in her condition. Having that extra nutrition available when she needs or wants it is no doubt still very important as she continues to build her strength.

Fascinating that different mothers share the same signal to the kits that basically says, "back off - danger." And yes, I suspect kits, like all youngsters, instantly know the difference between when mom is mildly annoyed and when she's deadly serious - and that this particular signal is crucial. I remember that Heidi always increases her distance from you when the kits are about to arrive at the diner; this seemed a much later withdrawal than usual. Maybe she just enjoys the treats and the novel interaction, like licking your hand: WOW! I know it must have taken a leap of faith to trust and hold still; kudos to both of you for handling it so well. She really is working quite the balancing act these days, being up close and personal with you and yet teaching the kits to keep their distance; it's fascinating.

Rolling eyes at thoughts of Buster: so young to be so completely spoiled....

I'm so glad Heidi is back to her usual self--wow, licking your hand must've been fun for you. How cute! And funny how Buster had to have his cookies frosted!
Omg, speed for cramps? Good thing your roommate was able to identify it, and that you were able, albeit uncomfortably, wean yourself from the drug. Before my hysterectomy, I had those horrible cramps and was put on Viox, but only took a couple because they made me so stoned I couldn't work. Shortly thereafter, they were removed from the market because people were dying from them.

Ruth,

Well that really was wrong, giving you speed for cramps. Things have improved a lot in recent decades, but I recall that there was a time when Dr's dismissed most health issues and complaints from female patients by prescribing either uppers or downers quite liberally. As a teenager, yes, that's right a teenager (17), when I mentioned my concern about that extra 5lbs or so I wanted to loose, one Dr prescribed speed (known as Black Beauties on the street at the time) to help me loose weight and Librium (a potent and quite addictive tranquilizer) to help me sleep at night. I didn't ask for either of these things. I just mentioned that I wanted to go on a diet. Instead of offering me advice on healthy eating, he said take these. That will do the trick, and here take one of these to help you sleep at night. I was to take the speed all day to stay 'up' and avoid hunger and then take the tranquilizers at night to sleep.

For some reason though, I was always a bit distrustful of medication even back in those days. I went to the library and looked them up. I never took them. I'm so sorry to hear that you had to go through the discomfort of withdrawals but am so glad that you made it off of the drug.

These days it is much more difficult for Drs to get away with those kinds of things. Not only do we all have the internet practically growing out of the ends of our arms now, but my medication comes from the pharmacy with a printout indicating everything from what type of drug it is to side effects, drug interactions, and even what the medication should look like. Being mildly paranoid about these issues, I read the pros and cons on every drug before it goes in my mouth, so I know both medications he gave me are intended for moderate to severe pain. Incidentally, from my reading, I learned that they are planning in the near future to begin using 'the milder one', the one that made me so high and all that, for veterinary care, and the list of species for which they believe it is appropriate includes raccoons. For vet use they plan to use it for pain relief following surgery.

I don't think my Dr was trying to be dismissive. I must admit that I did think him poorly skilled in the use of pain meds, but I've learned some things since I took that 1st pill, and now I think I understand his intentions - I think. He gave me 2 different types of pain medications. Both are for moderate to severe pain. The 1st one, the one that made me so high and sick and such was supposed to be the milder one. Although it made me feel awful, it did eliminate my pain completely for over 24hrs. This drug, BTW, is not an opiate but neither is it an NSAID (like motrin and such). It is not an opiate but is related to that class of drugs.

The 2nd pill was a rather strong opiate. It was supposed to be the stronger one. After the milder one made me so high, I was afraid to take the opiate but finally did so when the pain got bad enough. Incredibly, the opiate was largely ineffective in dealing with my pain. I was shocked, but that is when I remembered something the Dr had told me. All along he has been trying to determine from my symptoms and such whether my pain is 'nerve pain' (pain due to pinched or damaged nerve as in sciatica) or soma or tissue pain (like the SI joint issue). He said that while opiates are very good in treating tissue pain they are largely ineffective in treating nerve pain.

When he gave me the two medications, he told me to take one and if it didn't work take the other instead. He said we would discuss this when I returned. He also said how well the medication worked would tell him whether the problem is due to a damaged nerve (sciatica) or to something else like tissue damage or severe arthritis. The opiate has proven amazingly ineffective. I've taken 3 of them now, consecutively on schedule, not all at once and am totally amazed at the extent to which the pain continues. The opiate makes it easier to deal with the pain but does not eliminate it. The other medication, the one that made me feel so high and so awful actually took the pain away entirely. The literature indicates that drug has shown promise for treating pain due to damaged nerves. Both from what I've read and from what the Dr said, I'm afraid this means my pain is due to a pinched nerve. Argh!

I'm beginning to think the Dr may be smarter than I had given him credit for. (Maybe he really does know more about medicine than I do. LOL) Today I called to ask for the lower dose of the 'bad' drug. I discussed my experience with the nurse, both the fact that the drug killed my pain and all of the nasty side effects. We both agreed that the symptoms I experienced may have been indicative of an overdose (there is some indication of this in the literature). Today he called in a prescrip for the lower dose, 1/2 the strength of the one I took the other day. I'm leery of going through another horrible 24hrs, but I guess I need to find out if I can take that drug at a lower dose since it did such a great job of killing the pain. Now to see (1) if I can tolerate the lower dose and (2) if it still kills my pain at the lower dose.

So, anyhow, that's what seems to be going on with my meds. For the moment, I'm STILL in pain and having great difficulty sitting up for any length of time. I'm mildly optimistic for the lower dose of the 'bad' drug, scared but mildly optimistic. I'm not happy about having to take either of these drugs. Both are serious drugs. Both have physical withdrawal symptoms and such. However, until I am able to find another solution, I need something to relieve the pain. I really can't take it any more. I am planning to look into alternative treatments, but 1st I need pain relief!

As for Buster, I think your eye roll was quite appropriate. Tonight he was a bit of a brat. Dennis hadn't even begun to act up at this age. I didn't serve frosting tonight, didn't even carry any out with me. Buster came over looking for frosting. He refused marshmallows. He balked. He sulked. He walked around with his back pitched high in the air like a Halloween cat. He returned repeatedly seeking frosting and always refusing marshmallows which BTW he has enjoyed on other nights back before the introduction of frosting. He argued with Heidi. He snatched food I was handing to Heidi. He argued with his mom Freida. He argued with his sister. If I didn't 'know better', I'd swear he was mad about not getting frosting. (We had that 4 nights in a row. He likes it, and now he expects it.)

Once Buster started acting up, I quit messing with him at all. He continued to act up for quite a while. Then finally when he realized that he wasn't going to get frosting, he picked up a marshmallow off the ground and ate it along with some kibble.

His behavior is a sure warning. This is me taking a step back, way back. We will have frosting, and for that matter treats, when I say so and not until. : )

KyWoods,

I'm sure glad you didn't stay on Viox for a long time; however, I'm surprised to hear that it made you stoned. Isn't Viox an NSAID, a Cox 2 inhibitor? I didn't think they had that effect. Then again, different drugs effect people differently. I don't think the pain med I took Saturday was supposed to effect me the way it did either. Glad you got off of it.

KyWoods, you're lucky the Viox affected you badly, considering what they later learned about that drug. I swear sometimes the supposed cures are as bad as the problem they're designed to address.

Cheryl, if your pain is nerve-related, as in sciatica, a chiropractor really might be able to help you. My partner has had bad bouts with sciatica in the last few years, and has been greatly helped and nearly pain-free after chiropractor visits. Worth looking into, anyway.

Good decision to put yourself back in charge of deciding what treats are offered and when. Buster is acting much too spoiled for such a youngster; and that sense of entitlement will do absolutely nothing for his chances with the ladies when he's a mature male. Can you just imagine? And he has to be crazy to argue with Heidi; I know she'd never hurt a kit, but that is really pushing the envelope of the acceptable.

Ruth,

I am giving very serious consideration to Chiro. Just the other day I was trying to figure out how to find a good one in my area since I don't have any friends who are seeing one. Even before I had that shot of Friday I had decided it was essentially my last. I say 'essentially' because when push comes to shove I might have one to get out of pain, but as of Friday, before actually, I have given up on that method as a possible solution to the problem.

It's just that I have so many other obligations to juggle - like a job. I've taken so much time off from work already. I just feel like I need to find immediate pain relief if at all possible so I can work for a week or two before taking time off to try something else like Chiro. I'm in a pretty tough position because I feel like I have a rod boring through my hip/lower back 24/7, and it hurts worst of all when I sit in my chair at work all day, yet I have to work to pay the bills.

Anyhow, I am seriously thinking of (planning on) giving chiro a try. I think I will look into other options as well, other alternatives and possibly surgery, but it seems to make sense to try the least invasive things 1st.

As for Heidi, she and Freida seem to have a pact of some kind. Maybe Freida is the current next heir. Heidi has been incredibly tolerant of Freida all summer. Now she and Freida are showing unprecedented tolerance for each other's kits. Normally, Heidi is quick to let any kit that isn't hers know to get on along, but has shown great patience with Freida's kits and even allows them to hang around her. She makes faces not unlike what you would expect from a human who is being annoyed by a 'pesky' kid but who rolls her eyes and keeps her patience. She even tolerates Freida's kits trying to eat from her watermelon (even with her) and eating kibble with her. Sometimes she grumbles lightly, but she never runs them off. The other day I observed Freida eating over near where Heidi's kits were hanging out in the edge of the weeds. They came out, surrounded Freida, and ate with/around her, and she didn't argue. That's unheard of. (I can't always tell all of the kits apart, but I know that Heidi has 4 and Freida has 2, and their 6 are the only kits at the buffet, so for sure when Freida is surrounded by 4, she is babysitting whether she wants to or not.)

I hate to have to say this. Surely, by now no one will believe I know who is who out there. In truth, it is difficult. Last summer and this spring were the worst ever. There were dozens of raccoons out there. It's dark, and that's not to mention the problem I always have when the kits go from toddlers to yearlings at which point they change dramatically in appearance almost overnight and to make matters worse they stop hanging out with their Mom and siblings - and those props are always part of what I use to identify them when they are little. Anyhow, where I'm going with this is, I beginning to think I've made yet another error. I think Freida must certainly be Blondie. That's about the only way this tight relationship between her and Heidi makes sense. Blondie had a daughter who grew up to look virtually like her clone. The only way that I could tell them apart even when they were both there at the same time was by their behavior. The daughter would come to me. Blondie never would. She would always stand well away from me. If I didn't toss it to her, she didn't get it. Freida isn't overly friendly, but she will take food from my hand every now and then. That and that alone is the reason I figured her to be the daughter, but behavior can change. It is possible that after watching the others for so long, perhaps Blondie learned to do what they do. She doesn't do it often. Most of the time she does stand back from me. Anyhow, I'm starting to think this is Blondie, Heidi's 2yr old daughter, the one she was so close to last summer.

Other than doing the raccoon equivalent of rolling her eyes, Heidi was exceedingly tolerant of Buster's behavior. She just ignored him - even when he grabbed the chunk of watermelon I was trying to give her. She looked frustrated but did not react other than to come to me looking for more. As I said, this is very unusual behavior for her.

Another thing I've noticed about Freida that makes me think I called this one wrong is her size. If you look at her in the pictures with Heidi, Freida is large, at least as large as Heidi, maybe larger. That's unusual for a yearling. The yearlings always have that 'teenager' look to them whereas Freida is well developed with a physique more appropriate to an adult (older than a yearling). Freida isn't very blond, but (1) even that 1st year blondie underwent changes in shade and (2) I do notice some lighter coloration in her photos when the light strikes her. When she was little, Blondie started out about the same color as her siblings. Then she lightened up considerably so that she was lighter than all of them. She was never truly blond, more of a light, golden brown but clearly lighter than her siblings. Then again Dennis, one of her siblings, was almost black which may have made her look lighter by comparison. (I need to look at her back with my flashlight to see if I can see any remnants of that injury she had last summer. Sometimes the 'dent' in the hair remains.)

I agree that Buster is not likely to be well liked by the ladies if he keeps this up. Even from the very beginning, he has always been quite mean to his sister. All along she always had to approach me from the side opposite him because he would bite her, make her scream, and chase her away so he could have all of the treats. I find it interesting how Heidi's kits usually get along well together (I've never seen this group argue), while Freida's kits are very combative. The other day I only had 1 extra egg. I chipped the end and rolled it over to where 2 of Heidi's kits were standing in the edge of the weeds. When they both ran to it, I feared they would fight. Incredibly, they picked it up and carried it into the weeds together, both walking on hind legs and holding the egg looking like Jack and Jill carrying that pail of water - except that they didn't fall. Even when they put the egg down and started eating, they shared, and I didn't hear any arguing. On a similar note, when I offered Buster and his sister an egg, neither seemed to know what it was, but I guess that isn't surprising either. (Hmm, side note, for the moment the opiate, actually opiod, seems to have taken my pain away, Ahhhh!)

Rough day today. Pain is constant and mind-numbing. Too many people milling around. Pain is making very irritable. Wishing the people would stop walking by, talking, etc - you know, stop doing work things. TLOL (That's my new acronym for trying to laugh out loud.)

It is this near constant, relentless pain that made me identify so fully with Bast's pain and caused me to be so determined to help her as much as I could. Through her pain, she spoke to me. We shared this dark place so that helping her seemed somehow analogous to helping myself.

Now back to work...

You poor thing! Are you taking the lower dose of the strong med yet?
LOL at the two kits carrying the egg together. That would be a cute scene to behold.

Hi KyWoods,

TLOL. Now I have so many drugs it's getting hard to keep them straight. I'm not taking the new lower dose that he called in yesterday yet, the lower dose of that one that made me so high the 1st on Sat. I was going to try it today but am afraid to take it at work until I have a chance to try it out at home. Will have to wait for weekend, I think. The drug is a 24hr time release pill. If the medication works well, 24hrs is a good thing, but when it goes badly like on Saturday, 24 hours is a long time to be high and barfing. I kind of wish they had made it a little shorter in duration, maybe 10-12hrs.

In the mean time I'm trying to get by with the other medication he gave me, the one that doesn't really kill the pain so well. The pain has eased up a good bit since I last posted though. Hoping this will last.

Yeah, as you no doubt know from watching the kits and kittens at your house, kits (and kittens) can be so cute sometimes. Like very young children, they are so fresh and spontaneous. They do the cutest things. Last night one of the kits perched on the edge of the pool, up on the rim. It was so cute to see him up there.

KittyCoon delivered her second batch of kittens last night. She was sitting on the back porch breathing very fast, so I knew. This morning when she showed up to eat, she was much slimmer. Gotta catch her somehow before she weans them!

Wow, KyWoods,

It seemed like just yesterday when she had the 1st litter. You really do need to catch up with her. Kittens are adorable, but at this rate you will have a population explosion in no time - way bigger than the raccoons at the buffet and you don't have a Heidi to run the 'xtras' off each year.

Cheryl, so sorry to hear you're still in so much pain. I sure hope they can do something for you soon to permanently take care of it. It's tremendously exhausting to be in pain all the time. Keeping you in my prayers.

Buster sure sounds like a handful! Happy you've been able to get up close and personal with the kits this year. Enjoy hearing about their adventures!

Thank you, goldfinch,

Nice to hear from you again. Glad you are enjoying the story. Yes, it has been wonderful to 'play' with the kits this year.

I'm feeling much better now. The pain medicine kicked in a hour or so after I wrote the last post. Feeling much better now. A little embarrassed for carrying on so about my pain but much better. I know that many out there have pain, too. Sorry to carry on so, but every now and then it just helps to let out a little scream. : )

Feeling a great deal better now and optimistic for tomorrow. I haven't tried the new, lower dose of the 'bad' medicine yet. I'm afraid to take that one at work or when I have to go to work. Will have to try it this weekend. I've been taking the opiod. It must be a relatively low dose as it doesn't make me too sleepy to work. The 1st day or so it didn't seem to work, but, thankfully, last night and then again today it did kill the pain after a while. Hanging in there.

I didn't go out to feed the raccoons tonight. I thought I would take a night off and, at the same time, force Freida to take the kits out for some scavenging lessons. It's difficult not to go out there. I know they are waiting, but I think it is best to do so sometimes.

Cheryl, you shouldn't need time off from work to see a chiropractor. Most have late afternoon and/or evening hours; and even if they need to do xrays on the first visit, you'd be out of there in an hour. I'll have to ask at the office we use if they know anyone reliable in Charleston.

Intriguing thought that Frieda might be Blondie; it would explain a lot. I have noticed her size relative to the yearlings, and the relationship with Heidi really does make you wonder. Disappointing, though, that a Heidi daughter would dump her kids on the human for nightcare... And yes, the image of the kits sharing egg-carrying is just adorable. I agree with the idea of taking the occasional night off from feeding; Frieda really does need to work on those kits' education, lol.

If Frieda is Blondie (a Heidi daughter) it would certainly explain her trust thaat her kits were safe inside the walls of Cheryl's fenced yard, close to both raccoon and human "grandparents".
They sure are interesting. As Heidi gets older, I sure hope that Frieda/Blondie is not next in line as matriarch. She doesn't seem to possess much leadership or wise decision making skills.
Cheryl, I am so glad to hear that the 2nd med is working well for you. So many meds need to build up a little bit in your system before showing the desired effect. If this one is dulling or erasing the pain and allowing you to be clear headed enough to concentrate on your work. Wonderful!!

~Sheri