Heidi Chronicles: Up To Our Ears In Kits

Ditto to what Sheri said!

Adding my ditto ↑

i'll ditto the ditto

Cheryl -- you truly have a gift. those wonderful creatures trust you - and you are so blesses to be a part of their daily lives.... and we are blessed to share it with you thru your creative writing.

And yet another ditto. And I suspect that Cheryl will need to change names/locations to protect the innocent in her book.

Cheryl -- I popped a lil something in the mail, which you should get Monday.... get the "kids" some new toys or favorite snacks. ;-)

I had fully intended to come back here last night to chat, but I got caught up with things and... well, as you can see, I didn't make it. Sorry.

I want to thank Sheri and all of you who 'dittoed' the emotion expressed. Thank you for the truly wonderful compliments. You words and sentiments mean a great deal to me, more I think than you will likely ever know. They bolster me at a time when I'm feeling low. They remind me that I still have a lot to give even as I am at times feeling a bit old and worn out in a world that treasures youth and has grown way to accustomed to tossing the old out with yesterday's garbage, a world where I'm expecting to find myself perched on the curb for pickup any day now. They give me that wonderful sense of belonging that we humans all need (pack animals that we are). They empower me. They make me feel good in myriad ways many of which I cannot even fully articulate even for myself. Thank you. Thank you all. I am truly and deeply touched. I am practically speechless. And I am incredibly joyous!

Ruth,

I guess you are right (that I'm lucky to be able to return meat to nature...) I put pork out in winter once after the raccoons had stopped coming around regularly and found it still out there the next day. It was that experience which left me concerned about possibly having to pick the meat up again if I were to toss it about. In winter, things are less reliably consumed out there, but spring through fall I find that anything I put out there, no matter how old or spoiled, will be completely gone by morning which is really wonderful.

It means I can get rid of unwanted food in the best possible way. I don't have to deal with it sitting around smelling up the garbage can or the sink disposal. Every morsel gets recycled. No cleanup necessary. And the wildlife gets fed. You can't get any 'greener' than that.

I served the pork for 2 days at the buffet. The following day I put out chicken bones. I had found chicken quarters (leg/thigh) for $.49/lb and cooked 3. I like to cook for multiple meals at once. Unlike most people, I actually like leftovers unless it's something that needs to stay crisp or which otherwise will not be the same when reheated.

I had cooked the 3 quarters using my Mom's method, cooking the chicken long and slow over low heat and with only the moisture in the chicken itself. The chicken ends up browned in caramelized onions and garlic and seasoned heavily with black pepper. Growing up, this was my absolute favorite chicken dish. (I didn't have any fresh garlic, so I had to substitute ground garlic from the spice rack, but it was still delicious.)

I hadn't realized it but that long, slow method of cooking which always makes the chicken so wonderfully tender had also rendered the bones readily chewable for the raccoons. Usually when I give them chicken, they eat the meat off the bones leaving the bones for later when they run out of food. The bones are always gone by morning but never eaten while I'm there. Not so with these bones.

I put the remains of those 3 chicken quarters out the next day (after the 2 consecutive days of pork). Since I was confident the chicken would be eaten, I tossed the bones around the area to make them available to all. Dennis arrived 1st as is often the case. Dennis, as you probably know by now, only wants cookies, lots of cookies, and a handful of kibble. But not this time...

Dennis smelled the chicken as she walked toward the buffet. This time she didn't run over to my side as she usually does. This time she sniffed around until she found the 1st chicken bone on the grass. She picked it up and ate it, just crunched easily right through bone and meat, ate even the leg bones as easily as if they were crackers. When she finished the 1st bone, she walked around the area until she found another and then another and then...Dennis single-handedly ate 7 of the 9 leg, thigh, and back bones after which she was too full to show any interest in cookies. For a while there I didn't think she was going to leave anything at all for the others. I was quite surprised, too, since this is not Dennis' usual style.

As soon as Petey arrived he went straight over to one of the remaining chicken bones, picked it up, and carried it over to the bird bath where he sat dipping it in the water and eating it. Just like Dennis before him, Petey ate the whole thing bone and all as easily as if he had been eating crackers. When he finished that piece he went back for the last piece and ate that, too.

Petey shows a most unusual fondness for meat. I suppose that will be good for him. As a growing male he probably needs the protein and other nutrients to pack on the muscle. All I know is if there is any meat offered at the buffet when he arrives, Petey will go directly to it before anything else. He has also learned to eat a few animal cookies now for dessert, BTW. For the longest time he would never touch cookies, but finally now he is eating animal cookies.

Every morsel of chicken, ever bone, ever sinew was gone before most of the guests had even arrived. All that remained was the tell-tale aroma to let others know what they had shown up too late to enjoy. It seems even the raccoons prefer Mom's chicken with caramelized onions.

Yesterday I decided to share some of the cats' unwanted toys with the raccoons. They had a small plush toy designed for cats that they never showed any interest in. It was a stuffed thing, not patterned after an animal or really anything in particular, just a furry, stuffed, circle with short, floppy 'arms' extending off of it. It was brown leopard print faux fur. Since the cats' never cared for it, I figured I'd give it to the kits. I also took one of their plastic balls, the type with the bells inside. They aren't that fond of those either, and they have several.

When I 1st arrived at the buffet area, no one was around. While I was setting things up, I put the ball on one side of the area and the stuffed thing on the other. Tossing an item like that towards the kits will sometimes frighten them. This way when they arrived they could find the toys themselves.

There were lots of kits there last night: I recognized Dennis' 3, Petey, the yearling's set, and Bast's set. Those 2 toys didn't last long. The saw the bright green ball 1st. I'm inclined to think they do see color since they always seem to respond to brightly colored toys. As soon as one kit spied the ball, he went over to it and claimed it. He left the area and the food, going off to one side with the ball. After a little while, he returned having stashed the ball safely off to one side to play with later. After he finished eating, that same kit went back to get the ball and play some more.

It was a while before any of them noticed the stuffed thing. The brown leopard print had a camouflage effect blending in with the dirt and grass. Even though the kit who finally saw the toy was a foot or more away from it, still I could tell the instant the kit saw the toy there in the grass as his eyes lit up with excitement. The kit hurried to the toy, bumping into other kits as he passed them, eager to get to the toy before anyone else saw it. The kit grabbed the toy and ran over to the willow tree with it.

Alas, I didn't get to see any of the kits actually play with the toys, but I did get to see those joyous moments when they 1st spotted the toys and ran to retrieve them looking for all the world like human children on Christmas morning when they walk out from their rooms rubbing their sleepy eyes and see all those toys under the tree for the 1st time.

It was clear the kits recognized the toys and were excited to receive them, and that alone made my heart happy. To this day it still amazes me that wild animals recognize toys and think "yay! I want to play with that!" I understand that 'we' design them as suitable toys for cats and dogs, but I always figured humans had to show pets that "hey look, we can play with this." It just blows me away that baby wild animals look at balls and stuffed animals and immediately know what to do with them - but they do, every time!

Ooh Cheryl, that "Mom's chicken" sounds delicious! I almost wish I were a raccoon living in your woods!
I'm so sorry that you are struggling with this down time from work. Feeling old and worn out is no fun, as I well know.
Please remember that this is just a season that you are passing thru. I'm sure that things will get better in time. I'm no Pollyanna but you have very valuable skills and we know Who holds your future.

I'm sending you a big hug and a prayer!

Sheri

Thank you, Sheri!

I'm fine. Really. :-)

This afternoon at the buffet things were going pretty normal. Petey approached my leg. He does this at least once on every visit. No big deal.

Then suddenly when his nose was only inches from my leg, Petey stopped. His hair stood on end making him look much larger than he really was and his back arched slightly, like a Halloween cat only not quite to that degree. Before I could even begin to try to make sense of his behavior, he stood upright. In recent months I've learned that there are at least 2 upright poses for a raccoon: the very upright posture they adopt in dealing with me, when they want a treat and so forth, and then the partially upright position, back arched, shoulders rounded, leaning forward, arms dangling down from rounded shoulders. The latter position, I've recently learned, is associated with fear and may precede a forward lunge in the direction of the creature that has provoked the response. It was THIS latter upright posture that Petey adopted while standing only inches from my leg and looking at me.

Suddenly, I heard a low, guttural, growling sound. I wasn't sure where it originated. Petey was still standing at my knee, his hair on end, looking fearful. Had he growled at me? I didn't think so, but who then? I looked around 1/2 expecting to see Kitty somewhere near me, but there was no sign of her. I heard the growling sound again and then again. Now Heidi had moved up behind Petey and she, too, was standing upright - in the 'bad' upright position. Both seemed to be looking either at me or slightly to the left of me. I couldn't tell for sure but I glanced again and saw no sign of Kitty there either behind me or 2 my left.

There was the mystery growl again...and Heidi and Petey, standing close in front of me, hair on end, staring at me. I was becoming scared too now. What was going on? Was it Heidi that was growling at me? Did she think I was harming Petey? Was she about to attack me? What the heck was going on?

Suddenly Heidi and Petey began to back away from me, still standing upright. Now they both got down and backed into the bushes. I could still see their two sets of eyes peering out at me. Now I could hear that mystery growl again. This time I thought it came from the shrubs over by the willow. I was scared. What creature was this growling this way?

...continued

So there I am looking all around high and low desperate to figure out who's growling and what's going on. Heidi and Petey are still standing shoulder to shoulder in the bushes, their 2 sets of eyes staring out at me, looking as though they've seen a ghost.

I call to Heidi, "It's ok, Heidi". Slowly she and Petey come out from the bushes but stay at the back of the buffet area over where the pool used to be. They eat a little more of the kibble I'd tossed around for the kits. Now there's the growl again. Suddenly Heidi and Petey take off for the fence, climb as fast as they can, and disappear into the forest.

Sitting there alone at dusk, or so I think, I again look all around the area desperate to find the source of the growling. And then I see it.

There close up under the back of my garden buddy seat is Kitty stretched so long and lean and pressed so tightly up against the seat that she is practically wedged up under me, her head down at the ground on my far left. I reach down and pet her head. She doesn't try to move away. She's in her friendly mood. With the raccoons gone now, thanks to her, she gets up and walks out in front of me in the buffet area, and I start to realize that OMG, she did this on purpose. She wanted to get rid of the raccoons, and she did it. She is almost scary smart. Apparently, the that day when she was sitting behind me growling and all the raccoons ran away, she realized they would run away if they thought the sound was coming from ME!

Man, I sure hope she never decides to get rid of me.

Before she pulled that stunt today, Kitty had started accompanying me to the buffet a few days ago. She would go out with me and hang around right out in front of me as I sat on my garden seat - and she would let me pet her. She didn't cause any trouble though. She would hang around with me and then disappear before the raccoons came over the fence. Sometimes I would see her sitting on top of the automatic hose real back by the house where she was far enough from the buffet so as not to annoy the raccoons.

Then she started scenting things in the area. Do female cats have scent glands? That they can use at will? A few days ago while waiting with me, she got on the straw bale and backed her rear up to the composter. I could see a small amount of clear liquid running down the composter in places. In the position she was in, urine would have gone straight down. Whatever this was it managed to go straight out behind her to get on the composter. Later that same day Petey got up on the same straw bale and was smelling that area of the composter.

But she wasn't causing any trouble or bothering the raccoons nor they her, until today that is, so I didn't pay much attention. Until...today.

Here is Kitty sitting on top of the composter after she managed to drive all of the raccoons away with her little stunt. The composter is, with respect to my garden buddy seat, on the right side and some 10-12 ft in front of me (or closer to the forest). Is it just me or does she look like she's celebrating? (Man, she even managed to pull one over on Heidi - twice now! She's good.)

Sure enough, that strait back squirt that you witnesses was definitely scent marking for territory.
What a frightening thing that must have been for the raccoons....their very special human was growling at them.
Kitty needs to be elsewhere during buffet time. I hope that things return to normal....uh...if there really is a normal here! ^_^
Oh, and to answer your question: yes Miss Kitty looks very proud of herself upon the composter!!

Sheri

Oh yeah, that is Kitty enjoying her moment as queen of the hill. And ROFLOL at "man, I hope she never decides to get rid of me." That was a lowdown dirty trick on Kitty's part, but truly well done.

And yes, as Sheri says, female cats are quite capable of urine marking just like males though they do it less often. It's usually done to mark disputed territory (or when in heat, which certainly doesn't apply here) and in this case is clearly done to claim the yard as her own.

Loved the description of the kits discovering their new toys. The rehabbers always give toys to the orphaned baby raccoons; but like you, I always assumed that we humans teach other species' babies to play with them, however unconsciously. Clearly that's not true, and it's fascinating.

Terese,

I got your letter. Thanks! I sent you a dmail. :-)

Sheri,

I thought Kitty looked mighty proud of herself perched up there atop the composter (which is quite near the fence), the very same composter she had marked a day or two earlier.

I'll have to try harder, but it isn't always easy - or possible - to lock Kitty away indoors before I go out to the buffet especially now that she isn't spending much time indoors anyhow. That day she was indoors when I left and she went out with me, but most of the time she's outside already that time of day, and there is no way I can catch her if she doesn't want to come in. She's very smart. She knows my routine, knows that I feed the raccoons every day about the same time, and she makes plans to be there. Until recently, she had been lying atop the auto hose winder back at the house to watch the events at the buffet, and then going inside with me at the end. She stayed far enough away so as to avoid trouble.

Now that she has figured out this idea of hiding up against me or up under my seat, things have become more challenging. I guess for starters I need to check around my seat a short time after I sit down.

Ruth,

It really does amaze me, but kits (and even adult raccoons for that matter) recognize cat and dog toys as play things immediately. And I really still have trouble wrapping my head around that concept, but it's quite true. In the past I have been known to either toss the toys gently into the center area when the kits are there or even hand a toy to one of the kits. This time (and others more recently) the toys were lying stationary on the ground long before the kits arrived, and I did nothing to call attention to them, yet I could tell the moment the kits saw them. The 1st kit to spy either of them, rushed over to claim it and hide it away somewhere for later. Claiming the toy took precedence over eating.

To this day they still take toys out of the bucket on the patio. They play with the toys on the patio and sometimes carry them around the yard or to the buffet area. I pick the toys up from time to time and put them back in the bucket, but they never stay there. The next day a toy or two will be back on the patio. Over time more and more of the toys will move from the bucket to the patio - or yard. They definitely recognize them as toys, and they definitely play with them.

I gave them some bird toys (parrot toys) once, but they didn't show much interest in those. The bird toys just sat for weeks in the spot where I left them. It's interesting how toy designers are able to design toys that are targeted to the type of animal (and similar animals).

I didn't put all the pieces together until later, but the all of the raccoons were acting strange yesterday. Kitty must have been lying there up under the back of my seat from the very beginning.

Dennis was 1st to arrive. She always comes over and sits beside my leg to eat kibble from the ground and take cookies from my hand. Yesterday she kept her distance. She didn't come over beside me like she normally does. She ate the food from Heidi's dish instead. She never does that. There are no cookies at Heidi's dish, and Dennis always wants cookies. Kitty wasn't growling then, but I guess Dennis could smell her scent which, again, appeared to come from me.

Dennis and one of her kits had been there only a short time, both eating from Heidi's dish. They ate a couple of broken animal cookies but only when I held them out to them at arms length. I remember thinking how odd it was that Dennis didn't come over beside me once I got out the cookie bag. Then, when I tried to pour crumbs from the cookie bag onto the top of the food they were eating, Dennis and the kit suddenly got scared and took off for the fence. I called to them, but they ignored me as they scurried up the fence and into the forest. They didn't return either.

Even at the time I remember thinking how odd that was. Dennis never gets scared of anything I do, and she never runs away from me like that, especially not when I have cookies. I mean, for goodness sake, I've popped Dennis on the head more than a few times more than a few times when she used to act up. I've yelled at her. I've even kicked her gently with my foot when she would grab onto my leg (the way cats do sometimes) as I was trying to walk to the buffet area with the food. Nothing I did ever scared Dennis, even when I was trying to scare her to get her to stop acting up. But yesterday when I tried to pour the cookie crumbs in the dish, she 'grabbed' her kit and they took off as though I had suddenly sprouted a 3rd eye and a set of horns.

...continued.

I suspect that the need for play is an instinct in all young animals; it is, after all, how they learn the physical and mental skills they will need to survive as adults. Anyone who doubts this just needs to watch young kittens mock-fighting, pouncing on small things, puffing up like Halloween cats, etc. If that's true, then logically young wild animals must use "found objects" in their habitat as toys to learn the skills they need. But this still leaves the question of how they recognize manufactured items as toys; maybe they're just a new/different category of found object. And we do know that raccoons are every bit as curious as cats, and love to investigate/manipulate things with their incredible paws. I guess it does make sense, but it remains really fascinating.

Well, the other day, the day Kitty pulled that stunt, I said I was going to continue the story of how odd everyone was acting even before Kitty started growling. That sure was a weird day.

After Dennis and the kit left, Heidi showed up with 2 of her kits. When her head appeared atop the fence, Heidi looked around the yard as she always does, surveying the area before entering, except this time instead of coming down the fence and straight over to me, she disappeared back below the fence for a minute or two before finally coming out onto the fence. She walked along the top of the fence down to the area level with the willow tree and then came down quickly disappearing into the line of shrubs that separates that tree from the lawn. She eventually made her way to the buffet but only after taking a very circuitous route around the edges of the yard, something the raccoons do when they are feeling uncertain about things. Once again, I thought this was odd, but I ignored it.

Finally Heidi's 2 kits came down to follow her. She still didn't come over to eat in front of me as she always does but stayed way back on the far side of the buffet. Again I found this odd but told myself maybe she wanted to stay over there with the kits. Heidi likes to eat from a large pile of food, especially in a dish, where she can easily scoop it up by the handfuls w/o having to waste time picking it out of the grass. But on this day, even though I had filled her special dish with kibble just the way she likes it, Heidi stayed on the other side of the buffet walking around picking up bits of kibble I toss over there for the kits. Kits like to wander around, so, whereas adults prefer a pile of food, loose food scattered about is more conducive to the way kits eat especially since a group of siblings is very comfortable eating together and sharing an area. Adults on the other hand need a well defined spot of food which they can defend as they don't like to share.

Bast didn't show up that day at all. I have to wonder if she was in the area but smelled the cat and decided to stay back. One of the yearlings was over on the edge of the lawn near the willow with her kits. Even before Kitty started growling, I had noticed her kits standing upright (in the frightened way) and looking over toward me. They did this several times their eyes wild with fear. It was almost as though everyone were seeing some ghost that was invisible to me. I didn't understand.

Then, with Heidi and the other kit still far across the buffet from me, little Petey made his way over to eat from Heidi's dish in front of me and then finally walked toward me to sniff my leg as he does pretty much every day. That's when he suddenly puffed up, his hair standing on end, and then stood upright. That's when Kitty started to growl and I became even more confused as I looked behind me and saw no sign of her. That's when Heidi got involved coming over to stand upright behind her son looking at me with concern. That's when I, still unable to find any sign of Kitty (who was hiding pressed up against the bottom back side of my garden seat, up under me), began to wonder if Heidi was growling at me. That's when everything went wrong, the raccoons all ran away, and Kitty revealed herself coming out to walk victorious around the now empty buffet area.

I'm not sure how the raccoons interpret what happened, but in retrospect it's clear to me that they smelled Kitty and realized something was 'wrong' at the buffet long before things erupted enough to alert even my far less sensitive human senses.

Yesterday when I went out there for the 1st time after the incident with Kitty, I sat alone for a while, so long that I began to think perhaps no one would show up at all. This time I had taken care to prepare everything ahead of time so that I could run out of the house in a hurry. Then, at 7PM I let Kitty in for her dinner and ran out to feed the raccoons immediately after serving up her coveted canned food. It's pretty much impossible for me to get out the door w/o letting Kitty escape, and I knew she would be ready to go outside again as soon as she finished that 1/4 can of wet food which wouldn't take long, so as soon as I put the food in her dish, I grabbed my bag and headed for the buffet.

Then I sat and sat and sat, waiting. Eventually, Heidi showed up with all 3 of her kits. Sure enough, this time Heidi knew things were back to normal. Even before she looked over the fence, she obviously knew things were ok, because she let the 3 kits lead the way over the fence 1st with her bringing up the rear. Unlike the previous day, this time all 4 of them came directly down the fence in front of me and quickly scurried over to where I was sitting.

I had been afraid that Petey might not come back to me after his experience the day before (w/Kitty), but my fears were quickly alleviated as Petey came over to eat kibble from around my feet - despite the fact that there was lots of food elsewhere. Petey does that. Instead of walking right up to me for a treat, he makes it look as though he just accidentally ended up there while eating. lol. Not sure why he does this.

Yesterday I made sheet cake for them. I got the idea while talking with a friend and remembering how much they always enjoyed cupcakes. I have a number of boxes of cake, muffin, and brownie mixes in the cupboard (not to mention that area stores are running them at 1/2 price almost every week lately), and I still have cans of frosting and marshmallow left from last year, so I made a thin, white sheet cake and frosted it with the white frosting they like so much. When it was cool and dry, I cut it in 1in squares and took a bunch out with me to the buffet.

The tiny cake squares were a big hit! The kits were adorable stuffing cake in their faces. Petey took 3 of the small squares directly from my hand. Even when he had eaten his fill of cake, he continued to stay there at my feet. Not sure why. He just seems to enjoy being near me for some strange reason - but I'm not complaining!

Bast showed up with her kits. Bast loves cake. She ate roughly 1 million, 3 hundred and sixty of the tiny cake squares. As I've been eager to fatten her up, I made no attempt to stop her. I think we all know how good cake is for putting on the pounds. Right?

Bast is actually looking pretty good now. I forgot to mention, but that weird lump on her back actually was another large abscess as some of you had suggested. It drained a while back, so now she looks more 'normal'. In the short time since she started coming out earlier for the buffet and her kits got old enough to eat solid food, Bast has already fleshed out so that her hip bones no longer stick out precariously.

Bast was always thin, having a sleek cat-like look unlike the other raccoons. Before her injury she reminded me of an Abyssinian cat. The other day I was looking at her from a distance and noticed that she was starting to look more like her old self again. She still has a 'sore' where the abscess had been, but it's flat now and appears to be drying up. She's no longer emaciated as she had begun to look when the 4 kits were drawing her down. I'm very optimistic for Bast now especially seeing that she managed to feed 4 kits largely on her own.

After he got full, Petey began to play. It was a terrible moment to be sans camera. They little guy climbed into that old tractor scoot. Remember that thing? It shows up from time to time in the photos. It's all rusted out now so that it's no longer any good. Eventually, I'll take it out to the curb, but for now I leave it because it also has a lower, tool tray from which the raccoons love to drink.

Anyhow, Petey climbed into the tractor scoot such that he was lying backward on the tool shelf (the water had dried up and/or been drunk already). He was sort of semi-reclining such that his tummy was showing. He had the plastic top I'd pulled off of a container and was holding it on his tummy, rubbing it around and playing with it. He was very cute to watch. After a while he got down on the ground where he played for a while with a discarded piece of watermelon rind.

It was interesting, I thought, that he had chosen this particular day to play with all these makeshift toys just one day after I had put out the ball and plush toy for them. Coincidence? Had I given him an idea? Or was he trying to tell me he needed more toys?

It was around that time that I started thinking someone was coming with a dog, but of course that wouldn't be likely since we were behind the privacy fence. Then I realized I was hearing a bell ringing and it was that bell, which reminded me of the sound of Widget's tags clanging as he walks, that had caused me to think a dog was coming. But what was that bell sound? Where was it coming from? I kept hearing it, this constant and endless jingling bell sound, and then I remembered...the ball! One (or more) of the kits was hiding in the brush and playing with that little cat ball I had taken out there the other day - you know, those tiny balls that look like a brightly colored, plastic cage with a bell rolling around inside. (I'm sure Heidi was thrilled. She always used to love it when I gave those bell balls to the kits so they could make all that noise. lol.)

I was developing pics taken the other day and found that I actually have a pic of that kit running out to grab the plush toy.

Here is the next pic in the series. Those little tykes move fast. Here he's about to disappear back into the brush with the toy. If you look closely you can just see a bit of the brown colored fur sticking out under the kit.

The kit without the toy looks like it's either smiling for the camera or asking where its toy is.

I hope the next two days are gentle in Charleston. With Floyd barreling up the coast I sure do hope that the raccoons can somehow batten down the hatches and stay safe.

As most significant barometric changes make my joints uncomfortable, I hope you don't suffer thru the weather either.

Those raccoons sure are something. Of course you've figured it out...the smell must have been what alarmed them. Kitty may well have been doing some additional property marking to claim her turf.
You sure outsmarted her though with the catfood followed by your quick exit for the diner.

Sheri,

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't even realize we had a hurricane on our heals. Pretty scary. But its name is actually Earl. Normally, that wouldn't be important to me except that we've already been through the Floyd drill; I didn't enjoy it very much; and I definitely don't want to do that one over again.

More often than not, I think the raccoons (and esp kits for whom it's new) just look up when the light flashes and then the camera catches them making some weird face just as it does with us.

Now I have to go check on that hurricane.

Sheri,

It looks like Earl is currently almost directly beside us. It's at Latitude 27N and we are at 32N. I usually feel fairly safe once they pass us (in latitude) since they rarely ever turn around and go backward. Right now we aren't in the projected path. Fingers crossed that things stay that way. (I've seen to many last minute turns to feel entirely safe until the storm is well past us.)

What is really surprising is that, according to the weather channel, we aren't even expected to get any weather effects from the storm either. Not that is very odd. As storms pass nearby we usually get rain. It has been sunny the last few days (wonderful!) and our 10 day forecast shows sunny right through until next Wednesday when we start having Tstorms again. (long after Earl has gone)

If I read the map correctly, there appears to be a pressure gradient around us, kind of like a Star Trek force field, steering the hurricane and the associated weather around us. That's how it looks to me, but I've never been very proficient at reading weather maps.

I hope you (and everyone else) will stay safe as the hurricane passes by. Of course, then we have 2 more behind that one. The good news is that as Earl passes by, the hot weather is supposed to be history by the weekend. Our projected temps drop to around 90 high and 70 low. Yoohooo!

Whew! That things a Cat 4. That's a Hugo. You don't want to mess with that for sure. And I don't either. I sure hope it takes the right hand projected path and goes on out to sea. I don't want it here, but I also don't want it to flood NC.

Cheryl -- i was thinking of you this morning when i watched the weather and they mentioned the Carolinas.

I will keep you and the critters in my thoughts until this massive thing passes.

You and your critters were first to come to mind for me, too, when I heard about the hurricane. I'm hoping and praying that you all remain safe and relatively dry.

Thanks, Terese!

Although I'm never comfortable until they pass my latitude, this one is not expected to effect us. It's pretty scary to look at the maps right now and see that even while we are enjoying brilliant sunny skies that monster storm is currently sitting right off our shore. That's how it is with hurricanes though.

At 2PM on the day Hugo smashed into us, it was a lovely sunny day with blue skies. You wouldn't have thought a massive Cat 4 hurricane was about to come on shore just a few hours later. It makes you realize how people on the coast were sitting ducks a century ago before weather satellites and other methods of forecasting these beasts. Without forecasters, we would have no warning at all.

Earl is now sitting right off shore. It's at Latitude 30N and we are at 32N. (It's at 75W while we are at 81W.) Very close. Were it not for the slight difference in longitude, it would be in our laps. Later today when the storm passes beyond 32N latitude, I will breath a lot easier. While nothing is impossible, hurricanes virtually never back up or travel S or SSE, so once they pass your latitude you can pretty much figure you are safe - from that one, anyhow.

We are probably pretty safe now, since a big storm like that has a lot of inertia such that it probably can't make a sharp enough turn (virtually 90 degrees) to hit us from where it is now. Still, for the human mind it's scary just to know the beast is sitting right beside us like that, and if it did decide to turn this way, we would not be able to get out of town quickly enough to save ourselves.

Thank you, KyWoods!

Right now it's sunny here. Hurricanes are weird that way. It's usually sunny all around them - and in the center or eye. Hurricanes are sort of like giant vacuum cleaners - or humongous tornadoes. I guess maybe they suck all of the clouds and rain and negative energy into them leaving brilliant skies all around. Fingers crossed it will pass by us soon.

We are not in any of the warning or watch areas though. None of the forecasters or computer models think we are in danger. But, again, if the storm were to suddenly turn and slam into us from where it is right now, we would be doomed as there would not be time to get out of time at this late hour.

Some years back when forecasters were certain that Floyd 'could not miss us' (their words), we all tried to flee only to find all roads out completely blocked by traffic that didn't move more than a mile or two in 5hrs. The shoulder of the interstate began to look like a parking lot as 100's of cars ran out of gas and engines overheated from sitting in one spot for hours, stranding people on the side of the road with a massive hurricane bearing down on us. That was even more terrifying than the actual storm.

Man, I hate hurricanes. We have had it pretty good the past several years. For a while there were no hurricanes. Then they all headed for the gulf for 4 or 5 years there giving us a break. This, what you see now, is more the norm for us. We don't get a direct hit but roughly once every 20yrs (and we are due now, BTW), but we spend the late summer and early fall months holding our breath and running out of town as the continent of Africa hurls one after another storm at us, like a pitcher warming up. It really gets bad when they are queued up in the ocean (like now). Right now those other storms in the ocean (coming behind earl are Fiona and Gaston) aren't hurricanes yet, but sometimes we have one hurricane aiming right at us with 2 or 3 more sitting in the ocean like airplanes at the airport queuing up to land.

Thanks for thinking of us!

The storm is now at latitude 31.7N. We are at 32.5N, so it really is almost directly beside us now. Still waiting for it to pass by us to be sure it's gone. It is still a gorgeous, brilliant, sunny day here.

BTW, the storm has dropped back to Cat 3. That's still a killer, but it's much better than a Cat 4. I'm holding my breath and praying for it to miss NC.

Now for a little raccoon news.

Dennis showed up last night. She was the 1st one there. Once again she came with the one kit. One wonders where the others are, but I do get to see them from time to time, so I figure they must just be out on their own a lot. As usual she begged for and ate the handful of cookies I had with me. When the cookies ran out and I tried to give her cake squares, she left with her kit in tow.

Heidi showed up with all 3 of her kits. Petey came up beside me. I tried to offer him cake, but he, too, wanted cookies. I dropped the cake down on the ground beside me. Petey stood upright beside me and all but put his feet on my leg while asking for cookies. He so reminded me of Dennis, not in behavior as he is very well behaved, but in his complete comfort around me. I tried to point down at the ground to show him the cake, but he kept trying to 'catch' my hand. It was all that I could do to keep from touching him (or being touched by him). I have no idea why, but Petey seems quite convinced that I'm just a giant, harmless, plaything and cookie dispenser. And I love it, of course.

A couple of others showed up with kits. There was definitely no shortage of the little furballs. No sign of Bast yesterday.

The other day it occurred to me that Dennis of all the unlikely raccoons may now actually be a pretty good Mom not just for the reasons we've already discussed but because of her energy. Dennis has always had more energy than she knew what to do with. It has mostly been a negative thing. But now that she is a bit more mature and paying better attention to her kits (and she really is), it occurs to me (mostly from watching her with the kits) that she may actually be great for taking them all over the forest in search of food and even for teaching them what she has learned.

I mean, Dennis has too much energy to sit still. In terms of her energy level, she's more like a youngster. She has the energy to take the kits all over the forest all night long now that they are old enough to do so. She has the energy to climb tree after tree after tree. In some strange ways I think her some of her 'problems' may now be assets.

Her kits are bit, much bigger than any of the others, and there seems to be a very interesting bond between her and the kits. In some ways she's like one of them, like a big sister maybe. They all seem very happy together, and lately she seems to interact more directly with her kits than any of the other mothers - because she is like one of them.

Of course, Heidi is still the better, more systematic and logical Mom, but Dennis has become a much better mom now than I ever would have imagined. Recently, I've also noticed Dennis running to check her kits anytime she hears a kit calling or hears something potentially dangerous. She is actually now becoming attentive and concerned for their well-being. And why not? If she's like one of them, a big sister, then they are now like her playmates that she needs to take care of.

Oh how I love your tales of the forest kids! I can just see little Petey begging it your leg. Is he standing up with his little precious hands outstretched waiting for you to fill with a tasty morsel. His total trust in you is so sweet and must really warm your heart. Personal close interactions with wildlife are just so very special.

I remember when I used to be a docent at the NC Zoo. I have always loved Elephants. I volunteered 2 afternoons a week and worked in the African forest Aviary, IDing birds and some plants to the visitors. the employee parking and entrance to the zoo took me for a walk on a path that bordered the Elephant and Rhino exhibits. I would spend no less than an hour or so each way at the Elephant exhibit. The keepers and the Elephants familiar with me. I learned about how much the Elephants loved peanuts and carrots! guess what I would always have a little bag of.

oops, I gotta go mow. The grass is way too long and tomorrow is Elvis' grooming appt. can't have him going out in long wet grass and messing up his fresh new doo.

Looks like Earl is gonna hit the outer banks and then bounce up to the eastern edge of long Island, mass and whatever else is in its path in New England. News now says it is the biggest one since ?? in 1991. I'm glad to live very inland in the Piedmont of NC, but we still have had some intense winds and rains here about 250miles from the coast. Every one is battening down the hatches cause "it looks like a bumpy ride".

being a baseball fan, I thought your comparison or analogy to a pitcher warming up was spot on