Heidi Chronicles: End of Another Summer

Hi Susan,

Thanks for the great idea. Dennis did do some hilarious things in her younger years, didn't she? My all time favorites were the time she sneaked up behind Widget (my dog) while Widget was nose to the ground, sniffing like crazy, and trying to find Dennis and the time she dunked poor Widget in the [kiddie wading] pool. Both of those would make adorable cartoons. Oh, and, yes, poor Dennis' early inept attempts at the steal were too funny. You know, I could see that gently worked into a moral of sorts, like why you should listen to your parents (and go to school) - since early on Dennis was to ADHD to pay attention to Heidi's lessons, and this led to the funny attempts at the steal later when Dennis was on her own.

A book of her own? Hmm. Interesting idea. Thinking....

Hi Sheri,

Hoot. Hoot. I'm still working on my distant family tree. So far though, no hoot owls. ; )

It's for sure mine was not the normal upbringing. I think of my survival as something of a testimant to the durable nature of kids. (BTW, what is "apps"? You got me on that one.)

It has been maybe a week now since I've seen Heidi or Freida or either of their kits. Probably a number of factors: missing nights, not keeping to a set time, good food in the forest, etc. I'm determined not to worry about them. I've done that many times in the past and they always show up sooner or later. When they are hungrier and have less food in the forest to eat, they will be more willing to wait around for me. For now the chance of us both arriving at the same time seems small.

I must admit that I was feeling a little bummed, missing the kids, until last night when I saw the cutest thing and immediately I knew the kits had been there and had waited for me, at least a little while. One night last week, I had noticed a yogurt container in the yard up near the house. It was at about the 1/2 way mark between the buffet and the house. I immediately knew that one of the raccoon had dragged it there, probably to play with, and almost certainly while waiting for me to show up. This was my 1st indication that even when I didn't see them, the raccoons were still around.

Moreover, the spot where I found the yogurt cup is right at the turn in the [imaginary] path. It is the 1st point where someone coming from the buffet can see the back door, and someone coming from the back door can see the buffet. A group of roses, hydrangeas and such block the view from house to buffet - until one reaches that precise point. It is, in fact, the only spot from which one can see both buffet and back door. A few steps in either direction and either the buffet or the door will fade from view, blocked by flowers and shrubs.

I found it interesting that whoever had been playing with the yogurt container had chosen this spot to sit and play and wait. Still, I was about to dismiss the yogurt container as mere coincidence until last night as I made my way back from the buffet to the house. It was a solemn and rather lonely walk. It had been days, perhaps a week or more, since I had seen the raccoons, and the backyard at night was a lonely place without the life they brought to it.

Then, just as I reached that "turn" in the "path" on my walk back to the house something small and black caught my eye in the darkness. I stopped to look again at the black object there on the ground in the same general spot where I had seen the yogurt cup the week before. A smile came upon my face as the dark object came into focus and I recognized it as the small, black, plush cat toy I had given the kits a few weeks earlier. At 1st they had ignored it, or so I thought. Then they had hidden it in the weeds. But just last weekend when I cleaned the pool, I had found it in the water and had put it back there when I finished. Now it was sitting here on the ground at this the closest spot to the buffet from which one could still see the back door. It was almost like a sign from one of the kits, "We were here watching and waiting for you."

Yippee!

Tonight, planning to go out to "try" to feed the raccoons, I turned on the outside light (as I sign) before heading out front to walk Widget. When I got out there with Widget, I found that it was raining lightly, so I decided my planned trip out to the buffet could wait until tomorrow. After all, the raccoons weren't likely to be there anyhow. Why go out in the rain?

When Widget and I returned to the house, I forgot to turn the back lights off but just went back to watch the remainder of the very interesting program on Nat Geo about plant intelligence. A few minutes later, I heard Widget barking as he is known to do when he finds a raccoon at the back door. Could this possibly be Heidi? Probably not, I figured, but still I got up to check.

As I approached the back door, Widget was there standing upright and barking. I figured even if a raccoon had been out there, surely he would have frightened it away by this time. I turned on the lights to find Heidi standing there on the patio. She was standing maybe 2ft back from the door, just about dead center the door and facing it, just standing their all wet, light rain still falling. Heidi really looked as though she were intentionally standing in the spot from which to most visible should I show and look out the door. I mean she wasn't just sitting off to one side or anything like that, but was standing there directly in front of and facing the door as if not only waiting for me, but making sure I would see her if I came by. That Heidi is a smart one, I tell you.

I was SO happy to see Heidi again, even if she was standing there all drenched. It was like Timmy seeing Lassie again after a time apart. My heart leaped just as though she were my pet. We feel what we feel. The fact that she isn't a real pet doesn't seem to matter to my heart. I was excited to see her just the same.

Then I took a closer look and saw little Precious sitting down on the mat against the door. Now you see, if Heidi had been sitting or lying there on the mat, I might not have seen her...
I found it interesting that they had chosen to ignore Widget. I gather that Heidi has long known Widget is not a threat, and as smart as she is she has probably also learned that he cannot get out on his own.

As I went to put Widget away and upon my return while I was collecting eggs and grapes and such, I continued to speak to Heidi, calling her name from time to time so she would know I was coming back. When I did return she was up against the door with her head up against the crack where it opens. I gather she had heard me talking to her.

I didn't stay out there with them a long time as it was raining lightly the entire time. We had a small feast of eggs raw in the shell, cat food, fresh green grapes, and one little Debbie cake divided between the 4 of them. Only 3 kits were with Heidi. For a moment my heart sank. OMG, had Precious not made it? I was so sure that was her I had seen at the door, but where was she now? For a moment or two I looked about frantically. Oh, no, I would be so unhappy if Precious had died.

Then I saw that one of the 3 kits there was Precious. As she turned, I saw her holding the one limp, lifeless back leg high in the air as she walked. The leg did not look right at all. It was dark out, and I'm no expert in these matters, but the leg looked small, lifeless, and possibly atrophied. Despite all of the time that has gone by, there didn't seem to be any improvement at all. After all the weeks and months that I had watched Bast as she healed, somehow this leg looked worse. Bast's leg always showed signs of life whereas this one does not. It's hard to explain really.

The other small kit was also limping. There is something wrong with her front foot, and it, too, has been this way for a while now. Unlike Precious, she will put the foot down, but doesn't seem to use it when doing things. She holds the hand with fingers folded in like a loose fist. I find myself wondering if both kits may have been born this way, wondering if these might be birth defects of some sort whether genetic or the result of due to some kind of accident in utero, an entangled cord or something of that sort. Then, thinking of possible genetic problems, I recalled that this was the year when Trouble might have been the new father.

The two smaller kits still don't seem to be growing all that fast either. The one larger one that was with them was almost as large as a small yearling. That one was growing in leaps and bounds while it's smaller siblings barely grew at all. By this time I realized that the missing kit was Joey. As he is by far the largest and most advanced among them, I figure he was probably off on his own doing a bit of independent study, probably having long since grown bored with the speed of his smaller siblings.

About that time the rain increased. I said "goodnight" to all of the them and headed inside. It was great to see them again.

What wonderful news that Heidi has come back and brought the kits with her. I know you must have missed her terribly and in the back of your mind there was always the horrible thought what if something has happened to her. Sounds like she indeed was trying to make sure you saw her at the door. She is one amazing raccoon.

It is sad that the two kits are not developing normally and there is something wrong with their feet. Such is life in the wild but thank goodness they have you to try to help them live long enough to reach an age where they will be able to adjust to their condition and thrive in spite of it. It is amazing too that Heidi has continued to be a wonderful mom to them in spite of it all.

Judy

Aww, the poor babies! Sure sounds like birth defects...will pray for their well-being.

Cheryl, how great to have a sighting of Heidi and family in spite of the rain. The kits' legs do sound like birth defects; if the rogue raccoon's attack had caused the problem with one, you'd expect to see signs of infection rather than just stunted growth/atrophying. Almost impossible to know for sure, of course, and it is worrisome for their long-term survival chances. All you can do is what you already do; give them nutritional support when possible, and hope for the best. Will be interesting to see how long Heidi allows them to hang around; will their disability make her tolerate them longer, and if so, how will she be able to breed next year, etc. If two out of four do have birth defects, odds are that Trouble is the father, as you said; the HRH kits probably weren't inbred, but Trouble's certainly would be.

Judy, KyWoods, Ruth,

Seems like every year and every litter brings a new drama. It will be interesting - and probably sad at times - to watch this one play out.

I am somewhat encouraged to see that the kits are able to scale the fence without difficulty. I have long known that the fence presents a much greater challenge to even the most fit raccoon than does any tree. That the kits are not having problems with the fence seems a good sign.

On the other hand, Precious whose disability is the more pronounced, seems to avoid standing very much, choosing instead to sit a lot, getting up only long enough to walk to the next spot before sitting down once more. This reminds me of how I get around when my back is acting up. It seems to indicate that she is experiencing some degree of difficulty standing for any period. It may just be that walking on 3 legs is tiring for her, but then again at her young age I would expect her to have energy to spare.

Time will tell. Incidentally, I don't see any sign of either HRH's lighter, golden colors or his rather unique mask in any of the kits this year. (sigh)

Yes, it's good news that even Precious is able to climb the fence; the fact that she tires so easily at her very young age, however, is worrisome though understandable. And I agree (sigh), I've seen no signs of HRH in the kit photos you've posted. That's sad on so many levels: not only because the big guy was so completely endearing, but his charm allowed him some access to the diner even when kits were present. The rogue male's attack would never have happened on HRH's watch; he was far too protective of Heidi and careful with the kits. Long live the King; he will be long missed.

My 5 year old grandson visited this weekend, he is looking at Cheryl's gang here...he's fascinated with the raccoons and is just learning to read.
His name is Ethan...

Thanks Cheryl, he lingered here for a long while.

Awww... how sweet. :-)

My son... who is now 19, still asks about Heidi and the gang... a few weeks ago, i was hearing him tell the story of when Widget got body slammed into the pool.

Kids, just like us, are usually fascinated with critters.

Hi Ruth,

I hadn't thought about that, how HRH would never have allowed that rogue male attack. In fact, I don't recall any adult or near adult males hanging around back when HRH was in charge. Well, he did allow his son Trouble to hang around some, but then HRH stayed to protect Heidi from Trouble. HRH was so cool. You would expect a smart female like Heidi to have chosen a King like HRH, wouldn't you? I miss the big, lovable Pooh-Bear so much - but I'm thankful we had the opportunity to know him for a while. Just think of all that we learned from him and how differently we would have viewed male raccoons if we had only known these youngsters. I'm with you, "long live the king" and, yes, "he will be long lived" for sure!

One of Freida's kits has a lighter coat, not gold, more like a beige brown or taupe. Since Freida was probably HRH's progeny, I figure the lighter colored kit is showing a little of HRH's coloring although that golden color has now been diluted to a light brown.

Isn't it funny how we used to think all raccoons looked alike before we got to know and love them? I've noticed color differences in ours, too.

Sharran,

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You can't possibly know how much I needed this right now!

Ethan is adorable, BTW, and I love to think that the all encompassing look on his face is one of fascination with the Heidi story.

Just recently I've been in the process of working out chapters, organizing the story, and such. At the same time, I've been reading up on Proposals. I had been thinking of the Heidi story as [similar to] fiction even though it is not. As you no doubt know, for fiction one is required to have the story complete before submitting the proposal. Apparently, this rule originated due to the numbers of people who had a good fiction idea but were unable to complete the story. Non-fiction, on the other hand, does not need to be completed before the proposal is submitted. It only recently dawned on me that the Heidi story is true and thus is non-fiction. So, I've been trying to get the Chapters organized and such to get ready to start sending out a proposal.

It's inevitable that in reading about the dos and don'ts of proposals that I also run across lots of depressing information about how many books don't get published and about how many people believe they have a good book when they really don't. As I read and work on this task, I have my moments when I just know it's a good story, moments when no amount of negativity can bring me down. Then, at times, I have moments of self doubt. Moments when I think maybe I'm just being foolish. It is you, all of you, who give me the momentum to keep chugging away at this thing. It was you (all of you) who gave birth to the idea to begin with and it is you who continue to breath life into it at moments like this when it's fire seems about to die out.

After weeks of working hard (in my spare time) and feeling upbeat and energized, I recently fell into a bit of malaise during which I began to rethink the marketability of the story. Thank you for breathing life back into the project. You could not have chosen a better moment to do so!

: D

KyWoods,

Yes, it is SO true. All raccoons looked just like the iconic pictures to which we are so accustomed. But now we know that just like the rest of us, each raccoon is a unique individual in both mind and body. Mask differ, colors differ, shapes and sizes differ. HRH was as gold as a panther. Bast is a pale taupe or brown beige color - a great color for neutral, woman's shoes. Reba's hair has a red cast and is unusually long and shaggy while Bast's hair is sleek and short. Unlike the others, Bast is long and lean such that she reminds me of a short haired cat. Anybody remember Panda? Her mask was so unique. It reminded me of a Panda more so than a raccoon.

Hi Marylyn!

Ethan is adorable, isn't he?


Oops! Edited to fix typo!

This message was edited Oct 19, 2009 10:35 PM

Hi Terese!

How great to see you again! I can't believe your son is 19 now. Wow! Time really does fly.

I love the words and sentiment you expressed here. They are so perfect and so timely. As I was telling Sharran, recently I had hit a little bump in the road while working on my book proposal. I had begun to 2nd guess myself and the story. Your words, like hers, were the perfect shot in the arm to restore my confidence. Thank You! and please thank your son for me, too. (I love the mental image of him telling his friends about Dennis dunking Widget in the pool. That's one of my favorite parts of the story, too!)

Yes, I'm human, and sometimes I loose my confidence and start to 2nd guess the whole thing. Everything I read says over and over and over that the number of books being written is on the increase and publishers are just looking for any reason to toss them in the reject pile. Sometimes it can be daunting, but I so want the story of Heidi and Friends to live. Thanks again for giving me reason to believe.

The past few nights, I leave a certain lamp on in the great room, one that I had begun using as a signal a year or more ago. Around 9:30 or so I go to the door and turn on the patio light each time expecting to see nothing, but always there on the patio I find kits. Kits sprawled out on the outdoor rug. Precious sitting on the doormat grooming her feet. Kits sitting and standing all about, all calmly awaiting my arrival and dinner time.

Lately they seem pretty hungry and in a big hurry, although I don't know where they are going in this haste. Heidi scarfs down her food with zeal and leaves quickly. Just a few months ago, meals routinely lasted an hour or more, and Heidi ate very slowly as though taking her time to enjoy the feast. Heidi would still be picking at her food long after the kits finished eating and began to play, but no more. Now Heidi eats as though the cavalry is on her heals. She doesn't eat less, she just eats it a whole lot faster - like a teenage boy whose friends are waiting for him. Heidi finishes now and heads for the fence while the kits are still trying to eat.

It has turned chilly here lately, not cold, mind you, but chilly at night. By day it is cool enough that I can manage to wear a thin, unlined suit jacket except late in the afternoon. I don't need the jacket for warmth, but can tolerate it for professional appearance. I'm wondering though, since I hear that the NE has been hit with early snow, wondering if maybe we will be having a colder than usual winter this year and maybe this big hurry the raccoons are in lately has something to do with preparing their winter home, gathering berries (if they do that) for the pantry, etc. Not sure, but there is a very noticeable difference in their behavior now.

After a handful of trips to the back door to check every half hour or so, I've finally given up on seeing Heidi and the group out there tonight.

Last night Freida and her 2 were back. At 1st I was confused trying to figure out why Heidi seemed to have 5 kits, then I saw Freida and realized. Buster hasn't forgotten me at all. He came right up to me looking for treats. I split 2 Little Debbie cakes between the kits. Buster wanted more. He stood up at my knee begging. I promised to bring him cookies and grapes tonight, but now it looks like I'll have to hold those for tomorrow.

If I can ever pull Ethan away from the Heidi Chronicles, Cheryl, I am taking him back to the
Mr. T threads.

Yes, he was completely engrossed, and we only got through the first few threads. So it is to be continued.

Your story will work, don't be discouraged. It takes time, but it will work. Just keep on doing what you are doing, and we'll keep on encouraging you.

Thanks, too, Marilyn!
He is a sweetie.

Sharran,

LOL at the image of you trying to get Ethan away from the Heidi Threads. (Love it!) And, oh, yes, that Mr T was something else. I don't know whether to miss him or be glad he's gone.

Thanks for the encouragement. Most of the time I'm stoked, but every now and then...I guess the down moments must happen to all of us from time to time. This just happened to be one of them.

Ethan really is adorable, and you really captured a great picture at that moment when he looked so totally enthralled.

I had read him the words, then I opened up the picture for him. That photo was taken when he was looking at one of the pictures. Wish I could remember which one, but there were so many, and he was so very enthralled with all of them.

Yep, Cheryl, your book is kid-tested, kid-approved already!!

Sharran,

Rather than require that the book contain photos, since I know they are very expensive to reproduce, in my proposal I'm listing the wealth of photos under extras that I have and can provide. That photo of Ethan enjoying the photo was very convincing.

LOL, KyWoods,

Good point and well worded. I really like the sound of that.

I keep trying to remind myself of all of the wonderful compliments people have made over the years, and those do help a lot. If not for all those words I would never have considered writing the book at all. Still sometimes I suffer from "just being human". At such times I begin to question the whole thing. I think that is probably normal though. Maybe I need to go through and find all of the compliments and print them up in one place so I can read them on the down days. There are some very powerful compliments in there. I should think that no one would be able to read through them all at once and still be down. : )

Terese,

The idea that your now grown son is still telling Heidi stories [occasionally] is really still resonating with me, too. : )

After reading all of your great comments the other day, I'm feeling much more upbeat now - unfortunately, I have to do "work" work tonight. Ick! But then we must pay the bills.

I didn't see any of the raccoons last night. None showed up at the door, so I never went out. Tonight around 8 when I turned on the patio light to check, the patio was still empty. I was about to turn the light off again when I caught sight of little Buster jogging around the corner and onto the patio. He stopped a few feet from the door and stood there in the center of and facing the door and just looked up at me as if to say, "Wait, I'm here!"

With that I grabbed the grapes I had promised him the night before along with a few cookies and the cat food and headed out. Only Freida, Buster, and Muffin (her two kits) were there at the time. Those kits are getting very big now, but they still remember me and still enjoy a cookie or two.

Oops! Gotta go. Widget is barking, so that may mean Heidi is at the door with her kids.

Not Heidi. Widget was barking at people walking by on the sidewalk.

One last snippet from tonight with Freida and the kids:

I gave each kit 2 vanilla s/w cookies and a med-small stem of black grapes. I had one of those syrup packets in my bag, something I had saved from a French toastix breakfast a few weeks ago. Knowing how the raccoons tend to love syrup, I peeled the top off and offered it to Muffin while Buster was eating his cookie.

Muffin sat upright in that squirrel position and held her little hands out to take the tiny container. She held both hands together and placed them under the small packet, palms up to support it from beneath. Without moving from the spot she was in, she held the container up to her mouth to drink, her hands still underneath it.

It was amazing to watch how she supported the little container and drank the syrup without ever spilling a drop. Even at her young age, she handled it like a pro. After a minute or so, I could see that the container was almost empty. As such it was becoming very light. With Muffin still using her two hands, palms up, to support the now empty and light plastic container, I was sure it would fall from her hands, but it did not. She just pressed it tighter against her face as she continued to support it from beneath while licking the packet clean.

She was adorable - and quite dexterous - and I enjoyed watching her very much as she held that little syrup packet and consumed the sweet liquid within.

WooHoo! Anyone hear the latest news that the government is contemplating a tax deduction for pets? Now, of course, I don't want to get into any kind of debate about the pros and cons of this idea, and I'm not saying where I stand on the issue (caution: politics, tread lightly). I just wanted to point out that if this pet deduction does become law - and the indication is that you will be able to deduct your receipts for actual expenses - woo-hoo! I'm going to be rich! By the time I get through deducting my 21 or so pets, they will owe me money! Apparently, all pets count: everything from rover to the parrot to the iguana. To Heidi, maybe?

Edited to add that I am, of course, only kidding here.

This message was edited Oct 21, 2009 5:36 PM

On an OT note, did you hear about the 2 F-16's that clipped each other in flight off the Charleston Coast? One pilot managed to land safely at Charleston AFB. The other apparently didn't survive. Very sad. And more than a little close to home. Perhaps you've heard me mention (in past posts) about the military planes going low, sometimes scary low, overhead while I'm out there with Heidi and the crew. Certain times of year I have to constantly reassure the raccoon that those loud, low flying objects are not a threat to them. Other times as I sit out there, I cringe wondering if the planes may be a threat to me. I think one night I even mentioned that the sky "show" looked like some kind of military training, something they apparently do at night just off the coast. According to the news that crash apparently happened very close to here, esp by sky (rather than road).

The crash was very sad. My heart goes out to the Wife,children and parents(though I hadn't heard if he was a married) of the man whose life was lost in the wreck and also for the pilot of the other jet. He is there training to fight with our enemy and one of his comrades goes down. How heartbreaking for all involved.

My sister lives on the hills of the Ozarks in Missouri next to the huge lake. There is a big Air Force base nearby and often the jets,both big and small go over their house and make their turns right there. They go round and round ,lower and lower with each round. Sometimes three to seven planes right after one another. Right above tree top and a number of times they have tipped the jets wings as a greeting to my sister and brother-in-law. The pilots are very visible in the cockpit and also often wave to them. She too has often wondered if they were safe should a pilot make a mistake.

I have witnessed this while visiting this summer....awesome and scary!

Judy

Judy,

I've never noticed the pilots faces, perhaps because of the direction they travel when going over my house. Seems like more often than not by the time I see them, I'm looking at the backend of the plane. Also, most of the planes flying low over my house seem to be at night - except when the Blue Angels were doing an air show by day and I happened to be outside working in my garden. I waved at them.

When Widget was 2mo old and 1st moved here from his home in TX, we were in the backyard gardening one day when what I gather was his 1st low flying plane came over. I wish I had gotten a picture of that. Widget took off across the yard like a runaway horse fleeing with the giant plane, I think that might have been a cargo plane, on his tail. Poor little thing, the faster he ran the faster the plane overtook him. You could just look at him and see that he thought for sure that plane was after him and he was a goner. I tried to call out to him to calm him, but my voice was lost in the drone of the engine. Poor terrified Widget reached the back fence with nowhere left to run just as the plane overtook him and was gone. After that, it took a few more planes before he learned to ignore them. I gather his birth home in TX wasn't on a major flight path.

As for the fallen pilot, I can't tell you how many times that day my colleagues and I searched the web for news hoping that he had been found somewhere alive, but it was not to be.

Based on where the event occurred (per cnn), the crash was very near my house, and the surviving pilot almost certainly flew over my house in the debilitated plane to reach the airport. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad he did and that he made it. The event just gave me a new perspective on all those many, many times I've cringed in the dark out there as planes flew low over us and all the times I've told Heidi "it's ok, just people stuff, not after you". I guess you never really know.

There is a small airport right across the Ohio river from us, and we are treated to air shows occasionally. They're close and noisy, but it's fun to watch them fly in formation.

Hi kywood

I can't see the actual shows. That must be nice. I'm too far away and Heidi's house is in the way.

Don't know if this post will show up and be legible as I am trying to use my knew crackberry for the 1st time. So far I think I am safe from the addiction.

Edited to add: Yay! I see that my post from the Blackberry worked. Honestly, though I don't get the crackberry thing. I've just never really managed to get too excited about phones. I mean they are great when you need them, and I'm happy to have them in emergencies, but I'm just not into the phone that much. I guess I'm just hopelessly old school. It was bound to catch up with me sooner or later. Anyhow, I find the effort to type on the ity bitty keyboard (that isn't even qwerty for heaven sake) more trouble than it's worth. I see colleagues just typing a mile a minute with their thumbs. Oh, well...)

This message was edited Oct 21, 2009 8:20 PM

I just caught a glimpse of the birthdays and found that it is tetleytuna's birthday today.

A very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, tetleytuna!!! (yes, I'm shouting)


I can never remember to check that birthday thing, so I know I miss far more birthdays than I see, and for those I've missed, I apologize, but this one caught my eye even as the page was turning. I had to go back to check it out. I'm delighted to have caught it. Big, big happy birthday wishes, tetleytuna!

(And someday you must explain how that name came to be.) : )

Thank you for the B-Day wishes Cheryl! It is so nice of you to think of me that way!

The name actually comes from my cat Tessa. She was found as a very young kitten stuck under a board just outside my back door. I pulled her out but her mom never came for her and so kitten-child came to live in our house. She also is quite fond of tuna and her name gradually morphed into Tetleytuna.

tetleytuna,

You are very welcome. I'm glad I caught it this time. I just wish I could learn to check the B-days more often.

Love the story about Tessa and how your name was derived. I must say that I have always wondered about that.

Last night I got a wild hair, so to speak, and took off into the wild blue (or rather black as it was night time) yonder. It was getting pretty late when I got home, put things away, etc. I had just sat down when I heard Widget bark. The raccoons, this late? (I believe the raccoons have now learned how to use divert Widget and use him as a door bell. Smart critters they are.)

I threw on the patio light to find 6 or so faces staring back at me, pretty much the whole group, Heidi and Freida and their two families all standing shoulder to shoulder, 2 lines deep, all facing the patio door and staring up at me in unison. They sort of reminded me of that photo of the raccoons from the "we take out the trash" joke, except that they were standing on all 4's.

Things remain very much the same. Except for Precious and the other smallish one, the kits are huge now, almost full size. Precious, poor thing, is falling way behind. She is still quite small, still hobbling around on 3 legs, still sitting a lot, and not eating as much as she should. The latter point makes me wonder if she might be in pain. Pain, as i know from my own personal experiment and from watching Bast and others, would dampen her enthusiasm for play and for food.

The one thing I've long though did not fit with my assessment of her condition as a birth defect is the fact that she always holds that leg up so high, as high as she can possibly manage, so high that it often results in a hump of sorts on her left hip where she has drawn that thigh up so high. The only sense I can make of that behavior is pain avoidance. It seems to indicate that the foot hurts which speaks of possible injury. Also, when sitting down she is often seen touching the foot, holding it, licking it, all of which are known indicators of pain.

As much as I hate seeing her in pain, if the foot hurts due to injury then it might be something that will heal in time, maybe. To that end, last night I could have sworn I saw her put the foot down a time or two while standing, but I can't be sure. It was just so dark out.

Precious suffers from many of the same issues as Bast did with her injury. It is amazing how much the loss of use of a back leg effects a raccoons ability to eat. It's not obvious at 1st. I mean, they don't eat with their hind feet, after all, but they do use their hands a lot while eating, and they need two good, working back feet to hold them upright and free up those hands for all the things they can do from gather food to prying things open and you name it.

With only one back foot, a raccoon, I have learned, is very much at a serious disadvantage because it can't use those wonderfully, dexterous hands. Like humans, it needs 2 feet to stand reliably and free up its hands for other things. In both cases, Bast and Precious, I notice that they are/were largely unable to eat large items because they can't hold things with their hands while taking bites.

A raccoon with only one good hind leg will forgo everything except bite-sized items. Even cookies, unless broken into small pieces present a daunting challenge for them. Cookies, of course, are not a necessity, but the challenge of eating them when one hind foot is injured points to untold difficulties of finding edible food in the wild under such circumstances. Unlike cats and dogs, raccoons don't seem to be properly proportioned to just eat large items from the ground (without picking them up).

The other smallish kit, the one with the injured front paw, doesn't seem to face near the same degree of challenges. With her one good hand she can still pickup cookies and similar items and hold them up to take bites. She seems far less encumbered by her disability. Unlike Precious, she eats continually while she is there (more like the others) and she shows signs of growing a bit more than Precious.

Precious even has difficulty trying to drink from the pool. She is too small yet to stand on all 3's (in her case) and drink over the edge. She needs to stand upright to reach over the edge for water, but it is quite difficult for her to stand upright on one leg, so she usually gives up and looks for water elsewhere.

I sure have missed ou all . My computer was yet again replaced by DELL. Now I have a refurbished Studio XPS (1640, I think)

Man do I dread setting the thinb up anb all that stuff again. I wish there was a single site one could go to for all priotection and just click there. I have no idea where to begin , so I just began here.
Yes, I know....bad girl, but am averwhelmed with all this computerr stuff, settings, etc.
Cheryl...Please don't give up on your stories. I can tell you that when I found the Heiei Chronicles a couple of months ago I ead and read and read for about a week to get caught up to the present time cexcitement. I have no doubt that there are people out there who would love these stories just as we have.
I also prray that you are feeling OK these days. I will have to dmail you and tell you more about it , but I am quite excited about it ad her knoowledge of fibro is incredible.

{{{hugs}}}
Sheri