Heidi Chronicles 2012 - The Little Guys & Gals

Liz,

I like that idea, the group hug. We have all been through some emotional ups and downs with all this lately. Big hug (for all).

June,

When HRH went missing, I continued for years afterward to hold out some glimmer of hope for his return. I imagine it will be the same with Heidi. For the most part, I've accepted that it's over, but there is always some flickering hope. I've made peace with things. If she does somehow against all odds show up one day, I will be overjoyed. If not, I'll be ok. I'm happy for the time we had with her.

I also have just gotten back to DG to catch up on you and Heidi. I am so saddened to hear the news. It was so late last night I couldn' stay awake to read all the posts but had to skip on to the last few,hopeing to read that Heidi had returned with her kits in tow. I was heartbroken to find she hadn't. Today I read all of the previous posts and feel somewhat better,though still in mourning at your(our) probable loss. I have been with you through your amazingly wonderful posts each visit at the diner,seeing through your eyes all the kits,yearlings and adult raccoons as they play together,manuver the steal,play in the pool,hide among the bushes,delight in the of new sensations of the different toys given them,sharing your concern when one showed up with an injury. Its been a fun and informative ride with the added sorrow of loss. One I hope to share for many years to come(the main reason I am still a member of DG). Bless you for I know Heidi(and other raccoons) would have had a harder time surviving these years without you.

Judy

Hi Judy,

It's great to 'see' you again. Sorry for the delay responding. I took a timeout to rest, reflect, and enjoy my birthday recently.

It was heart-warming to read your list of some of the highlights of the time we spent with the raccoons. Awwhhh, you remembered The Steal. :-)
I like to think that WE made a difference in the lives of the raccoons and helped to extend Heidi's life. I say "WE" in all seriousness, because each and every one of you played a very important roll in all of this. I don't know that I would have done it without all of you. You guys, the raccoons, and I have all been part of a circle, a circle which would not have been complete w/o any one of its three elements. You guys provided encouragement, friendship, someone (or ones) w/whom to share the experience, and, at times, supplies. Having all of you there to share the experience was probably more important than any of you realized, so much so that it's quite possible none of this would ever have happened without you guys.

I don't have time today, but I'm going to come back soon to discuss 'the next step'. I think we may need some closure. I'm thinking maybe a memorial thread to allow us to say our goodbyes, each in our own way. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.

I feel like I've unintentionally swept recent events under the rug, so to speak. I didn't want to dwell on the negative things. Like I said recently, I realize that you come here to enjoy your time, not to be sad. I still believe that, but I also think maybe we all need to address the situation - for closure. This isn't just my loss. It's OUR loss. Many of you have been with us for years. Loosing Heidi is difficult for you, too, and I think we maybe need to deal with it.

I was thinking a memorial thread would allow us to discuss Heidi, what she meant to us, whatever we are feeling - sort of like a wake or online memorial service, a place to provide support for one another (and have that group hug), while reflecting on our memories of Heidi (and/or the others). By having a separate memorial thread, we could still keep the regular thread(s) positive and upbeat. Now the point of this is for YOU, not just me, so please let me know what you think and whether or not you think it would be a good idea. It's ok either way. Please don't be afraid to speak your mind on this. I promise not to be offended or take it personally if you don't want to do the memorial.

Happy Birthday!

Sorry I'm so late, but I am just checking in every now and then and this time I went well over a week without coming to DG :(

I like your idea of a Heidi memorial thread. She is so smart that she just might get our warm thoughts via some type of 'rainbow' puter!!

Love and hugs,
Sheri

PS - Please give little Desi a head 'ruffle' from me!!

Hellooooo...is ther anybody out there..... is anybody in there ....????


This message was edited Oct 16, 2012 5:47 PM

Is Desi still trying to come into the house when you open the door and still staying really close to you while she eats?

on my end... I have not seen any raccoons all summer, but now that it is getting closer to winter, one has been eating from the squirrel feeders. I take a flashlight out with me when Buddy wants to go out, and I usually see one shimmying up a tree.

Hi Sheri,

Yes, I'm still here - well, sort of. Sorry I've been MIA for a while. Basically, something disturbing occurred, & I was quite conflicted about the disturbing event(s). Often I deal with this type of adversity, the type where I'm conflicted about what to do as was the case here, by 'ignoring' the situation & doing other things while still processing the problem as a 'background process' (a software term that equates to letting the subconscious handle it). [Ok, that was a lousy sentence, but I don't feel like fixing it. Hopefully, everyone will be able to extract the pertinent info from it despite the messiness.] I've been trying for a while now to convince myself to post something, but... In some ways, I guess I figured you guys were better off not knowing, better off having more time to believe all was going well. In a nutshell, here is what happened (prompting me to go AWOL):

You might recall that Heidi left things in a very good state, whether intentionally as you suggested or by accident - although I'm leaning more toward 'intentionally' these days. The young mothers were comfortable around me, comfortable even with me walking around in their midst, and some of the kits seemed to think me a combination chew toy/amusement park ride. The yearlings continued to show up nightly with kits in tow, and while they didn't sit against the patio door as had been Heidi's habit, they did, nonetheless convene their on the patio nightly to await the evening feast, and even in the absence of their leader, things continued to run with subway station regularity. But for the unfortunate loss of Heidi, things could not have been better out there in 'Heidi Land'. That unanticipated bliss continued for a few weeks, and then...all heck broke loose.

Suddenly, other, more mature raccoons began to show up on the scene where they wreaked all manner of havoc, stealing food and chasing the yearlings away. For a few weeks the yearlings continued to show up each night, trying to hold on to what they had, but the 'others' were older, more mature, and more cunning and had little difficulty taking over once the food was served. Even before the arrival of the 'others', disturbing signs had begun to emerge, indicating that several weeks after Heidi's death the yearlings were having difficulty finding food in the forest. For the initial 2 weeks following her passing, the yearlings seemed to be eating well. Then suddenly, they began to show up famished. I had feeding them a cup or so of food each, enough for a good meal, but not enough to sustain them entirely, especially while nursing. I saw the food I provided more as a supplement than a complete diet. When Heidi was alive, that had been sufficient, but a few weeks following her death, it appeared the yearlings were having great difficulty locating adequate food supplies on their own. I had known for some time that Heidi played an important roll in leading and training the kits and yearlings each year. Now I was seeing evidence that her roll was even more important than even I had realized, as w/o her the yearlings were at a loss to locate nature's bounty on their own.

Kits began to disappear, slowly at first. A raccoon who, I was certain, had previously been accompanied by 4 kits, now bore only 3 - or was I somehow confused? Then another yearling began showing up with only 1, whereas she had previously traveled with 3. Kits were most definitely disappearing. I had no idea where they were going, but they were quite assuredly missing. Were the kits being picked off, lost perhaps to predation and/or accident, their young mothers lacking the knowledge and skills to keep them safe? Or were the mothers, unable to find sufficient food to feed themselves much less their litters, actually panicking & running the kits off prematurely? It was impossible to know the answer, only that they were disappearing, 'plink', 'plink', 'plink', like so many blips on a computer screen, there one moment, gone the next.

I was reminded of the grim statistics I had read somewhere years back, that only something like half or fewer raccoon kits make it to adulthood (1yr), the rest falling victim to predation and accidents, hit by cars while crossing streets, picked off by alligators while drinking at the pond's edge, and so on. For years we had been shielded from this grim reality, as 'our' kits had virtually all grown up and safe and healthy to return as yearlings. Year after year we had observed the same results. Heidi had never lost a single youngster and neither had any of the others who had been permitted to raise their kits here in "Heidi Land", but suddenly now things had changed and dramatically so. Now it seemed kits were dropping like flies.

I had just begun to realize that kits were disappearing about the time the "others" showed up on the scene and began taking the buffet contents for their own. Feeding time went from the joyous opportunity to commune with the group and play with the kits to a raucous, disorganized hour of constant snarling & hissing, a scene from which yearlings and kits quickly fled, often w/o so much as a single bite of the meal for which they had come. The fighting would begin even before I arrived with the food. I could hear them out there going at it even from inside the house. It reminded me of how things used to be at the buffet whenever Heidi was out on 'maternity leave' - times 100.

When I did get a chance to see one of the yearlings, however briefly, they often showed up with war wounds, nothing life-threatening, just various superficial cuts and scrapes, but still the scars gave evidence to the turf wars that had broken out in the area. Exasperated with the whole thing, I finally stopped going out there. The last time I saw little Desperado he was standing behind his mother at the patio door, while she was desperately trying to hold her position against the larger raccoons approaching them. As I walked to the door, food in hand, happy to see them again, I arrived just in time to see them both disappear into the night, chased away by the group of 'others' that had been taking over the area.

I haven't seen any of them since. Hopefully, now you will understand why I was not eager to share this information with any of you - or even discuss it for that matter. It certainly is not the way the story was supposed to end. It saddens me, but the situation is very much out of my hands. When Heidi left, I kept waiting to see some sign of a leader emerging amongst the group that remained, but it never happened. I guess they were too young (yearlings mostly) and too busy struggling to rear this their 1st ever litter w/o Heidi's guidance. Perhaps they, like us, kept hoping in vane that Heidi would show up again.

For whatever reason, there was no sign of leadership amongst the yearlings. Even if one of them had tried to lead, it's unlikely such a youngster would have been able to hold her own against older raccoons from outside. It was only a matter of time before outsiders, whether old relatives Heidi had previously sent away or strangers she had successfully kept out of the area during her reign, would begin to realize that Heidi wasn't here anymore and make their bids for 'ownership' of this very lucrative area.

Like it or not - and I certainly don't - I have no power over the outcome of these battles. What limited power I previously enjoyed with the group had come to me through Heidi. It had been her area and her power all along, and now, as much as it saddens me to realize it, the future of the area lies at the whims of the next leader, the raccoon who, with the help of her group, wins the turf wars. I'm hopeful that, in the end, the new leader will be one of Heidi's daughters, so that the land can remain in the hands of her descendants, most of whom we have met and known at some point. But I realize that it is possible that a stranger may emerge the winner and usher in an entirely new group of raccoons whom we have never seen before.

I decided to stay out of it for now. If I put out food, it goes to the 'others' anyhow. The others won't come to or near me, but they are able to chase the yearlings away even before I can get out there to try and defend them. In the end, the 'others' end up with any food I put out, so for now I've stopped offering food. It seems to me that the food at this point only makes the 'others' more determined to drive the yearlings out of their home. I figure I'll check back with the raccoons in early spring 2013 to see if any of our old friends, Heidi's descendants, are still around. By that time I figure the leader will have emerged and the turf wars settled. Any way you look at it, it seems this year in Heidi Land, though it started out with so much promise, is over - sadly.

The more I learned about Heidi's leadership methods, the more amazed I was. Her apparent concern for the younger members of the group rivaled if not surpassed our own. Her methods of helping them revealed immense and often astounding wisdom. Each year she sent the adults away to find new homes elsewhere, allowing only the yearlings, the now grown kits from the prior season, to remain. Pruning the group in this manner was necessary to insure that the group did not outgrow the resources.

Allowing the yearlings to stay was an act of supreme kindness and a wonderful way to improve the odds for their kits survival. Yearlings are practically kids themselves, being roughly analogous to 15-17yr olds in our society. They are children who have the care of infants suddenly forced upon them at a time when they barely know how to take care of themselves. In allowing the yearlings to stay each year, Heidi insured a better food supply for them (both the buffet and whatever she could find in the forest) and made it possible for her to continue their training through another year. It meant that she would be there to guide them through the rearing of their 1st litter.

It was an amazing system which impressed me greatly. Too late, however, now we learn that it had one fatal flaw. There would be no older members of the group around to defend their turf in the event of Heidi's death, and that's the situation we now face. In some ways I guess perhaps I'm to blame. Heidi went to this system when I cut back on food. After years of watching the group grow exponentially, I found myself out there one summer surrounded by some 20-30 adult raccoons, each with 2-4 kits in tow. The group had simply become too large - and would continue to grow at a frightening pace. As long as I was willing to provide enough food, there was no reason to limit the group's size. But the group had grown unmanageable. Aside from the reality that I could not continue indefinitely to provide food for the burgeoning group, the group had grown too large to even provide for an enjoyable buffet experience for anyone. With so many hungry adults in such a small area, mothers had become largely unwilling to even bring their kits to the buffet. That summer with 20-30 adults all milling about at once in a small area of the backyard, every night had become like a huge family reunion.

That year I decided to cut the food down to a manageable level. It was then in response to food cuts that Heidi began driving out the older adults who she knew could fend for themselves and allowing only the yearlings to stay. It had been one of my best and most successful decisions - or so it seemed. The smaller group allowed for more intimacy, making it possible for me to get closer both to Heidi and to the kits. It made the cost more defensible, especially as we entered into the recession and health issues cost me job time. Lastly, something about which most were likely unaware, I was no longer forced to wrestle 3 or 4 large (and heavy for my injured back and knees) bags of food weekly. Sadly though, it also ultimately led to this moment.

And, yes, these more recent events pretty much make bunk of all that froufrou stuff I said earlier about things still being good, about the loss of Heidi not meaning an end to things and so forth. I meant and believed it when I said it, Folks, but it appears I was wrong.

I didn't post sooner, because I needed more time to process it all and because I simply couldn't bring myself to tell you these things. I know you come here to get away from life's unpleasantries and enjoy a brief respite amidst the beauty of the natural world. I didn't want to change that - even though, as we all know all too well, nature isn't always kind. In her efforts to keep each species as tough and resourceful as possible, nature can at times be downright vicious. It was impossible for us to follow an animal group this long and not suffer a few such unpleasant moments with them. Still, I am saddened by it all, and I apologize for brought this sadness to you.

At this point it will no doubt seem anticlimactic to add that I've also been super busy with other aspects of my life, and this, too, has kept me from posting as much as I normally would. In short, the combination of nothing pleasant to say and other things to do was more than sufficient to keep me from posting.

Phew. Well this is my first log-in in weeks and weeks maybe months. And you just posted this, so I guess we're all in quiet shock.

i'll mull it over and if i have anything to add post sometime soon. I'm sorry about the 'others." It does seem a natural consequence considering the end of the matriarchy.


xox
A.

I had wondered where Ursula and her family was... It is sad that they were able to chase Heidi's family away.

Oh Cheryl, I'm so sorry to hear your news. Please don't ever think that you need to "shield" us & know that we're here to support you... because I'm sure the current situation has caused you stress & sadness.

We don't see you as our entertainer - yes, you do entertain us with your wonderful word pictures & stories, but we're your friends first. I admire all you've done for the racoons over the years & the view you've given us into raccoon culture. I hope you can find comfort in knowing that you contributed greatly to the health & well being of many raccoons over the past few years, and, certainly, saved some who would have undoubtedly perished with you.

I hope that this is just a difficult chapter in your life with the raccoons & not the end of your book. Regardless, know that the trust you inspired in Heidi was truly a miraculous event for both of you.

I hope all of the areas of your life calm down soon & are replaced with happier diversions!

Hugs!

Hi Liz,

Your post was like a warm, friendly, and comforting embrace, and I thank you very much for that. I hated seeing things turn out so badly with the raccoons following Heidi's demise. It was like an unexpected 1-2 punch, first loosing Heidi and then loosing the yearlings and their kits. It was all the more difficult since it happened at a time when young Desperado was more comfortable around me than any raccoon to date, even more comfortable than Dennis had ever been. Now I can only hope, if I ever have the chance to see him again, that he will remember me still. And, of course, all this is to say nothing of the ill effects all this has had on the raccoons themselves.

I'm doing ok though. I haven't given up hope that one of Heidi's more mature daughters may yet return to take control of the area. I'm going to give them some time to sort things out and check back with them in spring. Either way, I'm doing ok. Thank you all for being there. Your friendship (plural, all of you) and camaraderie has helped me through some dark days and means more to me than you may ever know.

Hi Amanda,

Good to hear from you. As for what to say, I totally understand. I didn't quite know what to say myself.

Hi Terese,

That is odd that you didn't see any in spring/summer. Maybe they gave up on you while you were away, and it took them until now to realize you were back. In my area the only major feeding season is spring/summer when the females are bearing and nursing their young. In your area, one could imagine that fall might bring a 2nd push to eat as much as possible before the winter snow forces them to endure brief periods of hibernation. Since according to the literature raccoons do undergo short intervals of hibernation when heavy snow covers food sources and traps them in their dens, I'm guessing raccoons in snow prone areas probably feel a need to bulk up this time of year in preparation. At any rate, I'm glad you are having this opportunity to see and enjoy the raccoons in your area.

This past week I put a dish of scraps out for the raccoons or whomever. They sat completely untouched for days, indicating the raccoons had probably stopped coming here. On the 3rd or 4th night something ate 1/2 of the food and finished it off the following night. From that I'm guessing probably only 1 raccoon showed up, or maybe an opossum. I checked several times before going to bed and saw no sign of activity, so whatever it was appeared to show up in the 'wee' hours. The more I think about it the more it sounds like the opossum.

Hi June,

It is quite sad how things went down, but I should clarify. I don't really know for sure if the raccoons that took over were outsiders. They may just as well have been some of Heidi's older daughters. They didn't appear to know me as I would expect of Heidi's daughters, but there were a few recent years when I didn't spend much time with them. Daughters from some of those years probably wouldn't be particularly comfortable around me. Also, some that have been gone for a number of years might be a bit wary after all this time. Also, regardless of the identities of that initial group, I don't imagine Heidi's 'estate' will be settled all that quickly. I'm still holding out hope that one or more of her daughters will return to claim the land by spring.

I have a not dissimilar situation with a neighbor's cats.

I have mentioned I think that I go around the block every evening to feed a Boer goat that she keeps. Not sure if I'd call her a hoarder or just someone with a giant heart and not enough money (?!) or sense (?!) to do better. Anyway, there are at least 10 cats if not more that "live" at her house - outside mostly. One in particular, an aged girl - the lady says she's about 19 and I believe it. All summer I have stopped to scratch her neck when I leave. A couple of months ago I thought it would be nice if I could bring her a treat. So I bought some crunchy treats and started giving her a small pile every night.


I've tried to pet some of the others, or come close enough to say hello, but they're pretty wild. Not feral, just not approachable. A couple of weeks or so after I started with the treats another kitty came from across the street - she hangs out across the street under some trees, but it's this lady's cat. She's fairly at ease with me generally, but she started showing up and nudging me for treats.

Another week or so and at least 2 more females were pushing at me for food. I was buying several packets of crunchies and decided finally to buy a box of food. So then I was pouring out food in the street for the cat lady's cats!!! I said to myself out loud one night, "I AM NOT FEEDING THE CAT LADY'S CATS!" But I was.

The old cat I started with, Max, hung back when I got there, though as soon as I drove up I could see her eyes reflected by my headlamps. Funny - she runs to the car when I arrive, but the other cats pressing to me pisses her off, she growls, spits, and backs off. Last week I brought a can of cat food and pulled her into the car and let her sit on the floor board to eat it.

I tried that again the next night, with plain kibble, and it didn't go over as well. She freaked out, couldn't get out of the car fast enough, and pissed myself off in the process.

I decided I would not bring food with me anymore to feed the cats.

I am not feeding the cat lady's cats.

I stop to pet Max on the head, like old times. It's only been a few days since I stopped, so the others are still approaching, but they will soon figure out that they will have to wait till their mommy gets home to eat.

When I read your comments about Desi and mom at the door shrinking away because "the others" were being aggressive, I immediately thought of the cats. It is certainly more distressing in your situation. I know you've probably beat yourself up over this enough, and I personally wouldn't know what to do other than what you've done. It's not like you can control them somehow yourself without putting yourself at risk. I was thinking squirt bottle. :/

Putting anything out puts the critters themselves at risk.

I suppose as time goes on and "the others" go away realizing that there's nothing to be had, that you might once in a while see a little face at the window. It would be okay to change your mind once in a while.

I share your dismay.

xox

Merry Christmas !!! [where appropriate]

Wishing each of you a joyful season filled with happiness during whatever holiday(s) you observe this time of year.

Merry Christmas Cheryl! Have a wonderful day and holiday season.

Debbie

Thanks, Debbie!

Merry Christmas Cheryl! Hope this finds you & your critters warm & cozy!

Hi Liz,

Thank you very much. For some reason I seem to have missed your post. Seems like I didn't get the usual notice, but I'm guessing I must have done something to blow the notice away, somehow. But, thanks. A kind note from a friend is always a welcome 'pick-me-up', whether received on the appointed day or another.

We have the occasional chilly, snugly night but are mostly warm here, as I'm guessing your are there in CA. Going up into the 70's & 80's now thru the weekend. A storm and cold arctic air dipping down into the middle of the country including even the mid south is expected to displace the warmer air in our direction. I'm not complaining though.

Amanda,

I actually wrote a lengthy post in response to yours some time back, never finished it, never sent it. Sorry about that.

The main thing I wanted to tell you was that I didn't have an opportunity to protect that one raccoon and her kit from the aggressor. I saw them that night through the glass door panes, the mother making one last stand before fleeing. Before I could get outside, she and the kit were gone - and the aggressor hung back a ways in the shrubbery, unwilling to get too close to me. At that point, with the 'good' raccoons chased away by the 'bad', the 'bad' hiding out some distance away to avoid contact with me, and me grieving the loss of Heidi and just plain tired of all the constant fighting out there in her absence, I decided to give it up for a while and try again in spring.

I don't believe the raccoons are even coming here now, at least not on any kind of regular basis. This time of year, their caloric needs are very, very low. Without Heidi to lead them back, it remains to be seen whether they will return in spring when their appetites jump into high gear for the coming season of kit-rearing. I'm guessing and hoping that they will remember this place when the real hunger strikes them. Time will tell.

I still put out scraps when available but not cat/dog food, not right now. One night when making brownies, I found an egg with a cracked shell (on the bottom where it wasn't visible until lifted). I put the raw egg out on the patio edge where, surprisingly, it sat for some 3-4 days before something finally found it and ate it. Before Heidi passed, no egg ever sat around for days uneaten. When she was around, the raccoons always came by for a minute or so just to check. They might miss one night in winter but never 3. Other nights lately when I've put out food, it has sat around for days before being eaten, so it seems we are in new territory now in so many ways. It hard to say even if the creature that finally shows up is even a raccoon. It could very possibly be an opossum. Whatever it is, it comes in the wee hours of the morning, which corresponds more with what I've historically seen from the opossums who seem to prefer privacy.

I plan to put food out near the fence in spring, alone at 1st, with me some distance away later, much as I did in the early days with Heidi. Then we shall see what happens.

I've been meaning to hunt down the Mr T threads to post this next bit but decided to put it here for now:

One sunny day, the week after Christmas, I headed out the back door, camera around my neck, planning to photograph my favorite pink camellia while it was in bloom. As I stepped from the door, a tufted titmouse caught my eye as it landed in a very small, decorative tree a short distance away. For a moment I stopped in my tracks not wanting to disturb the titmouse. I was hoping I might get my camera in place, lens cap off, and set up before the titmouse got away. He/she was close enough for an excellent shot but disappeared almost immediately.

Having thus given up on the bird, I made my way over to the camellia. I was just about to begin taking pics of the blooms when I recognized the familiar sound in the air around me. Surely it couldn't be, not this time of year, but, yes, it was. It was the sound of the bird, the titmouse, no doubt, flitting about in the small, ornamental trees around me. This was a sound with which I had become familiar in the days of dealing with Mr T. I could see the bird at the moment, but I knew it was near me, and from the familiar sound of wings flitting here and there around me, it appeared to be showing an interest in me, following me, staying close to me.

I looked about me in the low 10-15ft trees, scanning for the small bird. I had just located him on a branch over my head and some 10ft away, when he quickly took to the air once more. Seconds later, the other familiar sound, that of wings flapping close, very close to my head, followed quickly by the out of focus sight of the gray blur moving swiftly only inches from my face. I watched as the bird landed again in on a limb in close proximity to me.

I was familiar with all of this behavior, even the order and flow of things. This was exactly how Mr T had behaved a few years before when, one spring, he had followed me about the garden for days before finally landing on my head, a few times actually, apparently searching for hair for his/her nest. At that time, subsequent research had shown that tufted titmice are known to pluck hair - quite courageously, I might add - from people, dogs, raccoons, and at times even CATS. In some species the male birds seek out nest building items and ornamentation of various kinds in specific colors to impress prospective mates. I don't know if this is the case with titmice, however.

A few minutes later, I went back inside. I was in a bit of a hurry at the time. The way this dance usually goes, the bird takes a few times (separate events or days) to of flying closer and closer before building up the nerve to actually land on my head, so it was unlikely that it would have done so on that particular day even if I had stayed out longer. This was my 1st 'run-in' with a titmouse sense the Mr T affair ended a few years ago. Over the years since then I haven't been spending much time outside - due to pain at the time and just not feeling at all well.

I have no idea if the bird that was 'courting' me recently was Mr T or a different bird entirely. Many birds are fairly long-lived, so I'm guessing it could have been him/her. What I found particularly confusing was the time of year, that and the difference in my hair color. In the past, it made sense that the bird did this sort of thing in spring when birds are busy building nests, but this recent event occurred in late Dec. On the other hand, it was especially warm here at the time, so much so that my azaleas were blooming and spring bulbs such as daffodils and lilies had begun sending up buds. It's not unusual here for plants (and maybe birds?) to become confused into thinking it is spring in late fall when, following a one night dip into the high 20's, we then enjoy weeks in the 60s and 70s, Perhaps the titmouse was also fooled.

The last time this happened, my hair was red, a sort of dark, red-blonde. At the time I thought maybe the titmouse had targeted me due to my hair color. More recently, however, I've changed my hair-color to a fairly ordinary, light brown, perhaps with some copper notes still, but most definitely not the fiery red it had been at the time of the previous incident. I'm guessing color was not the reason the bird sought me out, after all.

I've been in the yard several times since that day but haven't seen the titmouse. Lately, we've been alternating every 3 or 4 days between cold and warm days, so maybe the bird has gotten the message that it really isn't nest building time right now.

As you can see, I do seem to attract all manner of animals, all of whom seem somehow to know that I'm not dangerous. From raccoons to opossums, feral cats to turtles, squirrels to titmice, they all seem to come right up to me acting as though they know me somehow. Very strange. Think maybe there's a sign in the forest directing needy critter to my house for dinner? Or maybe it's a 'monkey see, monkey do' sort of thing. Some of my friends taunt me with labels like "Dr Doolittle"

You could have worse nicknames. :)

It does sound like the raucous has gone away at your house. We have a possum coming thru overnights and I have been putting out leftover scraps from dinner. We had one that came to the condo I used to live in - farther out of town with more wildlife. A possum came every night and we were on fairly good terms. I enjoy the sightings, though the current visitor is more stealthy.

Hope to hear more tales from you as spring approaches.

xox

On that note, I've elected to close this thread awaiting the events of spring 2013. In the mean time I've opened a new thread (link below) where I hope you will all go to lend me your thoughts on the question I've posed there regarding the future of this thread series. If you wish to make other comments (not related to the question) in the pre-spring interim, please feel free to make them on the new thread as well.

THREAD CLOSED.

New Thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1294059/

Note: The raccoon pictured below is Dennis. This was taken during her 1st year as a nursing mom. She is shown resting between 'meals'. I'm guessing any mother out there will recognize the exhaustion expressed.