Heidi: The New Family 07

Here's a little project/quiz for the creative types out there:

Invariably there will be days (esp this weekend) when it's raining at feeding time. Beyond making it difficult for the humans(me) to commune with the raccoons, rain also threatens to convert dry dog food to a river of mush flowing over the rim of the dish (and through the holes they've eaten IN the bowls). This is a problem because the raccoons don't always drop by at the same time each day so the food may be left out for an hour or more.

It would be great if I could come up with an idea for a way to cover/shelter the food during these times. I need a very creative solution that meets the following criteria: easy for me to erect, will not get blown about in wind and become hazard to raccoons or trash in neighbor's yard, either unobtrusive (if permanent) or easy to remove/replace. I have: plastic tarps, a large variety of styrofoam sheets and blocks (avg 4'x4'x2").

It would be incredibly great if someone could think of one of those "aha" ideas like using a large plastic "table" as a "roof" for the bowls. Hmm, now that I think of it, maybe in an emergency I could use the plastic lawn chairs and/or end tables.

Ok, I think that as I was in the process of writing the post to explain the problem the solution came to me. (Frequently, at work we've found that the need to think a problem through well enough to describe it to someone else is often all that is needed to reach a solution.)

The plastic furniture will likely blow around, esp since the evening forcast includes thunderstorms. However, I took a quick toor of the garden while it was only sprinkling out there and found 2 chairs (show in pic) that have a surprisingly substantial solid wood frame wrapped with that resin faux wicker. They are less likely to blow over. The seat is large enough to provide some cover for a dish placed under it and high enough to allow them to reach under for the food. Also, while it looks like wicker, the seat actually contains a well concealed, solid wood base that should prevent water from flowing through.

I think I'll place the chairs over the bowls this weekend. The raccoons are getting comfortable enough that I think they will be willing to get past the change in furniture and will be willing to reach under there for their food.

Oh, no, look what Widget dragged in.

another look

ok. it's really Widget's toy. When I ordered it I didn't realize that it's designed to be like a raccoon pelt, including in size. It's about a gazillion times Widget's size, but it's one of his favorite toys.

That's right. I've lost it. it's been a rough week and now I'm rain'd in for the week end.

Scutler, shame on you! LOL My first thought was "OMG who is it??" and then I looked at the pictures again and the big fat tail did not seem right. A real tail would have been flatter and not that color. Still, at least my blood is pumping now........ :^)

I know, tetleytuna, I am SO bad. I kept telling myself not to do it, but...I couldn't help myself. I do hope that no one was too upset before realizing it was a toy.

I was marketed for dogs. I thought it was a stuffed animal toy. I chose the raccoon because (1) we don't have a racoon toy and (2) we like raccoons. When it arrived it was kind of eiry because the fur was very life like and it was more of a pelt. It took me a while to get comfortable playing with it.

..Not guilty by reason of insanity. I have the day off after a trying week. I have no one to entertain me, and I can't go outside without diving lessons. I had to improvise.

Around 7:30 tonight I swan out to the feeding area, set up 2 bowls of kitten food under the chairs then tossed a few handfuls of peanuts about on the ground along with an apple and 2 eggs - looking for water resistant food. At that time it was still light out and was raining. I called to Heidi and Fraidy a few times then came back inside.

A few minutes ago I went back out hoping to find them out there eating. From inside it looks dark, but outside it's really not. It was still raining lightly, the ground was soggy, and the wind was whipping the trees all about. Again I called to Heidi and Fraidy. After a few minutes, one of the females appeared atop the fence. I can only say that it was neither Heidi nor Fraidy and I don't think it was Juliet.

Just as I coaxed her down the fence, the entire garden lit up as though powered by a few "jigawatts" of flood lights. Seeing that I was surrounded by natural lightening rods, I felt it best to get back inside for the remainder of the tropical storm.

Sorry, guys, no story tomorrow either. bummer. but we are getting plenty of rain. Earlier when I went out for the mail I saw earth worms trying to leave the ground via the sidewalk. We are below sea level here and it gets really, really wet fast.

Oh, and believe it or not, today on the news I saw that those fires in GA/FL are STILL burning even despite the rain from TS Barry. I believe they said the rain from the storm was not sufficient to put them out. Unbelievable.

Karen - hopefully, you are having better racoon feeding weather up there. : -)

Yep, so far. Calling for thunderstorms from Barry tomorrow. Tonight I had a night sort of parallel to one of your nights. The new gal in town-the sable one from yesterday, I am calling Maggie. Named after my mother and my husbands mother--they both loved animals. She is DEFINITELY a lactating mother. First she showed up about 8ish when it was still very light. She went right to the peanut feeder and started munching on the shelled pnuts (from the squirrel feeder). I had just been coming out to fill their dishes. This is definitely the earliest anyone has showed up. She tolerated me getting close until I got within about 10 feet from her and then she scooted up the tree. I filled the dishes with food, cookies and some beef fat cut off the dinner steak. When she came down-she went back to the peanuts. As soon as the other coons started showing up, she went into Heidi mode--attack to keep everyone else away from ALL the bowls. She stayed down eating the dog food then and continued to chase away a lot of the oncomers. She did let the two little ones come by, as long as they didn't get near her food. I stood there with my rake and watched everyone do their thing. Suddenly I looked down and there was a little one sniffing my rake, about a foot from my foot. I said "OH," as she surprised me. She jumped back, but then did the cute stand on her hind legs trick, so I threw her a peanut--much to her satisfaction. The other little one climbed up and was eating what peanuts were left in the squirrel feeder. The little one next to me kept looking really cute and waiting for the peanuts, which (of course) I threw to her. She would take it a bit away to eat it and then come back. We continued this for awhile. The whole time Maggie ate the one bowl of dog food and moved on to the second--boy these lactating mothers sure can eat. Still chasing all newcomers out. When the second little one was done at the feeder, she came down and began sniffing around--when she saw me throw a peanut to her (probable) sister, she wanted one, so I threw one to her. By then it was really dark and I could only see by the infrafred light and it started lightening, so I put a few peanuts on the ground and told everybody goodnight. Maggie was STILL eating. So interesting that the little ones want to come close to me, but if I move they jump back so they are still a bit afraid. But they are soooo cute. That is they story from here tonight. Getting very tired, so will be off to bed soon. Cheryl, that rain is a real pain in feeding the kids, the dog food turns to mush. Seems that someone still eats it though. I LOVED the titmouse video and their stories. Last night, while I was just sitting outside, I saw a humming bird come and chase a woodpecker away from his suet! Then the hb waited a second and flew over to his nectar and had a drink and took off. I have never seen a hb chase any other species of bird away from it's own food. I was really surprised. It's not like the woodpeckers eat the nectar. Boy this guy must be really territorial. Anyone see anything like that before with the hummers?? Karen

Hi, Karen, sounds like you really had a good night. Oh, yes, they are very cute, especially up close. I don't recall seeing a hummer run another bird off, but they are territorial. I've seen them fight quite a bit with each other. That titmouse video was great, wasn't it? The titmice in my yard, especially the one I call Mr T, are some pretty whacky birds.

Just a few minutes ago I opened the back door to let the dog out. He ran out before I could stop him. He came back in a few minutes later looking 1/2 drowned - not really, just totally soaked. I had to scoop him up in towels and dry him off. It's so bad out there I haven't even been able to go out to see if the food was eaten.

Earlier I left the food under the chairs to block all but the worst blowing rain. The bowls each have a small dime sized hole in the bottom where either the raccoons or the oppossum got overzealous about eating. I figured the hole would keep the food from sitting in standing water. Hopefully, they got most of it.

Glad to hear that you are able to enjoy your raccoons up close.

Ruth,

Your assesment of Fraidy as juvenile rings true for a number of reasons. On several occasions in describing events and her behavior, I had encountered difficulty in fully articulating my observations. I had at times been tempted to refer to her as "child like", as being like last years kits after they had grown up a bit, or as like a puppy rather than a dog. None of those descriptions seemed quite right, so I had abandoned them. When I read your post, the idea of her still being in a juvenile stage seemed like the perfect description, the one that had eluded me. Actually, the one exception to the rule that this juvenile behavior has no benefit for her now IS humans. I find the behavior especially charming. In fact, I miss the kits!

Another thing about her that I noticed the last time I was out there is that the differences between Fraidy and the others go beyond size and beyond [possibly subjective] appearance. Her coat is different. Where the others have thick coats with hair that looks to be 1-2 inches long, Fraidy's coat is sleek like that of a short haired dog in summer. It is not at all "furry" looking. The hairs appear to be more like 1/2in long and all lie flat agains the skin.

Probably as a result of the difference in hair length, her color is also different. Whereas the observed color of the others is made up primarily of the color of the hair tips but with bits of the color on other parts of the hair shaft showing through here and there giving a speckled or broken color that is difficult to describe as being a single color, the color of Fraidy's smooth coat is a rather consistent liver color which fades to a creamier shade on her back.

Similiar differences are seen on her face. Her face has become very unique. The color again is a sort of dark chocolate/liver and light cream making for a very distinct contrast in the mask around the eyes. Because she lacks the longer hair of the others, she doesn't have the "furry" cheeks that they have. Her face is "sleek" like the rest of her coat, making it appear even thinner than it is. Her head appears longer, narrower, and more pointed at the nose, but that may also be due to the shorter hair.

As to the likelihood that she will not survive for long, last summer I would have been surprised to know that she had made it this far, and remember that she seems to have survived on her own last winter. I think the location here in Charleston has favored her. In the intense heat of our summers her shorter coat may actually be a benefit, and during our brief and mild winters the lack of a longer, fuller coat is not likely to hurt her much. Due to our mild winters, we have an almost year round growing season with such abundant natural food supplies that I always find perfectly edible berries such as rose hips and currants still on the bushes in spring. The long growing season with its abundance of fruit and nuts coupled with a complete lack of snow should make it easier for even an unskilled forager to find enough food to get by. All of these factors also lead to an increased supply of reptiles, small animals, eggs, grubs, insects, etc. for possible food.

Even her apparent lack of the instinct to run from a large shadow which might signal a predator is less of a liability here than it might be in some areas because we don't have any large predators other than humans, and she does flee from humans. Around here she isn't even likely to encounter humans if she stays out of yards. We don't have bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars, etc. We do have bobcats, but I don't know if they are inclined to come this close to houses. Other than bobcats, probably the only other predator she might encounter here is the alligator (the shadow wouldn't be much help there, anyhow).

At any rate, I realize that for her each year is a gift. But then again, as we have discussed before the same is true of Heidi now - for a different reason, her advanced age. With each of them I plan to enjoy them while they are here. One benefit of wild raccoons [over pets and apparently hummingbirds] is that I won't really ever know that they have died. One day they just won't come back. I'll figure they probably have died but will always be allowed the doubt that maybe they just went somewhere else for some reason. And don't forget, for all her short comings Fraidy seems to have survived through last winter on her own.

I haven't spoken of Heidi a lot just lately. I still make every effort to give Heidi the best and most nutritious food that she will eat and in a quantity that exceeds her appetite. Right now, however, like any new mother she is consumed with the task of taking care of her babies. She is all business when she arrives. I suspect that 23 hours of dealing with babies is very tiring so she doesn't have a lot of time or energy for play or even for "friendship".

Sorry, guys, no story, just rain.

Terese, if you're out there I hope you're enjoying your morning coffee.:-)

This morning I went out to check the feeding area. It was still drizzling rain. As you might have expected, every speck of food was gone. I don't know who ate it, but some of the wildlife ate last night.

Here's hoping that the storm and rain will have moved on a bit by this evening. I think we've had enough rain for now.

Yup -- i'm here. When i was looking at the time stamps of your last few posts.... i thought to myself, "Boy, you didnt get a lot of sleep last night" you are rarely up posting that early.

I sorta figured the food would be gone. Regarding the weather, they still eat.

Actually for me... i slept like crap last night, which is a rarity for me. The pollen up here is killing me. then we had rain over night, which woke me up again... so i'm lucky if i got 5 hrs.... and like clockwork - i was up around 5.30ish.
going home today -- i think i will make DH drive (I normally drive each way) so maybe i can get some shuteye.
It's gonna be a short few days, and we're coming back up here.

i was thinking this the other day.... we're up here in Wisc, in the middle of a pine/oak forest, and there are really no animals to speak of. In the Fall we see some deer in the "open" end of the park, and other than that -- just those lil red squirrels... ya know, the ones not much bigger than a chipmunk, and gray squirrels... and that's it. No coons, opossums, etc. One night we did hear a coyote howling.... and there is a state park (Mirror Lake) right across the street... so maybe they are all hanging out over there. OH - i saw 2 rabbits once, and what looked like a woodchuck running under someones trailer. Butr you'd think for where we are, middle of a forest -- i'd see something....

Good grief, Cheryl, it sounds like you're describing a juvenile coat on Fraidy as well, that has not yet developed the undercoat and color ticking on the top coat. It sounds like her development has either been dramatically slowed or arrested at a juvenile stage, and I'm at a loss to explain how that's possible. But it certainly is irresistibly adorable; everyone who has lived with a kitten or puppy wishes they could stay babies forever (except for that housebreaking issue in pups...). And you're right about your climate; never having lived in an area without true deep winters, I always find it hard to make that mental switch. Food would be readily available year-round in a way I've never seen; for Fraidy, that is a huge blessing, as is the great diet you provide.

In a few more weeks, when Heidi's babies become a bit larger and less in need of constant attention, I think you'll see more of her; she'll be ready for some breaks by then! The need to be with them constantly, leaving only briefly for food and pit stops, must be exhausting.

Ok, guys, fess up. Who told the raccoons about my dead, toy raccoon joke?
Oh, not funny, guys. Now all of the raccoons are snubbing me. Nobody was friendly tonight. ; )

---

Last night (the 1st night I was able to stay out with them after the storm), Heidi came running to meet me before I could even get to my bench much less get things set up. She appeared quite famished and reminded me of a dog or cat that tries to start eating while you are filling the dish. You know, the situation where you think you may have to pour the food on top of their head?

Even though I had the container right at my feet while trying to fill it, Heidi kept trying to put her head in. She would move back and forth between trying to eat and shying away from the box as I tried to pour the food into the dish, all the while grumbling a bit from time to time, not growling mind you, grumbling. She was so insistent that when I had finished filling the bowl, I was unable to push it back to her normal distance - for fear of frightening her away - so she ended up eating up very close, right at my feet. None the less, for the duration of her meal she seemed quite comfortable.

It was still light out and with her so incredibly close I was able to observe her manner of eating in even greater detail than ever before. Many times before I had seen her use her two front paws like tiny hands to lift food to her mouth. This time I could see that she was holding the tiny pieces of kitten kibble between her two paws lightly cupped together in much the same manner as a person might use their cupped hands to drink water in an emergency when caught without a glass. I sat mesmerized watching this incredible human-like maneuver. Or is ours a raccoon-like behavior?

After a time, Fraidy showed up. I put some food in a 2nd dish for Friady and pushed it to the side where she was approaching, but Heidi, who perhaps due to her hunger at having missed a meal or 2 was not in a charitable mood, absolutely refused to allow Fraidy to come near. While filling the 2nd dish, I had been concerned that at such close proximity Heidi might be frightened by my movements as I reached for the box and leaned down to poured kibble into the dish. Incredibly, she did not react at all to my movements, but she had reacted to Fraidy's approach. As Fraidy drew near to the dish Heidi rushed her, chasing her away. Then, with Fraidy chaised out of the area, Heidi turned to look at me as if to ask if everything was still ok between us and if she might return to her food. I said, "it's ok" and with that she returned to continue her dinner.

Fraidy ended up back at the fence where she wandered about in search of food. I had an apple in my pocket, and I tossed it to her. She grabbed the apple and crouching down in the sphinx possition while holding the apple between her 2 outstretched front paws, she ate it with such enthusiasm that I made a mental note to buy more apples. Her mannerisms in eating the apple were nothing short of adorable, and between her and Heidi they kept me well entertained.

Heidi ate quite a "ton" of kibble, and then turned and went quietly back to the forest. By that time, Fraidy had finished the apple, so I had hoped she would come over and eat from the large quantity of kitten food I still had with me, but she ignored my repeated attempts to call her over. Instead, she resumed wandering about in search of food. Confused, I was beginning to wonder if Heidi had dropped her on her head at some point early last summer as I was unable now to make sense of this odd behavior.

Finally, I was able to get Fraidy's attention and call her over, but no sooner than she had eaten a few bites of the kibble than a dog across the street began barking, sending her back to the forest in terror. At that point, I put the 2 bowls of kibble back in their original pre-storm locations and left for the evening hoping that Fraidy would return to eat from the dish at Station #2. She seems particularly fond of that station perhaps because it is so close to the safety of the fence and the safety of the branch of the Heidi tree.

Edited to improve readability.

This message was edited Jun 4, 2007 11:34 PM

AH, the girls. Maggie is coming every night now before dark, so I get to see her pretty well. She still won't let me come real close to her. I was approaching her to show her I had an egg for her. She ran over to the tree line and stayed right out in front of the tree watching me. I showed her the egg and said "egg, egg." About 5 min. after I left it there, she was back and enjoying the egg. She did the same thing when I approached to put some peanuts in her bowl. I had wanted to make sure she was the one getting the goodies. Again she reproched any other approaching raccoons. However, eventually she did let selected coons eat. I haven't felt well the last two nights, so did not stay out to see if the little ones came to get peanuts from me. I needed to get to bed earlier. There was one raccoon that came from a different direction, and stopped right in front of the house (I was sitting on the porch). It looked at me and then proceeded to go over to one of the bird feeder poles and look up at it. I said "Don't even think about it." and it moved on to the feeding station. That's it from here and our coons. Nice to hear about Heidi and her willingness to be close to you for the food. So, do you all think that Fraidy will get an adult coat as time goes on? Karen

Tonight in addition to kibble i took out a can of Mackerel, 2 apples, and a jar of grape jelly (for Fraidy). No one showed any interest in the Mackerel though I have no doubt that it will be gone by the time I take Widget out for his Midnight walk. The apples were well received. One of the unnamed females grabbed an apple and ran back over the fence with it. Juliet ate the other.

Heidi arrived early and ate at station #2. The neighbor's small and very annoying dog had been barking incessantly all afternoon, so I was encouraged to see that the raccoons had come out in the daylight to eat in spite of the noise. From time to time, however, the dog's endless barking set off a chain of barking throughout the area. On 2 such occasions Heidi bolted and ran back to the forest trees. I was able to call her back down the 1st time, but the 2nd time she appeared to leave altogether.

At some point I looked up to see Fraidy up in the trees at about the 40ft level and walking out onto the branches that hang out over my yard. By the time she reached the leafy area where the branches were getting rather narrow, I wondered where the heck she thought she was going. Clearly, there was no way down from there, not out near the ends of the limbs. She stopped for a moment, perched as she was some 40ft up on a narrow branch, to lift one hind foot up to scratch behind her ear. I cringed. Suddenly, a heavy wind blew through, the branches swayed to and fro, and I completely lost sight of Fraidy.

Again wondering about that imaginary bump on the head when she was a baby, concerned for her safety, and questioning how she planned to get from there to the yard, I searched diligently through the leaves for her to no avail. Suddenly, a movement some 20ft down and near the trunk of the tree caught my eye. It was Fraidy. Even now, I have no idea how she managed that Houdini-like escape from her position at the end of the limb only to re-emerge near the trunk 20 ft down. They are amazing creatures, especially on the high wire.

While Juliet scarfed down every speck of food from station 1 and all that Heidi had left at station 2 along with the apple I tossed over there, Fraidy came over to eat with me. I have given Fraidy the impression that I have an endless quantity of peanuts and grapes in my pockets, and that's what she was after. Turning up her nose at the kitten food I offered her, she kept nosing around me in search of the real treats.

I put 2 spoonfuls of the grape jelly in her dish and she was ecstatic. In her attempts to lap up the jelly, she kept pushing the dish closer and closer to me, yet seemed totally unconcerned about anything except the jelly. When the jelly was gone she came over to me, nosing around for more. I tried again to offer her kibble, but that would not do. She knew I had more jelly. I dropped another glob of jelly in her dish. This time she picked it up with her paws and ate it like [very mess] jello snacks.

As she continued to beg for jelly, I tried the method that works with Widget, dropping the jelly on top of the kibble. That did help to get some kibble in her, but she also ate 1/2 of a small jar of grape jelly. She has quite the sweet tooth, and seems to crave junk food. I wonder if that might also be due to her apparent juvenile state. When I refused to give her more jelly, she nosed around a bit in search of those missing peanuts and then, leaving kibble and fish behind, went back up her tree.

Well it's clear that Fraidy's physical coordination is up to speed, no? They are amazingly agile in the trees.

Your guess is as good as mine, Karen, about Fraidy's coat. We know she is at least a year old at this point, and should have gotten her adult coat by six months or certainly by last winter (even given the mild winters in Charleston). Cheryl may have something in the idea of Fraidy being dropped on her head as a baby; it could help explain the juvenile behavior, but as for the coat I am truly at a loss. She is really a mystery child, and all one can do is to enjoy her.

Fraidy having the sweet tooth is so cute.... "begging for jelly" must have been a sight to see.

I was also wondering if her eyesight might be off...for judging distance or even normal vision. She may navigate more by hearing if that is the case, and smell. And if this is the case, also not realize how close she really is to you. She doesn't smell your fear, so she trusts you. You are becoming her surrogate mom.

I look so forward to reading your updates every day. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

Debbie

Ok, guys, I was actually kidding about Heidi having dropped Fraidy on her head. In reality I think she likely lost the early battle for resources in utero, either just because Heidi lacked the resources to support the full growth of all 5 of the kits or possibly due to some inherent genetic deficiency or both.

As to their acrobatics, I am constantly amazed all over again. I used to think of cats as the stars of the high wire, but raccoons make cats look clumsy. From what I've seen the raccoons just walk around up there as confidently as though they were on the ground. I neglected to mention that I watched Fraidy WALK down that branch of the Heidi tree - you know the branch I showed in the photos recently. She didn't climb down it. She walked down it until she reached the fence, and she did so with the grace of a ballet dancer. I still think they have velcro foot pads.

When I questioned the good sense of Fraidy's manuevers in "walking" down the tree - in reality on all but the most vertical of branches they walk rather than climb - I was behaving as a typical human, second guessing her choices even though I can't even shimmey up the trunk much less waltz out on the branches. The wind whipping the branches about scared me but there was never any actual evidence that it phased Fraidy at all. Considering the skill and speed with which she made it to the ground despite my insistance that it would be impossible to do so, I'm going to try to keep my mind on the ground with my feet and defer to her knowledge of these matters in the future.

>>all 5 of the kits

so there were 5 babies last summer? and Trouble and Fraidy are the only 2 that came back, or are there possibly others?

Debbie,

I really enjoy sharing the experience with all of you, and that means that all of you are also an integral part of this experience. I'm glad that you are there and that you are enjoying the story. I also look forward to hearing from you guys.

When Fraidy looks at me, at the food, or at the others, there's no indication of poor sight. My assessment of her as "having been dropped on her head" because "to me" she didn't appear to know what she was doing at times was really tongue in cheek, as if I as a human would know better how to be a raccoon than the raccoon does. As far as reacting to shadows, the other day she did move away from my shadow but under a different set of circumstances. From that I've concluded that she really doesn't lack the instinct to react to shadows. On the evening when she was curled up beside me eating peanuts, I think she was just very comfortable; perhaps she had already determined that I was the source of the shadow that evening.

Terese,

Yes, there were a total of 5 kits last summer, although it took a while for Fraidy to get up the nerve to make an appearance even at the top of the fence. Last summer was my first up close experience with raccoons. The all look very similiar, especially considering that the kits were all siblings. It was very difficult back then - and even now at times - for me to keep track of who was who. I only named the 2, Trouble and Fraidy, whose behavior and/or appearance distinguished them sufficiently to warrant it. It didn't seem to make any sense to name them if I couldn't identify them.

This year I have seen a grand total of 7 raccoons in the backyard at one time. Given the fact that most of them were quite comfortable coming over the fence to eat near me, and given that the number adds up perfectly - Heidi + 5 kits + HRH - I eventually concluded that ALL of the raccoons that are here this summer with the exception of HRH are actually Heidi's kids from last summer. I believe that Juliet, who actually looks a great deal like Heidi, is one of Heidi's daughters. HRH is the only newbie. I think he found our little buffet for the obvious reasons - he followed Juliet to the feast.

Sorry, guys, last night I went out to try to feed the raccoons despite the fact that we were under a severe thunderstorm watch. I even scrambled them a few eggs (to see how they liked them prepared that way) while I was making my own dinner. Unfortunately, by the time I got out back with the food, the sky was covered over with an ominous combination of dark and forboding clouds along with lovely orange-red and equally forboding clouds. Lightening was starting to flash in the distance, and it had begun to rain a bit, not a drizzle, but the kind of sprinkling of huge rain drops that preceeds a deluge.

I caught sight of one raccoon high up in the trees in the area where Fraidy often hangs out. I wasn't able to determine if it was Fraidy, but after surveying the choices on the dinner menu she apparently decided not to venture out into the coming storm for any of those items.

Seeing that a severe storm was emminent and that even the raccoons seemed to know better than to come out in the middle of it, I wisely opted to retire to my own home for the evening knowing that they would eat after the evening fireworks had ended.

It was about 8:30ish and the dog was going nuts.... he has certain barks for certain things... so i knew it was an animal.
I hadnt seen the coyote in a while, so i was thinking it may be her.... but eventually I saw the raccoon uptop on the fence
[the really high highway fences... it's probably about 12 feet tall way behind my house]
The 'coons by us are rarely seen at dusk... normally, it at all, in the early AM around the detention pond aside my house.... 100' or so to the south....

so... thinking it's a pregnant female... it seemed quite large... and thinking of Heidi's first appearance.... i thought to myself... "what can i run out to it?"

knowing there isn't much food in the house since we are leaving in teh morning.... but i knew there should be 1 Washington Red apple... and i knew there were 2 eggs [brown organic]
so i grabbed them, cracked the 2 eggs together at the ends... thinking of how Fraidy had a rough time her first time.... adn i put them under the tree that had the bird feeder.... I looked up and i could see her amongst the tree, though she was still ontop of the fence.

it's dark by now so i have no idea if the 'coon came down or not... though i did see her move to the north along the fence. I'll see in the morning when i go out to fill the feeder before i leave.

but -- i do know Buddy would have been barking again if any animals were back there... amazing hearing he has... considering the fence is about 100-120' behind my house.

Hi Terese,

From my experience, you really can't go wrong with eggs and apples. I'm sure there will be nothing left but memories [and maybe part of a shell] by morning.

Big OOPS! Edited because in my haste I somehow misread the preceeding post as being from Karen. Oops! Terese glad that you were able to see and feed your raccoon friends! And, again, you can't go wrong with those choices.

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 1:56 AM

Cheryl.....psssst... it's me Terese. no prob.. i'm sure it's been along day.

Hi Terese,

Edited to add: Oops! Terese, clearly it has been a long day! I misread everything it seems. Not only did I not understand what you were actually trying to tell me (duh), but I thought you were saying "Where's today's post?" That's why (below) I was explaining that I typed it and then lost it and had to retype it all. Yep, long day. Anyhow, sorry, I FINALLY got it. I corrected the above post. My bad. If I don't get to sleep soon, tomorrow will be a LONG day, too!

Actually, I was about 2/3 through a long post when I hit the wrong button and blew the whole thing into oblivion. Scream!

Well, there were some interesting new observation today. I will start over as soon as I get a chance. I think this time I might type it into Word and paste it over to DG. I lost another large post just a few days ago. (Hmm, maybe they're trying to tell me something.)

Soon...

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 2:00 AM

Whew, ok, here I have retyped the whole thing again. (Think I may use the Word method from now on.)

Edited to add: Terese, sorry if this comes too late for you to enjoy this evening, but hopefull it will make for a pleasant surprise with your morning coffee.

Late this afternoon but well before dark I went out into the back garden with Widget. It was sunny out and not too hot, so I sat on the bench to enjoy the garden for a bit. I was holding Widget, petting him, and praising him on a job well done when I suddently became aware of the cutest little face looking out at us from the crotch of a tree high up in the canopy of the forest before us. It was Fraidy. Were it not for her adorable little masked face, I might not have noticed her at all as her coat blended so perfectly with the tree trunk on which she rested.

She watched us for quite a while before turning over to preen herself, one leg sticking up into the air as in the classic picture of a female bather spunging her raised leg. Her perch some 40ft up in a crevice formed where the trunks of several large trees passed each other seemed almost made to order, a natural tree house, and she seemed most at ease there. It seemed to afford her a bird's eye view of the backyard feeding station along with safe if not easy access.

After a time, I took the dog inside and returned to watch as Fraidy took her usual and seemingly circuitous route down from her tree top hideaway. With the confidence of one who had momentarily forgotten the perilous height at which she moved, she stepped from her tree onto the trunk of a nearby tree, Walking out near the end of its narrow branches, like an interstate motorist navigating a freeway interchange, she moved to another limb and from there made her way down to the narrow and steeply sloping limb of the Heidi tree, the latter down which she walked with skill that might have brought tears to the eyes of the Flying Wallendas.

From there the night became somewhat disjointed. Heidi and Juliet were there and Fraidy was eating beside me when the neighbor's pit bull began making such horrific sounds that I could scarcely blame them for leaving as they did. Fraidy stayed behind at first but as further and even more terrifying and indescribable sounds emanated from the adjoining yard, she ran for the cover of the weeds in the nearby vegetable garden and from there made her way back to the forest.

Some time passed during which none of the raccoons returned. I had a very large bag of jumbo raw peanuts, so in hopes of raising the ante a bit, I tossed a few out across the lawn and then started shelling and eating peanuts - hey, it works with babies and dogs. Soon I was again surrounded by raccoons.

For the first time I noticed Juliet having noticable difficulty making her way down the fence post. She handled the post and her shifting load with far less grace than the older and more accomplished Heidi had, her body turning completely sideways twice as she descended. Still able to call upon the strenght and flexibility of youth, however, Juliet showed superior ability to recover, righting herself each time her rear swung down to meet her head, then continuing on toward the ground .

For some time now I have been wanting to mention that Heidi's coat appears somewhat blotchy and lighter. I wonder if this may be an indication of her advancing age. Furthermore, tonight she looked considerably thinner (although not too thin) and for lack of a better phrase she looked like she'd been "rode hard and put up wet". I remember thinking, "Could that really be Heidi?" and hoping that it wasn't, but when she started up with the grumbling I knew it had to be her. Motherhood seems to be taking a toll on her even with the extra food.

That said, in time HRH showed up. He stole food from several of the others. Because I don't want to encourage him to hang around, I refrained from feeding him. At that time, Heidi was eating in front of me. HRH made several trips around the lawn in search of food. Finding none other than the watermelon he had already rejected, he started edging closer and closer to Heidi. After a few kind and gentle warnings had failed and given that he was about to stick his face into the dish near her, Heidi went after him with teeth glistening in the moonlight. With that he quite promptly left the yard altogether. She may be looking a bit haggard, but she still seems to pack a mean punch where necessary.

Fraidy is looking a bit thin dispite all of the food I've been providing. I think this is due in part to the fact that the others often prevent her from eating. Tonight when she came back (after the incident with the pit bull), HRH took her dish over at Station #2 and Heidi chased her off when she tried to eat near me. Heidi is now willing to come right up to [and if necessary step on] my feet to chase Fraidy away so that buffer zone beside me is getting slimmer by the day. But Fraidy and I worked out a method to circumvent the others.

I had run out of kitten food prematurely given all the visitors this evening. Heidi was still hungry so I was tossing her peanuts. One of the other (unnamed) females was eating peanuts to my right. In the darkness, I caught a glimpse of a head behind the strawberry jar off to my left where the raccoons often traverse a makeshift alley between a row of flower pots and the weed filled vegetable patch. The strawberry jar marked one side of a gap through which they come to me for food at the end of the alley way. Because Heidi would not let her come to me, Fraidy was hiding there behind the jar and peeking at me through the gap.

I started tossing peanuts through the gap and into the darkness beyond. I couldn't see Fraidy most of the time, but I could hear crunching sounds from over near the vegetable patch. With raccoon stealth, she was taking the peanuts over to the veggie patch to eat them, returning only for refills. I found that if I tried to throw a handful of nuts over there, Heidi would turn and growl menacing in that direction, but if I occasionally and quietly tossed a single peanut, I could keep everyone eating peacefully.

This message was edited Jun 7, 2007 1:27 AM

Tonight I spent awhile out by the feeding station feeding the youngsters peanuts-they are so cute. One will come close to my feet and sniff them while she waits for her nuts. The others still come to the bowls and are ok as long as I don't make any fast moves. I just watch them eat and wrinkle up their little noses. So cute. Today I bought them a kiddie wading pool. I can't find any very flat land to put it on, so one end is a lot deeper than the other. I did watch a couple of them get a drink and then later on go into the deeper end, so I think they'll adjust. That is about it from here. Maggie is the only one tht is coming out in the daylight so far, and chasing all other new comers away until she is done. Yesterday she ate for 2 hours. Amazing. Karen

Pit bulls have some amazing and quite undog-like vocalizations, don't they? They have one "song" that was always chilling, sounding distinctly like a pig being hideously tortured.

Loved your description of Juliet's inexperience with negotiating her pregnant self down fences and trees. Like all skills, it takes practice...

I wouldn't worry overly much about Heidi's rough appearance. Coat quality almost always goes to h... in lactating females of most species. And the babies are at an age when their demand on her time, energy, and nutrition is huge. Once they get to more than six weeks old, she'll probably start introducing them to other food (still in the nest), and from there the drain on her will decrease. But yes, it is very demanding for a lady her age to raise kids; and your excellent prenatal and lactation diet has much to do with her continued ability to breed successfully.

In retrospect, Fraidy's late appearance in your yard last year may have been a sign of her slower development; she may simply have been unable to do the ascents and descents as soon as the others. And of course this led to her being somewhat picked on by the others, much like the klutzy kid in gym class (that was me as a kid, so I empathize). Glad you're still able to find a way to get food to her; I'm convinced it's essential in her case and Heidi's.

And I'm so pleased that so many on this thread are starting to feed the critters: that is awesome! Here's to a kinder world where humanity is glad to share with the creatures who lived here before us, and still survive around us.

The feeding of the critters is pretty awesome, isn't it ?!

So glad you said that about the coats of lactating mothers looking bad. I was actually starting to wonder if the food I was providing was somehow BAD for her, but then I looked at all the others and their coats look great, so I was pretty confused. She's been looking splotchy and a little ruff around the edges for a while - like maybe she could use a good trim and color job, but today was the absolute worst.

Oh, forgot to mention that since the weekend TS, contention for water has plumetted to near zero. I suspect they have some sort of water source/collection back there in the forest because under normal circumstances I rarely see them drinking from the water dishes I provide. During the drought they were all trying to drink like camels who wouldn't see water again until they crossed the desert. Now they are back to mostly ignoring the water.

I'm sure your garden plants are as happy as the raccoons about the end of drought, no? We've had a dry spring, too, which is most unusual here in our temperate rain forest.

Morning ladies.... I did peek with the binoculars to see that the eggs were still there, but the apple is gone. When i go back there later, i will move the eggs to where i know an opossum travels.

as for feeding creatures... i've always tried. A few months back when i saw the coyote, i grabbed about 3lb of dog food [DH would be ticked if he knew... it's always said not to leave food out for them, etc.... ] I took it way back to a part of the field, more in the tree line... that 's about 300 or more feet from me, and dumped it back there. That evening i heard the noises you guys always hear of the raccoons squabbling. [which sounds like vicious fighting] So i guess the 'ole coyote didnt get it anyways.

By me... I mostly have rabbits and squirrels. The opossum i rarely see, i notice when the dog barks, and i've seen it hiding a few times under this huge wooden board... i even think it nested under there one year. [its a great hiding place as any predator can not get what ever creature is under it.]

Karen -- neat about the pool. What a great treat for them.
and as i said before... sounds like peanuts are a great treat for all.

Glad to hear that the drought is not as bad in the southeast. that has to be a relief.

Well -- DH and I are taking MIL to Wisc today so she can see our "Park Model" at the RV Park -- she hasnt been there yet. while i pop in to read -- i dont post much -- really slow connection. [we have wifi in the park]

Loved reading this. Do you have anymore pictures?

Ruth -- Actually, my wallet is happier now that the drought seems to be over (hopefully). I have an automatic sprinkler system. Since we also have that wet, humid semi-rainforest climate, I don't run the sprinklers on any kind of regular cycle. I prefer to encourage my plants to send those roots down as far as possible in search of water. During the drought, however, I ended up running the sprinklers for 1.5hrs per zone x 7 zones per week and even repeating that a 2nd time when things got particularly arid. As I am using metered (city) water, it got pretty costly for a while there. I am very thankful to have mother nature resume her role in supplying water for the garden.

Terese -- I hope you have a wonderful trip!

MsMaati -- Thank You! I think there were a few photos that I didn't post but that probably means they weren't very good. I did get an excellent video of several of them eating but it's too dark. I need to try to figure out how to use photoshop to lighten it. Most of all, and thank for reminding me, I just need to take the camera out with me and take some new shots. I'll try to do that this weekend. Often when I'm out there and I see something interesting (like Fraidy watching from the trees) I think "If I'd just brought that camera along!"

Cheryl... remember, "its by the dog food bag..... its by the dog food bag - right at the back door"

;-)

Terese, ROTFLMAO!!! ;-D