Heidi Chronicles: Kits On Board

What a magical evening; and we're all waiting for you to resolve that cliff-hanger, lol...

Oh, that's just priceless; so young to be trying the Steal. And his behavior is very reminiscent of Dennis, minus the attention deficit issue, of course. No doubt his ears are still burning after Heidi lectured him about failing to come when called. And I'm sure Dennis' kits now know that following grandma doesn't earn them any brownie points, lol.

How neat!

Thanks for making my morning with your entertaining tale! Sounds like Petey is going to be another memorable character in the Heidi saga.
Gotta love babies.

Susan

renatelynne,

Sorry for my delay in responding. Yesterday when you made your last post I was already 'off' working on my 1st post detailing the experiences at the buffet that evening, so we cross posted. It was only after my 1st buffet post of the evening, the 1st one ending with 'continued...' that I saw your post. I decided at that time to continue on and finish the story I had started. I find that I need to get the details down while they are still fresh in my mind. Otherwise, I loose the little nuances that [hopefully] help the reader to feel as though they are there. By the time I finished my account of the evening, it was very late and I was just too worn out to continue. In fact, I had to push myself even to finish.

I'm so sorry to hear of your ordeal. My own experience with knee surgery was that it was an unbelievably painful experience even without the complications of something like MRSA. I can't begin to imagine what awful things you've endured. I'm truly glad to hear that you are doing at least somewhat better. I hope that things will continue to get better for you now. If you find yourself even now experiencing the occasional setback, you should know that from my experience that's a 'normal' part of dealing with a knee injury - and, again, I'm speaking only to the knee injury. I'm sure MRSA adds its own set of complications to the recovery process. My thoughts and prayers are with you and wishing you a speedy and full recovery.

Thanks. I realized what you were doing... I didn't even get to the last post until this morning...

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers... back to you too. And yea... it is two steps forward one step back all the time... and they say since I was down for so long it could be 2 yrs more before I settle down to normal (what ever that is). And yes... it is painful. I have even started going to a acupuncturist to try to manage some of the pain. If you ever know someone with MRSA tell them to give me a yell. That is one thing I now know a LOT about.

Attaching a pic of the critters I deal with. Problem is I DON"T feed them. They are non natives that got out and bred and multiplied. They are pushing out our natives in some places because they will eat things our native white tail deer will turn their noses up at. And they can have babys all year long, not just once a season. Those are adults in the picture. They will eat most anything that isn't poison.

What a gutsy little guy Petey is! Trying tp trick Heidi with the Steal. Either he is very smart or very dull. I would have had to work hard to stiffle any laughter, as you probably did.

What is up with Dennis. She seemed to be getting into the serious Mama mode and now we learn that her kits don't even discern her parental call from Heidi's.

I am so glad that you went out to see them last night. Seems you were given more than one special moment. It sure would be wonderful to figure out a cam set-up for the buffet with a remote that you could control easily from your seat. Bet you could make some money with that type of video.

"Tales of the Raccoon Whisperer"

Got to run.
Hugs,
Sheri

Hi Sheri,

I said Dennis is making huge strides. I never said she was perfect. It has only been within the last few weeks that I've even noticed Dennis and her kits communicating using that whoop whoop sound. Prior to that when she would 'misplace' them, she would go from tree to tree in the forest edge as well as the yard climbing trees and looking for them. I always wondered why she didn't use the call. Maybe she had forgotten it from when she was a kid so long ago.

Then one day a few weeks ago while she was eating I watched as her kits climbed down from their hiding place in the pear tree (yard) and relocate themselves to the large oak behind the Heidi tree (forest). Now I'm a mere human with human senses which usually pale by comparison to those of wild animals, but I managed to see the kits making their way down the one tree, sneaking across the yard, and then climbing the other tree. Dennis, as usual, missed that whole show, possibly because she had been facing me (away from the trees) to be sure she didn't miss any cookies.

Later that same day, when Dennis finished eating and got ready to leave, I watched as she went over to the pear tree, sniffed the grass and other plants around it, looked up the trunk, and finally climbed it only to come back down with no kits. I expected to see her go wandering from tree to tree again, but this time she went up on the fence and started calling them. They immediately responded from their position in the oak tree and the group was soon reunited once more. Once again, I was proud of Dennis. Sure, she had lost her kits again, but she had made another big step forward in learning (and teaching them) to use the call. I gather, however, from yesterday's results that she didn't get the point across about only responding to the call when it comes from your mother, not mom and grandma Heidi.

She's not perfect, but she has made a huge improvement from that 1st year when 2 scrawny kits were tagging along a few lengths behind here, and she was acting like they were a bit of an annoyance and she didn't know where they had come from.

Once again circumstances prove that once can never quite be sure what to expect at the buffet from one day to the next. For some reason lately I'm not usually in the best of moods at that time of day, at least not until I get out there and see the raccoons, but, remembering my promise to bring cookies for the kits today, I gave myself that extra shove and headed out cookies in hand. Now, of course, I do realize the kits don't speak English and thus probably didn't understand my promise, but that not the point. It's the principle of the thing. A promise is a promise, even if no one hear or understands it.

As I walked out, I thought I heard the faint but distinctive sound of claws on fence boards. When I reached my seat and even before I sat down, I noticed that the foliage along the fence was jiggling. I immediately recognized it as the jiggle of a raccoon leave not coming. I have no idea how I knew this. I just did.

I sat down and called, "Come on. It's ok." Almost immediately Heidi appeared on the cherry tree a little ways down from the bush where they often enter and exit, the one with the distinct tell-tail jiggle. I spoke to her and she hurried down the fence and over to me. I waited to see Petey's head appear above the fence line next as he followed his Mom, but there was no sign of him.

I knew it was Heidi the moment she appeared on the tree trunk above the fence. Even as she was on her way down the fence and across the short expanse of yard, I picked up her bowl and put it back in its proper place in preparation for feeding her, but now as I was reaching into my bag to get her food, I suddenly 2nd guessed myself, something I don't often do with Heidi.

I looked at her again standing there in front of me. It was her. I knew it, but then what if I was wrong. What if an instant after i put the food in the dish, I realized my mistake? Only now I would have screwed up the place settings for the entire night, having given Heidi's dish and spot to someone else. She didn't have Petey with her, after all. At the last instant as I brought my hand up out of the bag to toss the food into the dish, I 'choked'. Doubting myself, I tossed the food past Heidi's dish to a more generic spot some 5ft away at the back of the buffet.

As Heidi began eating, I looked at her again and thought how silly I had been. Of course, that was Heidi. Even though she was already eating much farther away, I put a few handfuls in her dish up close to me. I don't know why exactly. I honestly didn't think she would want to move - but she did. As soon as I filled her dish, Heidi left the spot where I had tossed her food on the ground at the back of the buffet area and walked up to her dish, a mere ft from the ends of my shoes. I don't know if she did this because she prefers to eat from a dish, which she does, or because she prefers to eat from her place, which also seems true.

A yearling came up and ate on the other side of the area. She and Heidi were the only 2 out there. I kept monitoring the shrub at the top of the fence for some sign of Dennis and her kits. I was eager to give them the cookies they had wanted the day before, but they never showed.

Heidi was maybe 1/2 way through with her food when I heard a familiar me-ow. It was Kitty. What was she thinking?! Surely, she knew to stay away from the buffet when Heidi was there, and heaven forbid if Dennis should show up with those kits. Yet there she was behind me, meowing again, and then again. I tried ignoring her. So far there was no indication that Heidi had heard her. I didn't want to be the one to change that.

Kitty meowed a few more times. This time Heidi heard the sound but didn't appear to know where it was coming from. The yearling heard it too and promptly took off for the safety of the forest. She did not return.

Kitty was about 20ft back and directly in line with me, so that I blocked Heidi's view of her. Heidi looked up at me, staring, as though trying to make sense of the sound. She almost seemed to think it was coming from me. She kept staring up at me for what seemed a long time, although I'm sure it was only a minute or so. I was actually becoming a little frightened, not sure what she was going to do.

Since Heidi and I had become friends years ago, I had never worried that she might attack me. Heidi always backed away from a fight if she could. But then there was that one time a few months back when Heidi had surprised me by suddenly leaping forward to chase Kitty. Now Heidi was looking at me, trying to figure out that sound. Was she about to leap at me?

Heidi broke her stare but still seemed disquieted. A bit nervous now so close to me, she grabbed the edge of her bowl and dragged it backwards across the buffet, moving it to roughly the same place I had originally put her food. She tried to continue eating, but even then she was very obviously on edge. She ate hurriedly looking as though she might bolt for the fence at any moment.

About that moment, I looked down and saw Kitty walking past me on one side, her body low to the ground as though stalking something. I was horrified. Heidi could now quite obviously see her. I held my breath expecting to see them both take off in the direction of the house any moment with Heidi in serious pursuit. I could not imagine what Kitty must be thinking. We had been through this before, and never with positive results.

At the same time, Heidi saw Kitty and started to back away, eyes wide. I sat there still expecting to see Heidi charge at Kitty at any instant as she had done before, and then Heidi suddenly turned and took off for the forest. Her body language was the one I see when some especially loud noise sends her scurrying for cover, her body saying, "No, I that's bad. That's not for me. I'm scared and I'm out of here." even as I usually try to tell her it's ok.

With no raccoons left to feed, I came inside, Kitty at my side. I was more than a little confused. All this time, the raccoons had chased Kitty away. They had meant business, and Kitty had been afraid. For a while Kitty had even stopped coming around them. I figured that had to do with the kits. And now, in a bizarre turn of events, the raccoons were suddenly terrified of Kitty. Even Heidi, their leader, was afraid. Now they were running from the cat, and the cat had somehow known this, it seems, because for the 1st time ever and certainly since her prior run-ins with Heidi and Dennis, Kitty had waltzed right past me and into the main, center buffet area while the raccoons were eating. I'm at a loss to explain this. Had something happened to change the balance of power out there when I wasn't around? And was this why the raccoons were no longer coming up to the patio to meet me?

LOL Yes I too think Dennis has made remarkable progress in her role as mother. She's such a sweetie. I am so glad that, for whatever reason Heidi used, she is letting Dennis and kits stay in the clan at the buffet.

Also, I of course will be waiting to read of little Petey's progress with the steal!!

Thank you so much,Cheryl for fighting the sand man last night to finish your post about the evening at the Heidi Diner.

Sheri

I came in feeling a bit disappointed that I hadn't been able to give the kits those cookies. Just a few paragraphs into typing the above post, I heard a sound outside. Thinking it might be Dennis and the kits and seeing that it wasn't yet totally dark, I ran to the door to check. I didn't see them. I was about to venture out anyhow, when I saw Dennis' head peek out of the shrubs across from the patio. Out I went.

I fed and petted Dennis and gave her few cookies. Seeing that all was fine and I had cookies, the kits soon headed down from their perch in the Heidi tree. The more adventurous one even came over and took a 1/2 cookie from my hand for the very 1st time.

Then a raccoon appeared on my left and I turned to see Bast. She looked a bit thin, I must admit. I gave her kibble and cookies. Bast doesn't eat most sweets, but she does love vanilla s/w cookies. I was hoping they might help to fatten her up.

I heard kits calling out, the whoop, whoop sound, for a while before 2 of Bast's kits finally stuck there heads out from under the Adirondack chair over near the weeping willow where they had been hiding. Although she had been feeding them on the patio that night a while back, this was the 1st time I had gotten a good look at them up close and before it was entirely dark (although it was well into dusk by then). They are the smallest of the kits I've seen so far, probably having been born later than the others. They are absolutely adorable. The two that I saw looked like tiny, carbon-copies of Bast. They had that same very unique coloring and pattern. I always liked Bast's coloring. I found it all the more charming in miniature.

I tried to toss a few cookie bits over to the kits hoping to tempt them out from under the chair, but as often happens the 1st time I toss food at a new raccoon, they ran away thinking I was bombarding them rather than feeding them. They were well up the trunk of the willow when I called out to them in my most cajoling voice. They stopped to look back at the buffet, analyzing the scene before them. Bast was on one side of me, Dennis on the other. I handed each a cookie as the kits looked on. They could see all the raccoons, adults and kits, their mother included, milling around me eating calmly. Soon they were back down from the tree and sneaking out from under the chair to find the kibble and cookie bits I had tossed their.

All in all it was another very nice evening. Soon after that I had to leave as it was getting very dark.

What in the world? I can't imagine what could have made Heidi afraid of Kitty. She's always been in control when Kitty is around, and it's hard to imagine how that could have changed; cats really are no contest for a raccoon.

Yes, this has me puzzzled, too.
I wonder if possibly a kit was nabbed in the forest (ban that thought) and now Heidi is very skittish of other animals. Seems like a far stretch of my immagination, but you have mentioned gators. But Kitty wouldn't look anything like a gator.
Weird!

Thanks Sheri,

I, too, am very grateful that Dennis and her kits have been allowed to spend the summer with us especially since now that she has kits to think about, Dennis is behaving much better. These days I can even say, 'no' after a few cookies w/o having to 'fight' her the rest of the session. This opportunity to spend time with Dennis was a most unexpected gift.

Ruth,

I can only call them as I see them. I, too, was most confused. I walked back to the house still puzzling over the whole thing. I didn't see any way a cat could win a fight with a raccoon either. I was quite surprised to see Heidi run off that way.

The only other explanation I can come up with isn't easy to articulate. It's one of those things I know in the nonverbal space inside my head but can't so readily verbalize. Still I'll give it a try. Just realize please that the explanation is likely to be a vague approximation more so than exact duplicate.

1st of all, and this is more of a 'flavoring' for the reason than the actual reason, something to color it a bit, Heidi's response to a potential threat is not so much an absolute as a continuum loosely based on her appetite and where she is in her meal time-wise. What I mean is that she will risk a much larger potential threat at the beginning of her visit when she is still very hungry and thus unwilling to give up her food so easily. Near the end of her meal when her hunger is largely satiated and she is just eating because it's there, she's no longer willing to take even minor risks for the food and is thus more inclined to flee at the least provocation.

Now to the possible reason which is much more difficult to describe. Although we are accustomed to think that we see with our eyes and hear with our ears, the fact is our brains are an important factor in all of our senses. Our brains interpret what our eyes see and our ears hear. That may seem obvious, but it allows for occasional mistakes in identifying what was seen or heard even when our senses are working fine, this because our brains may err in the interpretation.

Have you ever had that nanosecond of thinking "OMG! A snake!" only to realize a fraction of a second later that it's only a stick or the garden hose or some other object which your brain momentarily misidentified? Or have you experienced a moment of confusion in which a sound appeared to be coming from one place when it was actually coming from another? Sometimes our brain's interpretation isn't correct.

The raccoons have never shown any fear of cats, but we know they are afraid of humans. They've learned to trust me a great deal, but with the possible exception of Dennis, most are still keeping an eye on me in case I change and suddenly become dangerous. The 1st time or two when I sneezed or coughed or make any strange sound, they either ran or looked at me closely to see if they should run. They didn't know what the sound meant or if maybe I was threatening them.

When Heidi heard those 1st few meows she really appeared to think they were coming from me. She couldn't see Kitty who was located behind me, and the sound was coming from my direction. Heidi really seemed to think I was making those sounds. I wish I had a video of Heidi looking up at me, scrutinizing me, trying to figure out why I was making those strange sounds (strange for me), what all this meant, and whether she should consider it a threat. The yearling probably got scared just seeing Heidi look so frightened. They all take their cues from Heidi.

After that, even after I apparently stopped making cat sounds, Heidi was left alone out there in the yard in daylight with me, and she was clearly still shaken by what she thought had happened. When Kitty walked past me, she came up really close beside my seat, so close that she was under the edge of me. I didn't even see her until her head made it past my arm and thigh. Given that Heidi was already on edge and feeling insecure about me, maybe she didn't so much see Kitty as see movement coming from below/beside me and toward her. Maybe in that instant, and it all really happened very fast, her brain which was already concerned about me interpreted that movement as part of me moving toward her, after her.

She had already eaten more than 1/2 of her food, enough to satisfy her immediate hunger. I had been making strange sounds, or so it seemed to her, sounds I had never made in all the 5yrs she had known me. Things weren't making sense. She was on edge. Then she saw a movement down by my leg as though I were coming at her. She fled without waiting around to fully understand what was going on.

That's the only answer I can come up with. But, whether they realized it or not, both raccoons fled from the cat. That's what I saw. I didn't understand it either. I came in 'scratching my head' over that one. I'll bet even Kitty was confused.

By George I think she's got it!"

Cheryl,

You amaze me sometimes at your ability (6th sense?) to break things down into little snippets of information, that when conjoined give a very crisp and easily understood picture.

If you are correct though about Heidi's sudden exit, hopefully she will remember how much she trusts you and return with confidence.

I would have thought Kitty had learned who was bigger and stronger when it came to a match with the Raccoons.

Is this similar to what human mothers go thru when sibling rivalry peaks and disrupts the household? Now I know why God's design for me didn't include motherhood!

Hi Sheri,

Thanks very much. I wasn't at all sure if I could adequately convey that one. As for Heidi, I'm not concerned. Over the 5yrs I've known her, I've done things before that scared her. She's a very smart lady who lives by the concept of 'flee and live to eat another day'. As I mentioned, depending on how hungry she is at the time, she will flee even from things that are not all out terrifying. Her motto is "why chance it. better to run now and return later".

She always come back. I've done some pretty scary things like the time, back when I was trying out all manner of toys for them, when I arrived with the giant, shiny, metallic, helium filled balloon with giant eyes and a face on it. It was on a long string and blowing about in the breeze. Heidi took one look at that and said, "I'll come back tomorrow. See you." She didn't even stay for a bite, but she was back the next day - to see if I was in a more sane mood.

Once I put a large paper bag down by my feet after removing the food from it. I was planning to take it back in with me when I left. Heidi eats close to my feet. During dinner a huge gust of wind sent the bag chasing after her as she made a mad dash for the fence. She's become largely immune to that trick now. Just the other day I gave a plastic cookie bag complete with plastic inner tray to Dennis so she could eat the crumbs (putting them on her food worked better BTW). After Dennis left, I could no longer reach the bag w/o standing up. I figured I'd get it when I got up to leave. There again, a breeze caught it and took it all the way through the center of the buffet area dancing on the wind like a Halloween ghost. All the others ran away like little girls, but Heidi didn't miss a beat. She just went on eating her food having already learned the bag in the wind trick.

One night I had my flashlight on my lap and forgot about it. It fell almost hitting Heidi. Surprisingly that time she back up, looked at it, and decided it wasn't a threat.

A number of times I've scared her with my legs/feet although she is getting used to that one now too. If I sit for a long time on that low garden seat, my legs which are usually straight down or slightly up under me sometimes get cramped up. Sometimes I forget and suddenly stretch my legs out wide on either side of me - in the dark. Since Heidi eats right in front of me, that means a giant boot suddenly appears on either side of her. This can be a bit disconcerting whether she knows those are my feet or not. These days I just have to tell her "it's ok" and she will ignore them and go on eating, but that used to scare her and cause her to move back if not leave altogether.

I've done plenty of other stupid stuff over the years. I just don't remember them all right now. She always forgives me and comes back.

A funny thought just occurred to me...I wonder if Heidi is writing a book about humans??

ROTFLMAO, KyWoods!

Wouldn't that just be too hilarious to imagine?!

We're in the calm between two parts of a big storm with really high winds, hail, dangerous lightening, and the most back to back endless thunder I have ever heard in my life. It started around 5PM and was still going heavy until around 8:30, so I didn't get to feed the raccoons. I worked hard today and was on my feet a lot. I was wiped out by 8 when I sat down to eat dinner. I was just about to fall asleep when in the midst of the constant rumbling of thunder I could hear the raccoon arguing out on the patio.

I knew it had to be Dennis and her family along with at least one other adult, probably a yearling. I knew for sure Heidi would not be out there because she is smart enough to find shelter and stay put when its thundering. I needed to go back to the kitchen to put things away anyhow before I went to sleep - although I was having difficulty making myself get up - so since it was not raining at the moment I put some kibble in a couple of plastic containers and took it out onto the patio for them. I was right. It was Dennis, her 3, and a yearling. I knew I had to put out 3 containers; otherwise, the adults might not let the kits eat, so I put a little in each of 3 containers.

Dennis came right up to me, of course. The kits stayed on the patio at a distance when I went out. I opened the door again to look out there, and all 3 kits came to me at the door, so I gave them each a cookie.

The thunder is still rumbling, so I imagine there will be another side to the storm soon, but I think they will have time to finish up the food 1st. I put the containers under the patio table to help them keep semi-dry if it does start to rain.

You are such a wonderful Raccoon Whisperer. So caring , attentive, intuitive and most of all, understanding.

I guess Heidi's tale of the human banquet lady might just have a caution paragraph to:

Study closely your human if ever he or she seems to be meowing. but definitely retreat, putting on the skids if any part of your meowing human appears to be suddenly coming toward you. No cookie or other food goody is worth getting attacked by a crazed meowing human or trying to understand any strange behaviour that varies widely from the norm. Now I'm really serious all you dear Kits. Momma and grandma Heidi does know of what she teaches!

Sleep well my dears,
Heidi

This message was edited Aug 13, 2010 11:29 PM
edited again to remove a redundant word

This message was edited Aug 14, 2010 5:12 PM

Sheri, that's priceless; and I'm sure we'd all love to read Heidi's book! And there's no doubt she's passing on lessons that would make a great book if their language could be written.

Cheryl, your reasoning makes great sense, as always. In your first explanation of the event, it came across that Heidi thought you were the one meowing - and that would be quite disturbing. I hadn't caught the fact that Heidi couldn't see Kitty, so it made little sense that she would think you were making the sound. If in her mind you were making sounds associated with an enemy, that would be a darn good reason to retire from the field. Wonder what she'd do if she thought you were purring?

Susan,

Thank you so much. I'm really glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for letting me know!

Thanks, June!

Ok, this thread is now WAY past long. Since the long ones get difficult to load especially on dial up, I've made a new thread where we can continue our story. Our new thread is at:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1122920/


Please mark the new thread and join us there for a continuation of the Heidi and Friends story!
We really hate it when we loose you during the change-over. :-)

This message was edited Aug 14, 2010 11:54 PM

Uh oh....the link isnt working

Thank you, Sheri!

Ok, I fixed it.

Ok, this thread is now WAY past long. Since the long ones get difficult to load especially on dial up, I've made a new thread where we can continue our story. Our new thread is at:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1122920/


Please mark the new thread and join us there for a continuation of the Heidi and Friends story!
We really hate it when we loose you during the change-over. :-)