Heidi Chronicles: Baby Talk 2010

Here's Heidi collecting her bunch after her meal. They came down the tree to meet her. It was all very organized as always. Of course, by this time it was getting semi dark out.

Ahh... babies!

H ow very precious.
The middle pic with the kit looking at you is perfect. boy does this give perspective to how small they actually are. the fence is probably 5-6" wide and the support that they are climbing on looks like a 2x4. Then the one of Heidi collecting her kits is just awesome. they are such cute little things.
I remember way back when I first began (in training for) wildlife rehab. I visited a woman who did raccoons. I think they were about this size or a bit smaller. Bottle babies they were! Their sweet little calls or talking was in describable. I have never heard another sound like that.
Thanks for the pics!


Sheri

A few times I mentioned how the Moms are all looking exhausted out there. All of them. Veterans and yearlings alike. It doesn't matter. They are all lying around a lot. I walk up to the back door and find them lying haphazardly about on the patio fast asleep. I can tell you this, but I suspect this is one of those times when a picture or 2 will be worth any number of words. The following are a few pics which demonstrate how tired they are. (Sadly, I missed many potential photo ops of sleeping and resting raccoons this summer, but here is what I did get.)

This is Heidi. The pose was better before she leaned forward to get more food, but if you look at the left (your left) hind leg you can hopefully imagine the lackadaisical and humorous pose as she was literally sitting there with her hind legs splayed out quite haphazardly and in a manner one would not expect to see. it was more a pose you would expect from a 5yr old child than a raccoon.

Heidi again. I kept trying to get that pose, and she kept leaning forward at the last minute.

This is my favorite. (Not Heidi) This nursing Mom is hanging around the edges waiting. I gather the others won't let her join them, so she's waiting and hoping for leftovers when they are done. (She didn't return the next night.) Her pose says it all.

This reminds me of that classic drawing you used to see in every other office and cubicle for a while there, the one with the woman sitting at her desk face down in a pile of books and papers. Forgot the caption. This is the raccoon version of that except that she needs to be lying in a pile of hungry kits. She looks as though she has actually found a way to recede into the ground. (There is no hole there, BTW.)

(I've been through this before. If I throw food over there for her, the others will just chase her away. There rules. She isn't allowed to eat with them. Period.)


Edited to fix word usage error of the type that would have prompted my college 'survey of English lit' prof to write "join me in the fight against illiteracy" across your paper in red.

This message was edited Jun 30, 2010 6:32 PM

So will the outsider get to scavenge for leftovers? Or do Heidi and the in crowd make sure each morsel has been eaten before departing the diner?
That really does look like one exhausted and hot Mama! The expression on her face is like "can't I have just one bite?"

Sheri,

They usually eat just what they want/need and then leave. I didn't stay until the 1st group left, so I don't know for sure, but my guess is that she did get some leftovers.

I don't usually see 'extras' hanging around the outside area like that. Those that are not allowed to join in with Heidi and her group at the buffet usually wait until after the 1st group leaves before they show up - if they come by at all. In 5 years of watching them, I've probably only seen one hang around this way 3 or 4 times. I've tried tossing food to one hanging around the edges that way before. Heidi immediately sends 1 or 2 of the yearlings to evict the outsider from the yard. When one hangs around that way, it's always just a 1 day thing. They don't return the next day. I gather Heidi has a discussion with them in the forest after hours.

I don't think Heidi wants to be mean. After all, she allows injured raccoons like Bast and Cissy (who has an injured back leg) to come back and eat until they are well enough to feed themselves. She knows, however, that she needs to limit the number of raccoons in the area. There are only so many resources - and lots of babies to feed. Not only will the babies go hungry if there are too many raccoons around but the babies are also at greater risk of injury as the crowd density goes up and food supply goes down. Competition for food makes the adult raccoons considerably more aggressive, not a good environment for babies. It looks as though she has limited the group to herself plus 3 more Moms now that her babies are ready to start coming to dinner. While that may seem like a small group, it's more like 14 raccoons when you add in the 2.5 kits per Mom, and that's quite a crowd for the buffet area.

For sure, Heidi is one grand Matriarch!
I am endlessly intrigued by your observations and keen insight into the behaviour of this raccoon clan.
With the occasional pictures that you show us in addition to the many that are painted into our minds eye thru your gift with words, this is as good as any wild kingdom show I've ever seen.....in fact.....better! ^_^

Sheri

The shot of the exhausted mama is priceless. The two new kits are gorgeous, and a much more appropriate age for diner visits. Sorry to hear that Bast and Dennis have been ousted (though we knew it was coming), but am really glad you got a chance to see/interact with them again. Sounds like Heidi's kits will be at the buffet soon, as soon as Heidi finishes her efforts at crowd control and gets the kits properly trained for eating out. She really is something!

Thank you so much, Sheri!

: )

Edited to add: I actually started out trying to observe carefully and then put that into words in hopes of 'showing' those who didn't have the opportunity to get close to raccoons what I was seeing. Early on when the raccoons started coming up close to me to eat and interact I wanted to 'capture' as much information as I could about their behavior and then relay it to all of you. I wanted to bring everyone here with me or at least make it seem so.

This message was edited Jul 3, 2010 8:29 AM

Ruth,

Those 2 cute kits belong to Jerry. She brought them back recently. One little fella stayed about 4ft from me for a while eating. I tried to give him a piece torn from a marshmallow, but he didn't seem to recognize the fluffy, white blob as food and, unfortunately, his mother did. It was great to be so close to a cute, fluffy, kit again. That was my 1st time being so close to kits in full daylight. They are at that age where they are still just a little clumsy and oh, so cute about it.

To date, Heidi has never been willing to bring young kits out in daylight. Since I've been going out there a few hours before sundown that might be why she has been so hesitant to bring them down to the buffet.

Dennis was back yesterday. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed to see her return. I dearly loved the opportunity to spend some time with Dennis again when she 1st showed up this year, but she can be a handful, and it doesn't take long to get one's fill.

Glad you enjoyed the pics. I still think the one of the exhausted mom sinking into the ground is my favorite.

Jerry brought her 2 kits down to the buffet. One got scared and ran back to the forest when I tossed food to their mom. I tried my best to toss it 'softly', but for any raccoon, baby or adult, the 1st time I toss them food it takes them a while to realize I'm not attacking them. The more assertive kit stayed about 4ft away from me eating kibble. Needless to say, he/she was simply adorable, spindly with legs a tad long for the body, and just a bit clumsy in motion. I got photos and a few seconds of video (since we've never seen kits up close on video). I haven't downloaded them yet, but will post soon.

Dennis is back. It was wonderful to see Dennis again and have the opportunity to interact with her - but it's growing old now. This is a day with Dennis. From the 1st step out the back door and all the way to the buffet, I have to say "Move, Dennis" to take each painstaking step on my trek as Dennis stands, nose to my foot, in front of me, taking a step backward only when prompted by me fussing and threatening to walk on her. I'm not quite sure what she hopes to accomplish by standing in my way. I guess maybe she wants me to give her a treat right there before we get to the buffet.

Once we get to the buffet, I continue with "Move, Dennis" while I try to get her out of the way so that I can sit down on my garden seat. After that my chant changes to "Stop it, Dennis" as she vacillates between standing up at my mid thigh begging for treats and plundering around my bag trying to sneak a self serve treat. No matter how I try to tell her to stop it, she doesn't hear or respond to anything I say. It's as though she has a one track mind and can think of absolutely nothing but treats. Until the very last treat is gone from the bag, she will continue to obsess about it. This makes it difficult to keep back a few treats for any kits that might arrive late. As long as one treat remains, Dennis just can't seem to understand why I won't give it to her.

Yesterday, I decided to capture some of this behavior on film so that you could see it for yourself, but when Dennis came back for the zillionth time to try to steal the few treats I had saved for the kits, I lost it a bit. Of its own volition my voice went up a few octaves as I yelled at her. Much to my surprise, Dennis immediately stopped what she was doing, walked over to the weeping willow tree, and sat with her back to me where she looked for all the world as though she was actually over there pouting. She looked as though I had hurt her feelings. I am SO not kidding. Maybe it was all a coincidence, but I don't think so.

I tried to call Dennis back, but she ignored me completely. She sat over there at the willow tree, head down, looking sad and dejected for quite a while, longer than I thought Dennis capable of sitting still. It worked though because when she did finally return I gave her those treats I'd been saving. I couldn't help myself. I wanted to make up. As you can see, Dennis knows how to play me. I got pics of her sitting over by the tree along with video of her walking off, but I haven't downloaded any of them yet, so I don't know how well (or not) they will turn out.

Perhaps the biggest news of all is that when Heidi, who was very late yesterday, finally arrived she was a bit unsteady coming down the fence post. As soon as she reached the ground and started toward me, I could see that she was holding one front pay straight out in front of her not letting it touch the ground at all. I let out a sigh and exclaimed my anguish aloud (softly). It was so difficult to see her that way.

The leg looked misaligned as she came closer. I thought, at 1st, it might even be broken. It was on the side away from me, so even though she was eating just a foot in front of me, I had difficulty getting a good look at it much less a photo. I did get one pic (by placing her refills/additional food strategically to get her to turn in a direction to expose the foot to me) and will post it later.

From what I could see while she was eating, the foot looks severely swollen. I don't see an open wound, but the bottom of the foot appears swollen such that the foot is maybe 3x its normal thickness. I've no idea what might have happened to her foot - or for that matter, any of the many injured feet at the buffet lately. Cissy has an injured hind leg. I suspect that's why she was allowed to return. Since she (Cissy) showed up she has been keeping that leg off the ground completely. Only recently, Cissy finally started to put her foot down a bit when standing but she still doesn't use it when walking. I don't understand what's happening to all of the feet.

Edited because, lol, sometimes spell check can produce humorous results. Fixed typo to change abscess to obsess. Oops.

This message was edited Jul 4, 2010 9:27 AM

Forgot to mention. Recently I had picked up a small bag of raw peanuts in the shell for them - I so miss buying them things. Heidi loves peanuts. I had given her/them 1/2 of the bag the day before. The next day, yesterday, Heidi showed up with the injured foot. Wanting to offer her something to 'make it all better' or as best I could, I got out the peanuts. Immediately, as soon as Heidi smelled the peanuts, she stepped toward me eagerly. It was clear she wanted me to know that she wanted some.

Having dealt with Bast's injuries the year before, I knew Heidi would not be able to open the peanut shells with her one good hand. I shelled the peanuts for her dropping the freshly shelled nuts at her feet. She sat down and used her one good hand to pick them up and put them into her mouth. It was kind of touching to watch especially since Heidi normally refuses to eat peanuts I shell for her. She normally insists on shelling them herself, but I guess she must have realized that this time she was in no condition to refuse help.

I had to shell fast to keep ahead of Heidi and still have time to toss peanuts to the 3 others in between - and as Dennis was there, I couldn't afford to wait to long before tossing the next round of unshelled nuts to them.

Wishing each of you a most enjoyable 4th of July weekend (even if you don't celebrate this holiday, I wish you a wonderful weekend). Hoping each of us (who do celebrate 4th of July) will take a moment or two amidst the hotdogs, hamburgers, cookouts, fireworks, and family fun to reflect on the wonderful gift our ancestors fought and died to procure for us, the gift of freedom and the opportunity to be a part of this incredible experiment in government for the people, by the people.

Happy Independence Day! (okay, tomorrow really, but why wait until the last minute to celebrate?)

Your raccoon buffet sure stays active this time of year. YOur description of Dennis being right at your feet sounds just like any mother of a new toddler who just has to hang on tho moms skirt or pant leg. The "sound" of you chanting "move Dennis, Back Dennis, no Dennis...." is clear as a bell.
I wonder how Heidi's foot injury will affect her reign over the buffet and her Kit care & teaching. Oh how I hope it heals quickly.

Sheri

Oh, poor Heidi! I will say a little prayer for her foot to heal. I'm so glad she has you to shell her peanuts for her!

Hi Sheri,

Actually, the crowd (or lack thereof) is pretty thin for this time of year, this being peak baby raising season after all. I'm quite sure I would have a yard full of raccoons, a few dozen at least, were it not for Heidi's decision to clear them out to make room for her babies. You might recall just a few years back when I actually had some 20 or more adult raccoons crowding into the relatively small buffet space and 'threatening' to bring their babies as well. It was pretty scary back then with such a large group and fights and skirmishes breaking out all over the place as each vied for rights to the best food and space.

They were really going through the food back then. It was when I cut back on the food (back then) that Heidi booted everyone out except, at that time, her yearlings. I didn't have to cut the food this time. I don't know how she figured it out, but I would never have been able to feed that huge gang now while I'm unemployed. Strange coincidence, huh? I mean, that I'm barely able to feed them this year and somehow, coincidentally, Heidi held the group size down to a very manageable 5 - even though I never cut the food back, always fed her as much as she wanted each day.

The only thing I can think of that might have been a clue to her that times are lean is that, unlike all prior years, this year there has been no bounty of grapes, peanuts, watermelons, and the like. This entire season she has seen only 1 small bag of peanuts (whereas they used to eat peanuts quite regularly - oh, wait), 1 small watermelon (and we used to eat 2 large ones per week), and no grapes. We've had some cheap cookies but unlike past years, I've kept them to 2 cookies max per meal. Oh, and there were some cakes and peanuts and such left from last year. They ate most of that stuff at the beginning of the season. They haven't gone hungry even one day, and I think the qty of treats they received this year was healthier and more reasonable than in past years. Still, I wonder if Heidi may have noticed the dietary changes this year and interpreted them as indicative of lean times. I wonder if this might be the reason why she kept the group size so small all season. Whatever the reason, it was a great help to me as I didn't have to cut their food (so far) or stress over how to feed a large group.

I think whether the foot effects Heidi's reign will depend on how bad it is and how soon she can get back to normal. I doubt if it will have a big effect on her ability to impose the rule of law in her area. I've noticed before, even when she was in good health, that she often directs the others to do some of the rule keeping. Just this season, I've seen a raccoon, who apparently wasn't authorized to eat at the buffet, approach the group. I've watched as Heidi spoke to one of the yearlings, "e ehm em" and that yearling immediately left her food and went after the intruder, chasing the intruder back over the fence before returning to finish her dinner.

In past years I've seen Heidi command a group of her daughters to back her up as they descended on the fence to form a an impenetrable wall 4 or 5 raccoons wide to keep interlopers out of the buffet. If her injury heals w/in the season, I think she will be ok. I think the others will take her commands and keep peace in the kingdom. If, heaven forbid, the injury is permanent - and I don't think it is judging from what I saw yesterday - that might pose serious problems for her reign. Time will tell. I'm praying for her rapid return to good health.

It was very disturbing to see 'my' Heidi injured, more difficult than seeing any of the others injured, more difficult even than I had realized it would be. I think of her as this regal and all-knowing sage. I think of her as strong and capable. Seeing her 'broken', even temporarily, is very difficult. I would have to liken it to that time that eventually comes in all our lives, unless we loose our parents suddenly; that time when we must see our ounce strong and capable parents stand 'broken' before us, small and frail and unable to take care of themselves any longer. That is what it felt like, albeit to a lesser degree, to see the once strong and indomitable force that was Heidi limp away from the fence and wonder if she would be able to regain her strength and hold onto her kingdom.

Her injury will almost certainly effect her kits. This is the precise moment when she would be taking them about the forest to begin teaching them all that they need to know to be productive raccoons. To some degree, that education will now be delayed. To what extent it effects the kits will depend on how soon she can heal and get back 'on her feet'. I don't think she will be able to travel far through the forest hopping as she is now on 3 feet, not to mention the difficulty of climbing with only 1 front foot. She was noticeably unstable coming down the fence post yesterday w/o that other front foot.

Until her foot is better, I'll try not to miss any days unless it simply cannot be helped. That way at least she won't be forced to either walk/climb for miles in search of food or go hungry.

Thank you, KyWoods,

I have often found that this group is capable of generating enormous positive energy when everyone combines positive thoughts and prayers. Oh, and, yes, when it comes to peanuts, Heidi and I are a team now. I shell, and she eats.

I will be praying for both your and Heidi's health, strength and endurance to quickly return.
Did you get a picture of her foot? Perhaps not. It sounded like Dennis may have been begging and crowding you that day....until you had her go sit in the "corner". ^_^

A hug & a prayer, ^_^
Sheri

Very cool that Jerry is still around, with her kits; does she still stand up to catch treats?

Really sorry to hear about Heidi's bum foot; that's worrisome, and I'll be sending positive healing thoughts along with all the rest of Heidi's fans. Yes, I'm sure it's hardest of all to see her hurt and be unable to help. Just being sure she gets an easy and nourishing meal at the buffet will be a huge help. What is with all the injured legs/feet these days? Makes me wonder what's going on in the forest, who's out there creating havoc.

Have to agree that Dennis' acting out would drive me crazy also; a little of it must go a very long way.

Well, as if I needed yet another big problem...there IS another problem, a BIG problem, and I really don't know what to do about this one.

Mr Copperhead is back. For some 5 years now I've been living with a copperhead in the back yard. I see him/her roughly one or twice a year - and that's more than enough!

The 1st time I saw the copperhead, he was stretched out on the mat just outside the back door, stretched out just beyond and across the threshold. Widget was a baby then. I opened the back door, and Widget ran out excited to greet the day. I was about to step out behind him when I saw the snake below my foot. Eeek! I shrieked, but there was no time to close the door and run away. Widget, who was only a few months old then, was on the other side of the patio. He had somehow managed to walk over the snake w/o getting bitten. Upon realizing I was not following him, he would come back, and this time he might not be so lucky.

It was a heck of a dilemma. I couldn't go out as I would have to step over the snake, but if I didn't go out, Widget would absolutely come back to the door, and in doing so stood a very good chance of getting bitten. As Widget turned around to return, I began talking to him urgently insisting that he go back. He really wanted to come to me, and it was all that I could do to keep him back. Young, he was totally unaware of the snake or the danger. He just knew he wanted to get back to me.

At the time I wasn't sure what type of snake it was. Lacking an exact ID, I was just assuming it might be poisonous. I knew it wasn't any of several snakes on my 'friendly' list. I desperately needed to keep Widget back, but I also desperately needed to get a photo for an ID of this threat at my back door. The snake showed no sign of being upset by us, nor was he eager to get away.

Reluctantly, I left the door (and Widget) momentarily to run across the room for (1) the camera and (2) a weapon. I found and grabbed the camera which luckily had a card and batteries in it. I couldn't find a decent weapon quickly there in the kitchen and I feared leaving Widget alone any longer. I ran back to the door and, OMG, found Widget standing on the door facing just inches above the snake. Fearing the snake might come inside, I had closed the door to run for the camera. While I was gone, Widget had come to the door as he always does. He was a tiny thing then, just a few pounds. Blissfully unaware and protected by some invisible force, he had literally walked over the snake twice now, once to go out and again to come back, and now he was standing about 3in above the snake - and yet somehow had managed to avoid getting bitten.

I opened the door, snatched Widget inside, and snapped a few pics good, close up pics which would later serve to (1) reveal the snake to be a copperhead and (2) provoke viewers to comment on their disbelief that I had sat around that close to a copperhead long enough to take that close up pic. The door, a French door with window panes all the way down had provided me a decent shield. I had kept it barely 'cracked' while interacting with the dog and later taking the pic but had felt a degree of protection from the barrier it provided.

For a while after that event, I was tempted to just let the snake have the house and move. Then I considered closing the backyard and never going out there again. I knew neither of these were realistic solutions, but when it comes to poisonous snakes, I'm a big baby. I'm not willing to get close enough [intentionally] to kill one, and when I end up that close by accident, somehow I just never seem to be holding a hoe. I don't carry one around with me after all.

That 1st year, I considered my options. It was Memorial Day weekend when this occurred. I called a local 24hr wildlife removal service. I was willing to pay almost any reasonable amount to restore the safety of my garden...until I heard their terms, that is. They said it was unlikely the snake actually lived in my yard. More likely it lived in the forest and only came to the yard in search of food. For a fee of $250 they would send someone out to look for the snake. That person would search for the snake, looking under flower pots and turning over every 'stone' for an additional $100/hr (in addition to the $250 fee for driving over). He would continue to look until, in their words, either (1) ran out of money or (2) told him to stop. There was no guarantee that they would find and remove a snake, but I would be required to pay the $250 + 100/hr for the search anyhow. As much as I wanted to see the snake gone, I did the math and realized that I could easily pay $500 to $1k and still have my snake when the guy left. I could call them back a time or two, pay $1000 plus and end up right where I started.

Online I found a site where snake handlers sign up and agree to come out to remove poisonous snakes. Some do it to capture snakes for antivenin production. Others do it because they wish to protect the snakes and relocate them away from humans. I found a guy in my area and called him. He was a policeman for a neighboring municipality. He was very nice. He seemed very knowledgeable on the subject. Like the prior folks, he said the snake probably didn't live in my yard but that my yard may be part of the snakes regular hunting grounds. Consequently, he didn't think it would be worthwhile to come over 'cold' and look for the snake. He gave me his cell phone number and directed me to call him when I saw the snake again (and keep it in my sights until he could get here). It was a year before I saw the snake again, and by that time and at that moment, I had forgotten all about calling the guy - and didn't have my cell phone on me.

...Sorry, but in the interest of time, I will have to continue this discussion later. This is one reason I've postponed this discussion. I knew it would take a while as there is much to say on the subject. It ends with (1) I fear the snake may be the one responsible for some of the injured feet and (2) I'm terrified to go in the backyard. But there is a lot I need to fill in between here and there. Sorry. I'm not doing this for dramatic effect. I really just can only sit and type so long right now. I have much to talk with you about but am still not in the mood to type endlessly. And I have other things to do. But I will be back in time. I may just have to cover this topic in installments this being Installment 1. More to come.

Oh my gooness (said like Shirley Temple)! What a mess of A situation this is. And not that there is ever a good time to learn that 1 is hanging around. But right now when Heidi and the kits really need you.
I will be praying that that old snake move on to another spot. I understand, however that even if you do not see one, the fear that it might be just behind that next blade of grass would still be there.

I'm glad that all I see here are plain ol' rat snakes. I can't imagine how terrified you were with little Widget out there in such danger!

Copperheads love woodpiles! I had some in my yard a few years ago when I used the woodstove. LOL...I tried to get it with a weed eater...doesn't work on snakes! then I grabed a nearby heavy rake and pinned it and crushed and wriggled that thing for all I was worth. Injured, but didn't kill it. the sharp side of the rake did it in though. I am scared of copperheads and ticks. brrrrr

Wow, that IS a problem, Cheryl, especially since the cats have taken on the job of chasing and/or killing the snakes in your yard. The timing of the snake's presence is thought-provoking in terms of the recent rash of injured raccoon feet and legs. But there are two things that make me doubt somewhat that the snake is the cause. One, I'd think copperhead venom would be pretty lethal to an animal as small as a raccoon (or a cat or a Maltese, unfortunately). Two, as the incident with Widget stepping over the snake repeatedly a few years back shows, snakes for the most part do not strike unless startled, cornered, or otherwise made to feel threatened. Their first choice is usually to retreat, when possible; and when they're basking, they are far from fully alert and rarely strike quickly.

That said, you definitely don't want a venomous snake hanging around with all those animals depending on you. Paying exorbitant sums for that service to search is clearly not an option at the moment, and likely a waste in any case. If you can find the policeman's contact info and reconnect with him, that is worth a try. And of course in the meantime it would be wise to ensure that there is no food left either in the front or back of the house that could draw rodents who will draw snakes. The cats will just have to come/stay inside to eat, and I'd give the raccoons only what they'll eat while you're there. I know the possums or other critters usually clean up any leftovers, but right now you need to try to eliminate leftovers altogether. If there is no prey to attract the snake, he/she will eventually move on to more productive hunting grounds. And BTW, unless you have a wood or brush pile, I agree that it's unlikely the snake's den is on your property.

Hopefully, I will have more time later to discuss things more, including the snake issue, but for now I'd like to let you know that yesterday Heidi was using her foot much more than that 1st day. I'm very much encouraged now that she will get well soon. She was putting the foot down as she walked toward me. It was much harder even to see that she was still favoring it at all. Only when she reached me and stopped to eat did I notice her holding the leg off the ground again.

Great news about Heidi.
I would be armed with a sharp long handled loper. they are great at pruning up to a nearly 2" branch , even poisenous ones!

Sheri,

I have a fabulous, ratcheting lopper which expands [quickly and easily] to about 3ft or so. It's one of my very favorite garden tools. However, I don't plan on getting w/in 3ft of that copperhead, at least not on purpose! To kill the snake, I will need a 20ft lopper. Anyone know where I can get that?

I have killed poisonous snakes before but only with my gun. I've shot them with a 38 and with a shotgun, in both cases using 'bird shot' if available and handy, although on one occasion I had to use hollow point 38 ammo as that was what was available at the moment. It's a lot harder to hit the snake with the hollow point vs bird shot, takes a good aim. My 38 is a snub nose, a design which makes the gun smaller and easier to carry/handle but also less accurate due to the lack of [the usual] barrel length for focusing the charge. Actually, with the hollow point I hit the ground under the snake, but the 'explosion' (really expansion) of the bullet on impact (what hollow points do) ripped into the belly of the snake accomplishing the deed.

A gun allows a coward like me to kill the snake from a safe and comfortable distance. Unfortunately, the city frowns on the discharge of handguns. I'm wondering if I could get an air gun, pellet gun, and use that to shoot the snake w/in city limits w/out getting myself sent to jail on a weapons charge, something which would ruin my career - well, the career I used to have.

They make an extension lopper for cutting branches up in trees...sounds like just the ticket. You operate it by pulling a rope connected to the cutting blades.

Hmm. Good idea, melody,

Actually, I have 2 of those long cutting tools for branches. I don't think mine are 20ft, but they are pretty long. I could get that close to the snake. I don't know how well I could navigate the cutting end to get it around the snake, but it's worth a try. Good idea! I'll have to get my two out and give them a look to see which might be best for the job.

Practice on a stick laying on the ground. That way, you'll be familiar with your weapon when you need to use it.

Another good idea, melody!

I'm going to do that [starting] tomorrow when I go out to do my morning yard work.

Did you see my visitor? (look at my thread here in the wildlife forum...)

Until you mentioned it, I hadn't seen your thread. I only get out of Heidi Land to wander around DG or even the Wildlife Forum on rare occasion.

The little fella is too cute. As I posted on your thread, his unexpected arrival at your door sort of reminds me of the day that Heidi reached out to me. Maybe, like Heidi, this animal is special. Maybe he/she is reaching out to you for some reason. Maybe you are about to have a new friend.

KyWoods,

I used to see a lot of black rat snakes, mostly in the front yard where they were hanging around in hopes of snagging a mocking bird or some eggs. I've also seen a lot of garter snakes in the yard, and once I even saw and had the opportunity to photograph a scarlet king snake, very pretty.

As for the copperhead story, it was quite terrifying, but I do hope I made clear the fact that the incident in question occurred 5 years ago when Widget was a tiny speck of a puppy smaller and lighter than a 2lb bag of sugar. I've seen and had minor run-ins with the copperhead since then but none involving Widget.

Rat snakes will kill & eat Copperheads!

Ya know, I think I may have heard something about that before, now that you mention it. Maybe that's why we have lots of rat snakes, but no copperheads.
Hmm...I can mail you a rat snake or two?? ;)

Edit: Okay, I just read on a site about copperheads that they overwinter with rat snakes. Gonna do more research on this.

This message was edited Jul 5, 2010 6:42 PM

I know that King Snakes eat other snakes including the poisonous ones. But the only King Snake I've seen around here was the Scarlet King and he was way too small to ingest that Copperhead. I don't know how big Scarlet Kings get, but all the photos I could find seemed to show them small like mine.

Ruth,

While I was out at the buffet watching the raccoons eat, Jerry, who still stays near the back of the group, kept standing up to tell me she wanted a cookie. The 1st time she did so, I thought, "Oh, no, I never did answer Ruth's question." So, yes, Jerry still stands up with arms out to let me know when she wants something. I posted a photo of her standing up recently. Maybe you missed it.

The standing up thing is how I recognized her because none of the others ever do that, not the way she does, not to get my attention and ask for food and treats. The only other one who did that was Echo, but Echo as her name implies learned it from Jerry. I know this is Jerry and not Echo 1st because they look different. Echo was smaller and lighter in color. Also Jerry always stayed back behind the others never coming to me. Echo would come come close to me but would use the standing ploy when the others forced her back to the edges. Sometimes Echo used to sit behind me and come up to my back right side, stand up, and punch me in the waist with her hand to get my attention and get me to toss her a treat. At 1st I thought that was funny, but after a while it got old having a raccoon punching me from behind every few minutes especially when I had a large group to attend to. She didn't punch me hard enough to hurt or anything like that, and I wasn't afraid of her, but I decided I preferred being approached from the front where I could keep an eye on them. She was just hanging out back there because none of the others were back there and so they didn't try to run her off from there.

Anyhow, the one that is here now stays in the back 1/2 of the buffet never coming up to me. It is definitely Jerry. She was one of the 1st of the older ones to show up, but I dismissed the idea that she could possibly be Jerry since, as we all knew, the older ones were long gone - right. I thought it was a heck of a coincidence that this new raccoon had learned Jerry's trick when Jerry was not around. It was only after I realized that Dennis and Cissy were back that I realized that really was Jerry.

As for trying not to leave anything out to attract rats, that's a LOT harder than it sounds. It borders on the impossible when dealing with raccoons. I don't know how many there will be or how hungry they are. I don't know if something will scare them away mid meal leaving food behind even if they are still hungry. Sometimes I leave while they are still eating especially when it's so hot out and when it starts to get dark. There is no way I will estimate the food to give each raccoon exactly to the last bit of kibble and get it right. To further complicate things they don't always stay put. I might give Dennis or Cissy or Heidi, the ones who eat up close to me, their food and about 1/2 way through the meal one or more of them may go over and eat food from another raccoon elsewhere in the group or take over another raccoon's food while that one is at the pool getting a drink. I think sometimes they just like to sample food from other 'dishes' to see if it's different. The other raccoon's may not be comfortable coming close enough to me to eat from the pile left by Dennis or Heidi or Cissy, at least not until after I leave.

AND, Heidi takes exception to having to dig little bits of cat food out of the grass. She also doesn't like it when she has to pick up individual pieces like when she gets down to the bottom of the pile. She's a busy mom and does not have time for that. Don't be silly. She likes to eat from pile that allows her to sit or lie down and just scoop food up by the handfuls. Tonight I tried my best to get her to eat ALL of her food. She got visibly annoyed with me about this. When the food got low she kept looking at me like, "Ok, give me more now, please." When I ignored her, she went over to take another raccoon's stash, except that tonight because I was trying to do as you advised, the others had even less. They were all picking through grass for leftovers by that time. Seeing this, Heidi came back one more time to request a refill. Finally, she left in disgust over the poor service at the buffet tonight - and she did NOT leave a tip either. (And she STILL left kibble behind.)

It would be easier for them to eat everything on their plates if they had plates. The problem is when I give them the plastic containers like they used to use, they carry them off - daily. When my landscape guy cleaned up back there in spring, he picked up dozens of those containers. I don't have time to run all around the yard each day rounding up the containers. KyWoods idea of using a heavy plate might work - although they still might drag it away - except that unlike the raccoons at her place, mine can't eat together from a communal dish. Even if I had enough dishes to spare for this purpose, I wouldn't even know how many to put out there. Most nights lately there are 4 or 5 raccoons out there. Then tonight they seemed to come out of the woodwork. Suddenly there were 10. I would really hate to have 10 dinner plates on the back lawn, mostly because I would have to pick them all up every week to mow the grass. Argh.

I'll look in the garage. I think I might have some old dishes out there that I was saving for the mosaic I'll never get around to making. I could let them use those plates. I might try it, but that's still no assurance that there won't be an 11th raccoon one day. I might just put out 5 plates and resort to the toss method for any extras who show up on rare nights like tonight. That would be more manageable. Extras are usually more humble and more willing to search through the grass for kibble. As long as Ms Heidi has a dish, all should be well.

I'm not likely to ever get it right so that the raccoons don't leave anything behind, but I can take some actions to improve.