Heidi Chronicles: Up To Our Ears In Kits

I have been feeding the raccoons - most days. I get out there right at the edge of sundown and stay about 15 min or so, 30 at most, coming in while I can at least still see the ground in front of me.

It's an especially enjoyable time right now in Heidi Land, although not necessarily one in which there is much to tell. The kits are at a good age. For a while there they were growing like little weeds, but for the moment they seem to be taking a break, staying very much the same size for a while. They are at an age where they are a bit more independent, having the courage, ability, and parental authority to do pretty much what they want but still young enough and small enough to be just too adorable for words.

Each year is different. Some years, like last year for instance, they don't get to interact with me very much. This year I am positively submerged in them. I think perhaps Dennis may be the reason. She demonstrates daily that it's safe to come right up beside me and touch me and be touched by me. No matter what the parents say, it's pretty much impossible for kits to see her at my knee daily eating cookies and being petted with no negative consequences without learning to do much the same. In fact, no matter what their personal fears, she also teaches the parents that it's safe to let the kits come close to me since nothing ever happens to her.

So now that the kits are at this wonderful size/age, from the moment that little bush begins to jiggle and a kit pops up onto the top of the fence, it's on. The kits see me and come running just like a bunch of 1st graders at Grandma's house. They're at that age now where they just come bounding over the fence leaving their Moms behind. They run right over, fearless and friendly, to see what I've brought for them today.

(Feeling that 'auhhh' moment now as the meds kick in to dull the pain, hence the reason I can sit up a bit longer - although my words may well be a mess even though they sound ok to me. you might need to take meds, too, to read them.lol)

I'm only out there a short time right now, but it's an intense time. Everybody shows up in quick succession at right about sundown. I will barely get Heidi's bunch squared away before I see Dennis' kits on the fence top, followed by those of one of the yearlings, and so on. Soon there are kits all around me, beside me, in front of me, behind me, all wanting to get close to me. There are a few more timid ones who stay back a little ways, and I'm always careful to toss them cookies every time I give cookies to those up close, but many of them want to come up to me to get their cookies personally - and I love it, of course.

What's really crazy is Petey doesn't even like cookies very much, but he still comes running to see me every day as soon as he comes down the fence. Some days he won't eat cookies at all. Other days he might only eat a 1/2 of one, but he likes to get up close to me just the same. Yesterday, he took Dennis' spot. That's how close he gets. Unable to resist any longer, I reached down and put my hand on his back. He didn't even flinch. His skin didn't even ripple. He just turned his little head around and looked at me as if to ask what I wanted.

Sometimes the kits argue with one another over access rights, each wanting to be able to come right up to me. Litter mates usually get along well and share - at least they do if they have a good Mom who teaches them such behaviors - but kits from different litters are inclined to argue. Yesterday, two of Dennis' kits had been coming up to me for cookies and then taking them a little distance away to eat. Then when Petey arrived and established himself beside me, he protested at the idea of them coming up so close to him. He ran them off so that they had to go around and find a different point of access.

A while back I had mentioned that Dennis' kits were much larger than Heidi's (or any of the others). The others are catching up now though. There is little if any observable difference in size between Heidi's and Dennis' kits now.

It's a great time at the buffet now as I mentioned. I picked up a bunch of cookies recently and am really enjoying the opportunity to interact with the kits and watch them eat the cookies. This, without a doubt, is the absolute best part of the year at the buffet. There aren't a lot of interesting individual stories to tell, but every minute that I'm out there is simply magical.

Those poor kits are gonna need a dentist with all the cookies they are eating *giggle

LOL, renatelynne,

Actually, they only eat 2 or 3 a day. I break the cookies into smaller pieces so it seems like more - more cookies, at least. But with such an army of kits out there right now, that still adds up to a lot of cookies. Luckily, they don't all show up most nights, and a few kits (like Petey and one of Bast's) don't eat cookies. They almost seem to stagger their visits, one on, one off. Still there are usually 10 or so kits there most nights.

I guess 2 or 3 cookies a day, or every other day since they stagger visits, is still a lot for the little guys, but you know what they say, "You're only young once." I like to spoil the little darlin's when they are little.

I just came back in from another very pleasant night at the buffet. (My pain eased up considerably about an hour after my earlier posts - when the pain meds kicked in. After that I had a pretty good day. Even got some organizing/cleaning done in the MBR closet, mostly sitting on a stool/ottoman thing.) Tonight was very much the kind of night I wrote about above.

That Petey is certainly a very interesting character, for many reasons. He's adorable, as I've said many times, but I suspect he may also be a handful when he gets a little older. I do believe he is the 1st kit I've ever seen use the very things his mom taught him to then turn around and challenge her, especially at such a young age.

I believe I mentioned previously that I once watched Petey try to use the Steal to take away Heidi's dish. It didn't work, but it was still a bold move for the very little guy he was at the time. For weeks now he has been running ahead to claim Heidi's dish most nights so that she ends up eating from a pile on the ground. Every now and then she manages to get the dish 1st, but rarely.

When Petey gets there 1st and lays claim to the dish - which invariably has more food in it than he can eat - the little *bleep* will actually get down low to the ground and growl at his mom if she tries to walk up and share the dish with him. He's like, "Hey, you know the rules, Mom", and Heidi backs away to look for kibble elsewhere. Honestly, I think she could take him (lol), but he's right about the rules, so she backs down and eats elsewhere. Lately, she doesn't even try to use the dish most nights if he gets it 1st.

Petey never goes around bothering others or starting fights, understand, but he must have paid very good attention when Heidi explained the rules of ownership, and he always stands his ground whenever anyone tries to mess with his stuff. It doesn't matter if it's his mom, one of the other kits (he'll share with his siblings), or another adult. It doesn't even matter if it's something he doesn't want, like a cookie lying beside his dish. If anybody gets too close to his stuff, that little fella drops into a defensive position and stands his ground. (Maybe with his mom he's just practicing. I don't know.)

Today, like most days, Petey ran out ahead of the rest of his family when they arrived, so he got the dish. I had intentionally put the dish a little farther away (in front of me) today. He ate there for a short while and then, leaving a dish full of easily accessible food behind, I looked up to find him wandering around at my feet searching for the few (very few) bits of kibble I had dropped there while distributing it - and I do mean at my feet. He quite literally had his nose to the instep of my boot as he searched the grass for kibble.

As I hated to see the little guy searching for the mostly non-existent kibble, I dropped a small handful of kibble just in front of my boots for him, just enough so that one could actually see it. A few minutes later he wandered around [the table I have in front of me and a bit to the right now] to the spot against my right side where Dennis always eats. Dennis had not arrived yet, so there was no food there, but Petey has learned to expect a little stash of food there, so he came for it anyhow.

Most of the others, kits and adults alike, will stand or sit in one spot for the entire meal (if the food doesn't run out), but not Petey. In that he always eats a little here and a little there, he reminds me a bit of a slightly more sedate version of Dennis. If you put food where he is, it's best not to put much since he won't be there long.

Still, Petey comes over to me pretty much every time he's at the buffet, and often, like today, he spends the majority of his time eating right up close to me, 'Dennis' close, in places where most of the others would feel uncomfortable. I was thinking about that today, because it seems to contradict my belief that the raccoons are only interested in food, that they don't particularly want any kind of close contact with me but only come near me for food/treats.

Petey doesn't want cookies or other treats, and there is plenty of kibble all over the area. He doesn't need to come close to me to get kibble. In fact, he leaves a nice, full dish of kibble, the best supply at the buffet, to come over and hang out beside me. Other than kibble, the treat Petey liked most was those pork ribs a while back, but I didn't hand those out as treats. He arrived to find them in a large bowl [when we had them], so, again, he has no real reason to associate coming up close beside me with getting special treats.

Doesn't anyone find it at all odd that Petey spends so much time up close beside me even when he doesn't want treats? Unlike the others, when he comes up beside me, he doesn't even look up to see what I have for him. He seems quite content with his kibble. Yet he likes to eat it beside me, up close in Dennis' spot - and will even defend that spot if need be. He actually seems to defy the idea that the raccoons are only here for the food. (Unless at his young age he's actually smart enough to get in good with me now in case I eventually bring a treat he wants.)

Is it possible that wild raccoons, if they can get beyond the fear, may actually enjoy camaraderie with us the way our pets do? I swear at this point it looks like either that or he has brain damage, too, since it otherwise doesn't seem to make sense for him to consistently eat so close to me when the same food is available farther away (at a safer distance).

Anyhow, today when Petey was up beside me in Dennis' spot, I reached down and rested my hand on his back [again]. Like before, he looked up at me for a moment as if to see what I wanted but otherwise didn't move or even flinch. He seems as trusting as Dennis. (I suppose it might also be possible that he wants to be close to me for - I'm not sure how to say this - status reasons as in 'the human controls the food so whoever is closer to the human enjoys greater status'. If that's the case, he could be vying for Dennis' slot. This should all be very interesting when he reaches the male raccoon version of the 'terrible twos' - or even the 'offensive ones'.)

Sounds like Petey has ADHD, too, lol.
I, too, have been out of commission most of the last week. Went to the emergency room last Tuesday night in severe pain, and came home last Thursday without my appendix. I am okay with just extra strength Tylenol now, but the prescription stuff sure helped the first couple days or so.

Cheryl and Ky, feel better soon! Cheryl, don't worry about posting; just work on managing the pain and feeling better. I'm sure the time with the herd of kits must help improve your outlook!

Petey's closeness to you may be about status, less likely ADHD, or simply curiosity. And really, it has to be a trip for something that small to control someone the size of a human. Treats on request; how cool is that? Hopefully since he's good at absorbing mama Heidi's lessons, he'll also take to heart the fact that you're the only safe human. The thought of him as a big jowly raccoon hunk approaching a stranger has really scary potential.

Sure hope both of you get to feeling better.

I must agree that Petey is an interesting little guy. He sounds adorable and it sure seems like he is very interested in you and enjoys your company. Somehow that doesn't seem strange at all to me. Of course, then I have a spider living right by my front door and I think she enjoys me visiting with her each time I go in and out the door.

Susan

Ya never know what spiders may be thinking....hey, if she doesn't run and hide...
I overdid the running around for a couple days, and had a little trickle from an incision and soreness from the seatbelt. So yesterday I stayed in bed most of the day, and feel much better today. Had to come to the library, as a book was due, but then I'm going home.
Hope you are having a decent day, Cheryl.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2010 12:57 PM

maybe that is Carlotte! does she ever leave words in the web?

Her name is Hazel She does write me messages, but I haven't learned to read them yet. She is a Writing Spider.

It looks like a bunch of I's, N's and Y's....I Love New York?

LOL

Glad you're feeling better, Ky; hope Cheryl is also.

Oooo, what a beautiful spider! Great pic, lincolnitess, you should enter that in the next DG photo contest!

Here's an interesting article about raccoons having once been considered as lab animals instead of rats:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39239077/ns/technology_and_science-science

Interesting article, Ky. No surprise that raccoons failed as lab animals; they probably had the tests figured out in a second, simply didn't care and wanted out of their cages. What a lousy thing to do to the coons; wild animals as lab subjects is just a wrong concept.

I agree, I'm glad they junked that idea.
Hoping you're doing well today, Cheryl.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still ok. Still having some issues but nothing to worry about.

KyWoods,

I'm glad to hear that you are doing better after your ordeal. That must have been very frightening - I mean, when you were in severe pain and before you knew what it was. I'm glad to hear that it all went fairly well, no complications.

I agree with you that pain pills are a godsend when you need them. Taken correctly they make it possible for us to get through things like surgery and injury w/o having to also endure gut wrenching pain. It frustrates me that some people are so determined to abuse them for recreational purposes. Their actions make things difficult for those who really do need the medication.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal but glad that all ended well. Sounds like you are recuperating well now.

As for me, I'm still having issues but, as mentioned, nothing to worry about. I still have some breath through pain but not all the time and mostly not as bad as that 1st day when I posted. I suspect that by next Monday I will be 'right as rain' as the saying goes. Thank you very much for thinking of me.

Thanks for the update, I'm glad you're okay, but sorry you're not better than that!
Oh, I named our little possum visitor "Frosty".

Thanks, KyWoods,

Frosty is a very cute name for the possum. I have seen any of mine around lately, not since I saw that baby one at the front door in spring. I figure they are probably still around though. They don't usually come around at feeding time when the raccoon's have young kits. I guess they are smarter than that. They probably drop by sometime over night to check for leftovers.

Pretty much anything I put out, no matter how disgusting by human standards, will be gone by morning. These days I try to consume every drop of everything, so leftovers are becoming as rare as blue diamonds. A few days ago, however, I tossed the remains of a spinach pilaf, a 'failed' dish from which I had eaten as much as I could talk myself into before finally deciding to give it up. Unfortunately, by the time I tossed it, the pilaf was 'ewe' quite spoiled. None the less, every crumb was gone by morning. The raccoons didn't show any interest in it while I was there. They may still have eaten it later, but I'm betting it was gobbled up by opossums later in the night.

Actually, I kind of miss Snowball, Puddle, and the others. It took me quite some time to warm up to those guys, but now I miss seeing them around. I especially miss the days when Snowball had, for a while there, become so 'tame' as to come up close to my ankles to eat on occasion. A few of them, Snowball included, had also begun to stand in the background (so as not to anger the raccoons) and look at me as if to ask me to toss them something - which I did. I miss that, too.

Frosty is a cute name - wish I had thought of it. ;-)

It was bound to happen, and so it has. The kits have now reached the point where, instead of finding a spot and eating the kibble I put there, they all run up all around me looking for cookies as soon as they arrive. Like preschoolers, they aren't thinking about dinner. They just want the 'candy'.

Last night they were all there already by the time I went out, so the groups of litter mates weren't even separated by the difference in their arrival times. They just all descended on me at once the moment I sat down. Every time I drew my hand back to toss kibble to one of the raccoons, the whole bunch of kits (who were already standing around me like a bunch of carrion eating birds), would flock to the hand hoping it contained a cookie.

The adults aren't much better. Although they are typically looking for kibble rather than cookies, any time I arrive out there after they have been waiting for a while, the adults are all gathered around and arguing with each other and vying for eating positions.

Yesterday when I got there, and they were all waiting for me, Heidi was standing upright in front of me as I tried to put my things down and dish up some grub, her two hands/arms outstretched as if to 'hug a tree', apparently her way of letting me know that she's hungry. She does this a lot these days. She 1st started it last year. I think that she does this is yet another sign of her comfort level around me.

When Heidi 1st started to stand upright arms in the air while I was getting ready to serve her, I was more than a bit intimidated by the posture. I thought she was trying to serve herself, thought she was pulling a 'Dennis' on me, trying to reach up to grab the food away from me. I was a little frightened by it and a lot angry and disappointed that she would behave in this manner.

In time I learned that I had misread the posture entirely. Even when I allowed the bag to sag enough so that it touched her hand, she made no attempt to grab it but merely moved back away from it. I still don't know exactly what the posture means, but it's now clear to me that she is not trying to snatch the food. (LOL, at me, because if Heidi were trying to snatch the food she would surely have gotten it long ago.) I gather now that she is comfortable enough to interact with me more fully, it's just her way of expressing herself, perhaps expressing her hunger and eagerness to eat, or maybe, like any thankful guest, expressing appreciation for the meal.

While Heidi does her little 'dance' in front of me, the others all scramble around her. In the days when they all had assigned eating spots, they used to stand at their assigned spots waiting, but lacking such, now they all scramble to and fro each acting as though they have temporarily forgotten that I always manage to toss them some food wherever they are.

And while all of this is going on, Dennis is standing (on all 4's, not upright) at her spot waiting to be fed - except that I can't get to my seat because her spot just happens to block the gap between my seat and the table I recently put there to hold my bag off the damp ground. The gap between my seat and the table leg is just wide enough to accommodate one leg. With Dennis standing in front of it, I can't get by. And Dennis is refusing to move out of her spot lest one of the many kits hanging around the area should steal it. Nope, she's holding on to that spot - and I can't get past her to sit down.

The other day I was thinking how this scene, especially when I 1st arrive on a day when they are out there waiting for me, would look to a stranger peeking over the fence. Can you just imagine their thoughts as someone watched me walking right into the middle of a group of raccoons, some rushing toward me, others growling and fighting, and Heidi standing upright in front of me looking like she's trying to grab the bag from my hands? Imagine how a stranger would interpret such events. They would surely think the growling and arguing was aimed at me, as though the raccoons were signaling an attack, and the little ones all rushing toward me would also look like they were on the attack. I'm sure such a stranger watching would think me crazy to walk into their midst that way and would further think me in grave danger and about to be ripped apart by a wild pack of angry raccoons. People really do seem to think that raccoons are viscous anyhow (as did I at one time), so I'm sure anyone seeing this scene would think they were watching my last moments.

LOL, and they would be wondering why you were so calm!
Poor little Frosty the possum is chased away by the raccoons, but he comes back later after they leave. I always put out more for him.

The other day we had another late afternoon thunderstorm. This one included heavy lightening. I feared I would not be able to feed the raccoons that day, but I hated to miss another day as I had already missed the day before.

Frightened by the storm, Kitty was in the house where her body, creeping about low to the floor, was following at my ankles as I moved about the house. Around 7:20P, I noticed that the rain had subsided and the lightening appeared to have stopped. Thinking I might still have time to go out and feed the raccoons, even though it seemed to be getting darkish out, I quickly checked the laptop for the time of sunset. It said sunset would occur in 1 minute. Ouch!

I hurried to grab my things and get outside. I tried to keep Kitty inside, but she was in that 'crazy' mood she gets in when her storm phobia is activated, so there seemed no negotiating with her, glued to my ankle as she was. When I got out on the patio and watched her still creeping along at my ankle, that crazed, not-thinking look on her face, I realized this was NOT going to work. It would not do for her to follow me to the buffet, especially not in that mood.

I picked her up, and put her back inside the house, apologizing as I did so. As I turned to walk out to the buffet once more, a small raccoon approached me. At 1st I didn't recognize him. Who was this? Clearly he knew me. He was only maybe 3ft from my feet now and still approaching. His face/body told me that he was friendly and happy to see me.

It was only then that I realized this 'raccoon' was actually a kit. They've gotten big enough now, maybe 1/2 the size of an adult, that, with no adult around for comparison, it wasn't immediately apparent that this was a kit. Just as I began to realize that this kit walking right up to me alone in the yard was Petey, his two siblings appeared far across the expanse of law where they were just beginning to venture cautiously out from behind the shrubs.

Petey walked with me to the buffet, and Heidi came out of the bushes as we arrived. That Petey had ventured out this way across the yard alone to come to get me was a pleasant surprise. He was behaving more and more like Dennis each day (but, so far, without the negatives). Apparently, Heidi and her family had been waiting for me when they heard me exit the patio door. Then, when I was detained for a bit while dealing with Kitty, Petey had decided to come and check on me to see what was taking so long. Cute. (And when I turned around to see Petey heading toward me, I was very glad I had decided to go back and put Kitty in the house - and that she had let me catch her.)

Awwww!

Yeah: awwww♥

Third the awwww.... :-)

Aww, precious Petey. I wish I could be you for a day! Petting Dennis, stroking Petey, all those little masked faced appearing thru the wiggling leaf branches. Sounds like heaven to me. I just know animals will be there!

Ruth,

About Petey, I think you must be right that it's the power thing. It's weird though because he never looks for treats and will very rarely take them if offered. He seems to have acquired Heidi's strict eating habits. He ate a piece of cookie or 2 early on and even then he would only eat one or 2 halves before he was done for the day - this in contrast to the other kits who will eat cookies until they pop. After a few days of this he stopped altogether and now will not eat cookies at all. He also ate one or two of those tiny, quarter sized chicken chips (dog treats) dipped in mm fluff a while back when I had those.

The strange thing about Petey is that he never asks for treats. Most of the time he doesn't even look up at me or acknowledge my existence unless I stick a cookie down by his face at which point he will look up, sniff it, and go back to eating his kibble. He also looks up at me when I rub his back or neck - and then, again, goes back to eating his kibble.

Yet pretty much every day he will leave his bowl full of food to wander over to my feet searching for the occasional bits of kibble hidden in the grass there. But he does not ask for anything when he gets there, nor will he eat treats if they are offered. Still, I guess it must just be the idea of being 'tight' with the human just in case he does want something - or maybe the power he gains with the others since they want treats and he 'owns' the one who controls the treats - or maybe just the idea of having the others look up to him for being so brave. Something like that. He is a male, after all, so his reasoning would probably be somewhat different from that of the ladies (what I'm used to).

Just w/in the past week he has started coming directly to me many days instead of going to 'own' Heidi's dish 1st and then making his way over to me, what he had been doing up until now. But even when he comes right up to me, all he wants is kibble. I give him a little pile of kibble beside me and he eats it w/o asking for anything else. He does, however, set up his imaginary perimeter around his spot and refuse to let others (such as Dennis' kits) approach me on that side for cookies, even though he doesn't want any). That behavior seems to show some kind of power struggle issues with him.

Petey is quite unique. As cute as he is now, I suspect there will be difficulties when he reaches the teen 'years'.

That must be what this spider is. My sister took this picture yesterday.

renatelynne,

Yes, all of the spider pics you guys have posted the last few days are the black and yellow argiope (argiope aurantia) a common 'garden spider' and 'orb-weaver'. Their webs have the very noticeable zigzag or writing in the center area. They grow quite large and stretch their large webs across the garden area where they catch lots of garden pests (but also the good guys like dragon flies, bees, and even, on rare occasion, humming birds).

Although they will bite if stressed to the limit, they are not at all aggressive, and their bite is not toxic to humans, although I've read that it does sting a bit. Even though mine do eat a few dragon flies, I like these and other orb spiders and encourage their presence in my garden.

I also find that they can be 'trained'. They learn quickly. When they stretch their webs across my garden paths blocking my way, I gently break one side of the web away from the support so that the web and spider fall [gently] to the other side. The spider is unharmed but has to work hard to build another web before dinner time. I usually only have to do this once, maybe twice per spider. The next day the web will either be oriented so that it doesn't block the path or it will be placed much higher in the air so that I can easily walk under it. They are 'smart' little ladies. (They are all females. The males of the species are teeny tiny things that look nothing like this and make smaller webs nearby in hopes of finding a girlfriend, hopefully one that won't eat them.)

Susan,

As I mentioned above, I have a bunch of those spiders in my garden. I like them, and, like you, I tend to think of them as 'friends'. As I mentioned above, they are 'trainable'. I do think they are aware of us on some level. I've also noticed that the ones in my garden quickly learn that I'm 'friendly'. The 1st time I go near the web, they may scramble to the nearby bush to hide, but after a time or two they feel safe around me and stay put when I go buy.

A few years back I had one at the front door. As long as she didn't block the walkway, I was happy to let her live there. Like you, I sort of thought that we had a 'relationship' of sorts. I figured we complimented each other nicely. I provided the house which attracted insects for her dinner, and she kept those insects away from my door. She learned to keep my walkway open, and we got along just fine.

Other people, however, did not appreciate her nearly as much as I did. Friends and visitors were forever saying things like, "Did you know you have this big spider at the front door?" or "Do you want me to kill that spider for you?" or worse still "I knocked that huge spider web down for you (expecting praise)".

Sadly, I eventually realized that as much as I liked my spider and thought of her as a 'pet' of sorts (or, at least, part of my wild menagerie), other people were horrified by her, making her presence so near the front door undesirable [in human society]. I finally acquiesced to societal demands and removed her web so as not to scare visitors away (teaching her to relocate it elsewhere). (sniffle, sniffle)

So I can definitely relate. I never thought to name mine, though. How cute. Hazel is a very lovely lady.

Hazel had a male making a web bedside her a few days ago, then a couple days later disappeared. No sign that she layed eggs. Must have moved to a new spot. I do wonder what my assorted mailmen thought of her. She was near the mailbox.

I would love to see a video of you with all the raccoons at feeding time. Heidi almost sounds like she wants to embrace you and Petey is a little charmer. You are lucky to have such a nice private place to interact with them.

I always feel guilty when I have to destroy a spider's web. When hiking down our old driveway, I take a small thin branch with me to keep the webs off me, but I collect the spiders gently and then place the branch down at the end of my trail so they can rebuild elsewhere.
It's good to be in the company of others who love and respect nature as much as I do!

An interesting thing happened a while back, around the time I reported that I was having some pain issues and 'couldn't' write. I've been waiting since then to tell you about it.

For the most part I've been pretty successful at keeping Kitty inside during buffet hours since that thing she pulled a while back. It's not easy though and is sometimes just not possible. Mostly, it hinges on whether she comes inside for her dinner before buffet thus allowing me the opportunity to hold her captive during the event.

On the few days when she was out, she had managed to stay out of trouble, until...


It had been one of those really great days at the buffet, Dennis at my side eating cookies; kits all around me and coming up to me; Petey at my feet. A perfect, fairy tale afternoon, and then...

I don't know for sure if this is what prompted Kitty to get involved. It may just have been a coincidence that she appeared on this day and at this time. I had closed the cookie bag and announced, "no more". Dennis left, but before she did so, she was sniffing around my hand, wrist, and lower arm. And then, she touched her nose to my lower arm, and ever so gently 'kissed' my skin with her front teeth. I say 'kissed' to emphasize just how light her touch was, so light, in fact, that I was not entirely sure of what I had felt or if her front teeth had even touched me at all.

She didn't bite me, didn't even nip me. Her teeth never came together in a bite, and only touched my skin so gently that they would not have left damage nor imprint in infant skin or velvet or a rose petal. The touch was more a thought, an idea, than anything, so light that to this moment I'm still unsure if she actually touched me.

Still, and even though I was unsure, I felt it important to act just in case. Teeth, in my view, should never meet skin, not in this scenario. Just to insure I made my point, I slapped my own thigh a medium hard blow and said, "no!"

Dennis jumped back, gave me a sullen look, and then walked away. Oddly though, she did not leave the buffet area as would be her normal response after eating but sat on the slope some 3 or 4 ft in front of the fence and remained there looking back at the yard.

Raccoons don't normally do this. As comfortable as they are in my yard, it is still a yard, and they are only really comfortable in the forest. They come here. They wait for dinner if necessary. They eat, and then they leave. If they wait afterward there is a reason. A pregnant or nursing mom may lie around a bit not feeling well and waiting to eat some more. A Mom of young kits may wait around for them to finish eating, and so on, but there is always a reason. They never just sit near the buffet to enjoy the afternoon sun as Dennis now appeared to be doing.

The image of Dennis sitting there on the slope was quite captivating, so much so that I longed for a camera with which to capture that moment. She was sitting upright her front feet on the ground in front of her, but she looked more like a human sitting on a beach dune, a breeze rippling through her hair than she did an animal. Raccoons have this way of sitting farther back on their butts so that their form resembles ours more than that of a dog or cat. That's how she sat.

One of her kits joined her almost as soon as she sat down, the kit also sitting upright in the same manner as Dennis, sitting up against Dennis' side but facing the opposite direction, Dennis facing the yard, the kit facing the forest. There was just something quite unusual and captivating about their pose. They reminded me of a young, human couple sitting there. It was a moment I will doubtless never see again and never have another opportunity to photograph.

I was still watching Dennis and the kit, still marveling in the beauty of their pose together their on the slope, still wondering why they were waiting there at all, when something attracted my attention, a motion perhaps or a the nearly imperceptible crunch of the grass, something I probably would not normally have noticed, but sitting with the raccoons has honed my senses considerably and heightened my awareness of the most minute things. I looked over my right shoulder shocked to see Kitty there walking slowly toward the buffet. "Oh, no!" I thought, almost unable to fathom that she would choose to approach the buffet at this moment with all these raccoon moms and their kits out. Whatever could she be thinking?

I didn't know what to do. Kitty was just beyond my right shoulder and posed as if to continue moving slowly forward. Once she passed my shoulder she would be in the buffet proper and 'fair game'. I didn't know what she thought she was doing, but I didn't want her to go forward into the buffet area with all those raccoons.

History had taught me that there is little I can do at such moments to cause Kitty to go back but that a raccoon such as Dennis would be quite effective at sending her back to the house where she belonged. From her current position Kitty would have no difficulty eluding one raccoon as she fled the area, but if she continued forward into the buffet area and were chased by many, I wasn't so sure.

I opened my bag, took out the coveted cookie, and called to Dennis who was still sitting there on the slop near the fence. If she came back toward her usual position there on my right side to get the cookie, Kitty would leave post haste knowing full well that Dennis would chase her if she were seen. Oddly, Dennis ignored me. She seemed to see me and hear me yet did not react immediately, did not jump up and come back for a cookie even though she had wanted more cookies when I had closed the bag moments earlier. Well this was certainly odd behavior for Dennis. Was she angry with me for the thigh slapping thing earlier, I wondered.

After a minute or so, Dennis slowly got to her feet as did the kit. Her demeanor was still 'wrong'. Her affect did not fit the situation. Slowly and in a somewhat indirect manner she made her way over to me, but her manner was not that of Dennis coming for a much desired cookie. She seemed nonchalant as she approached and took the cookie, disinterested in the cookie as though just taking it because it was there. She was not herself at all.

By the time Dennis arrived at my side for the cookie Kitty was gone. I had expected Dennis to see Kitty as she approached and give chase instead of stopping for a cookie, but no matter. As long as Kitty had been driven back, it had worked and all was well.

Still quite disinterested, Dennis ate her cookie and then left walking back toward the house. I figured she was going to chase or push Kitty back toward the house or perhaps even toward the front yard. Even when Dennis didn't return I didn't think much of it. After making sure that Kitty had left the area, she had likely made her way back through the other side of the yard and disappeared into the forest much farther down the fence where I had not seen her.

It was getting dark fast now. I stayed perhaps another 5 minutes, 10 max, and then gathered my things to head back to the house. As I approached the patio I found Kitty waiting for me on a garden path just in front of the patio. I only had to wonder for a second or so why Kitty was waiting here rather than on the patio for as I cast my gaze toward the back door of the house I was shocked to see Dennis lying there on the patio curled up on her side like a small dog about a foot from the back door.

And then the picture was complete. It was clear that Dennis had gone back to the house not just to push Kitty back but had stayed there to guard the back door and keep Kitty away. Kitty was hungry and was waiting to go in with me to get her dinner, and Dennis was lying guard there at the back door to keep her away. Dennis had probably been aware of Kitty's presence in the yard long before I was and had likely been waiting on the slope to watch for her.

I had long believed there was little difference between human and animal behavior but at that moment they reminded me of us more than ever before, and I was struck by the complexity of their relationships with each other and of their behavior.

I called Kitty and she followed me on the side away from Dennis. As I walked across the patio toward the door, Dennis got up and unceremoniously walked away. I held the door for Kitty to enter ahead of me and then went inside.

That is indeed a very interesting story. It does give you thought as to the motives for Dennis's actions. I bet by this time next year Dennis and Kitty will be if not best friends at least tolerent of each other. Each will realize that the other is a permament member of the Cheryl househould,or in this case yard.

Hmmm...maybe Dennis is jealous of Kitty, lol.

Judy,

The events of that evening were, if nothing else, quite shocking to me. I don't know just exactly what to make of it yet, but it was certainly a revelation.

So you think Dennis and Kitty will in time be friends, huh? Hmm. Interesting. I don't know. It's not really what I'm expecting, but then I've been wrong more than a few times before when trying to guess what the raccoons will do. I would like that, so I hope you are right. Time alone will tell.

"...member of the Cheryl household..." huh? Interesting. Could be. I've seen some indication already that the raccoons and even Heidi herself defer to my rules in the yard. For example, as we know, Heidi has very strict rules for proper behavior at the buffet. Everyone is required to stay a certain acceptable distance away from another's food. No one is allowed to walk across the central buffet area; this rule I see as analogous to our own feeling that no one should walk on across the dining room table at meal time, just basic common courtesy. And so on.

Realizing the importance of raising kits properly, Heidi, who is often perched in a central location at the 'table', is quick to reprimand any kit who breaks the established rules.

However, if she is berating a kit for walking to close to her food or walking across the buffet area and then looks up to see me holding out a cookie and calling the kit, she will immediately stop fussing at the kit and resume eating apparently deferring to me and to my rules. The kit is still breaking the raccoon rules, but when she sees that I am encouraging the behavior at that moment, she will overlook the rule infringement. It's as though I have the ability to momentarily override raccoon rules. This seems to indicate a willingness to defer to my rules while at the buffet and may possibly support your theory.

Time will tell. Hope you are right.

KyWoods,

You think? This again is probably not my take. I say 'probably' because I'm still trying to form my take on it all. But, who knows, you may be right. Dennis has shown a tendency to be jealous in the past. She 1st bit me when I was cuddling and babying Widget instead of paying attention to her - and instead of giving her treats. Dennis likes her treats, depends on them even.

Dennis doesn't always eat her 'veggies', but always, always wants her cookies. As she seems quite healthy, I figure with her youth and vitality she is probably more than capable of finding enough good food in the forest to sustain herself most of the time, but their are no cookies in the forest, and Dennis is a cookie addict.

Thus Dennis needs to be important to me in order to insure a constant supply of the sugary treats. I guess it is possible that she may feel threatened by the presence of other creatures who might take her place. It's possible.

My own theory is that this is more of a turf war thing, something that probably has little if anything to do with me and more to do with rights to a valuable and 'productive' piece of land. I figure this has probably been going on since Kitty and her kittens 1st showed up in the area and settled under the rosemary in my backyard. The raccoons were here 1st and see this as their rightful territory. And in that it's a productive territory which is known to produce lots of food, water, and other resources (toys etc), they are unwilling to let it go or share it w/o a fight.

I 1st became aware of the cats, 2 or 3 of them, making their way to the backyard at night last winter. It was during the time when the raccoons, their kits raised and their metabolic needs greatly reduced by the chill of the season, were not showing up at the buffet with anything approaching regularity. Unable to get them to congregate there and meet me reliably, I had essentially closed the buffet for the winter.

At the time, however, I was eating a lot of chicken, both fried & rotisserie. For the time being, chicken had become my daily sustenance. Even though the buffet was closed, I was still putting the chicken bones and carcasses out there daily for whoever happened to come by. I figured some of the raccoons especially the youngsters lacking their elders foraging skills might still be wandering by the area to check for leftovers. In addition, I figured the opossums would still be coming by.

What I didn't expect was the cats. Many nights I would see the dark shadow of a lone cat making its way along the edge of the property line clearly headed for the backyard. I knew it was more than 1 cat, 2 at least, because they were not always the same color. I knew that one was the black, feral Tom cat. I had also seen the Siamese from down the street going back there. I thought maybe a time or two that I had seen yet another mystery cat which I now figure was probably Kitty.

Although I didn't know it at the time, it now seems that my daily gifts of chicken bones probably came at the perfect time to keep Kitty and her two kittens alive. I think that is probably why Kitty made her home in the backyard, against the back fence and under a dense stand of rosemary where, at the time, I never ventured; where she felt well hidden and protected; and where she was in the perfect position to be 1st on the scene each day when I went out to dump the chicken leftovers. (Of course, she only ventured out after I went back inside, so I never actually saw her coming for dinner. The few times I caught a glimpse of what I now think was Kitty, I was in the front yard and she was probably returning from a hunting trip elsewhere in the neighborhood.)

At the time when Kitty moved in, there were probably a few minor skirmishes with a raccoon here and there but nothing too serious, nothing that would cause her to feel that she or her kittens were threatened back there. It was winter, the buffet was closed, and the raccoons were not especially hungry, so they probably didn't concern themselves too much with Kitty's presence, so Kitty established herself here and came to think of this as her property. Later I adopted her furthering her rights to the property.

Then in spring when the raccoon breeding season began again and the raccoons' appetites went into overdrive, things changed. Suddenly, they greatly resented Kitty's presence on their property. She even ate the same food they ate, so she was a problem for them, and the turf war began between the two groups. Cats vs Raccoons.

I imagine that I only saw very little of what really went on between the 2 groups. I know from what I have seen, however, that all of the raccoons are in agreement about the need to drive Kitty out of the buffet area if not the entire backyard. At the same time, being who she is, Kitty is unwilling to just acquiesce and leave, so the turf war continues. I think Kitty may also have some concerns for my welfare. Even if she doesn't like me, she needs me - for food - so it makes sense to protect my welfare. It seems a bit of a coincidence that she showed up on the evening in question immediately following my run-in with Dennis.

When Kitty is outside at buffet time, I think she lurks in the shrubs nearby and watches the goings on. She has seen Dennis close beside me many times and so she tolerates it, but that day she saw me slap my thigh and say, "no"; saw Dennis jump back and then walk away. It was then that Kitty appeared on the scene, having probably come out of hiding after seeing the encounter between Dennis and me.

I think Kitty knows by now that she can't chase the raccoons away, but she has enjoyed some success clearing the area by tricking them, so it made sense that she could try again to do something of the kind by sneaking up behind me, and I think that how she ended up on the scene that day.

As for the raccoons, I've seen Heidi chase Kitty from the area, and I saw in her eye a steely resolve. This was no game. She was deadly serious. I've seen the yearlings chase Kitty many times, and I've seen Dennis chase her many times. Dennis chases Kitty any time she sees her. From the very beginning that surprised me the most since Dennis was always the non-violent one, sort of a peace-loving, live and let live, hippy type. It was strange to see Dennis behaving in this manner, but any time she saw Kitty she too went after her with intent.

Since all of the raccoons seem to be involved, I doubt if it's about jealousy. That's why I think it's a turf issue. And again, I think we have probably only seen a tiny portion of what has actually occurred back there.

That Dennis was the one to take action that day surprises all of us. It's not like her. We're not accustomed to such things. But remember, Dennis has kits to protect now, and in this group, Dennis is actually an elder. This year Dennis is the only member of the group other than Heidi who is not a kit or a yearling. She's an elder and that probably brings with it both respect and responsibility; in this group she's special; she's practically exalted.

I was thinking the other day about Heidi's decision to allow one older raccoon to stay each year and about her choice of Dennis this year. (Oh, when stating earlier that Dennis is the only older raccoon other than Heidi, I forgot about Bast, but then Bast is not really treated like part of the group. She's a special case of some kind, allowed to stay and eat so long as she obeys the rules and doesn't cause trouble but not really part of the group in any meaningful way.) Anyhow, previously I had always viewed the extra adult on the scene as a possible trainee to succeed Heidi. Now I see a different possibility, and it goes something like this...

(changing posts. will continue with the explanation on next post after which I will change threads.)

As was mentioned earlier, my intervention has altered things for the raccoons, and they have had to adapt to these changes. Initially, Heidi was here alone. We know that from the events of 2006. Consequently, it makes sense that she really didn't have a plan for handling the whole buffet situation. She had to 'wing it', adapt, and develop a plan as she went.

The 2nd year she allowed all of her daughters to stay and return to the buffet to raise their young. As long as there was adequate food, that seemed ok, but the buffet was quickly overrun. There were too many raccoons, adults and babies, crammed into too small a space and there was much fighting at the dinner table. Heidi soon realized that plan wasn't going to work out in the long run.

She started working on driving some of the older raccoon out the following year, allowing yearlings to stay and raise their kits in the familiar surrounding of their birth and with the benefit of the buffet. There, too, she ran into problems. Some of the older raccoons tried to return for the good and easy food they had enjoyed the year before, and strangers from neighboring groups also tried to move in for the free food (i.e., Cruella and Co.). Even young males like Trouble tried to take advantage of the situation. Needing to protect her own infant kits and with only a bunch of unskilled yearling to back her up, Heidi was unable to keep all of these other groups out.

I figure that's when Heidi began to realize that, in addition to the yearlings who were allowed to stay for their own benefit, Heidi would need to allow at least 1 older adult female to stay behind (at the buffet) with her. This other adult's job would be security. She would assist Heidi in fighting to protect their territory and keep others out.

Heidi isn't thinking about the future. She's thinking about the present. She probably isn't thinking at all about her own demise just as most of us don't really think that will ever happen to us. She's not seeking her replacement. She's seeking help today, help in securing the area from outsiders. When things were normal, when there was no buffet, Heidi was capable of fending for her own territory, but with my intervention, the value of the territory has risen dramatically as has the numbers of others who want in and the size of the threat. On raccoon can no more protect this gem than one man could protect Fort Knox. Now Heidi needs backup, and this year, for whatever reason, the backup, the 1st Lieutenant, is Dennis.

I figure this whole thing is adapting and unfolding as it goes, for them as much as for us. Somewhere along the way, Heidi may have realized that the position of 1st Lieutenant could also serve as a way to better train her daughters for life on their own and for defending their own turf someday. A different, older daughter could be chosen each year for the position. Said daughter being older would come with some skills. In addition, Heidi would provide additional training. Here again she was not thinking about training her successor but about training her progeny to better defend their own land. Each would stay behind with her for one year during which she would ruthlessly defend the buffet and for which she would enjoy both additional training and full access to the buffet food for herself and her kits for that year.

So that's my current theory as to the model Heidi is using to run the buffet. This year the extra security, the trainee, the 1st Lieutenant is Dennis. Again, one cannot image why Heidi would have chosen Dennis of all her daughters for the assignment this year. I know we all think of Dennis as kind of a sometimes adorable, sometimes annoying screw up, but it seems Heidi saw or knew something we did not for Dennis has behaved amazingly well this year, has been quite mature in her actions, and has taken the job of defending the buffet (and of raising her kits) very seriously.

Once again, Folks, it's that time. The thread has grown way too long such that I imagine it must be getting difficult to view on dial up. Thus it's time for us to move to a new thread. Here then is our new thread where we will reconvene to continue our story and conversations:


http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1130270/


I hope you will all join me on the new thread. And please don't forget to 'watch' the new thread so you won't get left behind as we move on. And don't make me get that boot out...