Heidi: Just Hanging Out, Kids In Nursery

One would think with all the advances in modern medicine, they would find a cure for rabies by now. Makes one wonder how a disease like that ever developed in the first place...and the poor creatures do suffer so much.

We have had a couple bad years with rabies up here. My SIL to be has a farm, and they have had to report quite a few cases...the coons actually come after the cows when they are sick.

Debbie

Debbie, sorry to hear that you guys are having such problems with rabies. Do you know if your area is part of the federal oral vaccine program? Per government stats we have a high incidence here, too, but I've never seen a sick raccoon nor even heard of anyone who has. That would be particularly alarming.

I think one of the reasons rabies is particularly hard to either treat or cure is that the virus takes up residence, and replicates, in the brain. By the time symptoms appear, the brain and central nervous system have literally become a virus factory. And I'm not surprised about your SIL's cows, crazy as it sounds. In the last stages of the virus, when aggression sometimes appears, the animal will attack anything, including themselves, because the pain has literally driven them mad. I've seen far too many raccoons who mutilated themselves horribly in these last stages of the disease. I can't begin to tell you how much I hate this disease; it is so hopeless, and a truly horrible way to go.

Okay, we need some happy news on this thread. What's up with the healthy, well-fed and happy coons in SC and PA?

Cheryl, from what I've read about the government's oral vaccine program, the hope and intent is to stop the disease from spreading further west. I believe the vaccine is being used along the course of major rivers to try to create a barrier for continuing spread of rabies. This means, frankly, that they've given up on the areas in which rabies is already endemic. Canada and several European countries have used the oral vaccine successfully to control the spread of rabies, so hopefully its use here will at least save the raccoons in areas the virus hasn't yet invaded. [Unless, of course, hunters render the program useless by transporting coons and releasing them in areas where they hunt. This is how the virus spread out of Florida in the first place, many years ago.] Many rehabbers give an injectable rabies vaccine to the youngsters before they are released; this is quite effective, as demonstrated by blood tests showing antibody levels to the virus, but it is not legally sanctioned and is very much an off-label use of the vaccine.

Last night was a fairly ordinary night, nothing unique to report on. However, I did get the following video clips. Naturally, since I was trying to get pool shots, they didn't want to get in the pool right away. My aim was especially bad that night and I had tossed way too many peanuts on the ground around the pool. Note that I have added commentary under each video clip to explain it. There is a fairly long one in which Juliet walks all around the pool eating peanuts without getting in. This is most abnormal, but you can see that she is camera shy and is trying to stay behind the pool or behind the plants/weeds. Of all of them, she is least comfortable with me to begin with, so the camera was especially stressful for her. Near the end she looks back toward the fence (off screen) because another raccoon is coming. Then you see her make a run for the other raccoon. At that point she quickly gets into the pool because she needs to claim it to keep the other raccoon from getting it. Per my observations the rule is, "He who is IN the pool owns it."

Note that at the time of this post, the last video is not yet available on webshtos. It shows as "being processed". Webshots says it may take up to an hour to become available. I'm including the link. If it doesn't show up soon, I may have to upload it again.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3026523890015894510meHhZJ
http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3053414150015894510gsIDgZ
http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3053123210015894510OGreHp
http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3046501130015894510sKegvY
http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3064653740015894510fubUQt
http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3036735640015894510wVykth

Ruth, I can see the value of preventing the spread of rabies to uneffected areas, but am confused as to why we don't try to get it under control in the effected areas as well. I understand that it might be expensive; but what about the expense of post exposure injections for thousands of people year after year. I saddens and angers me to think that "we" have all just been written off.

BTW, I've been trying to get some info regarding the breakdown of cases in Charleston County. Charleston County includes a number of different cities, so the numbers quoted are not specific to the city of Charleston. I haven't found quantitative info on the distribution, but have found that well over 1/2 of the reported cases are from another city which is over 10miles away and which is on one of the barrier islands off the coast. We can only get there via a bridge that spans a waterway large enough to support sizeable marine vessels. I should think that would limit the spread from that area to my area. We may well have our own cases, just saying that the vast majority of the reported cases are in an isolated area off the coast.

I agree. I would think one would try to hit high epidemic areas, too. I did tell you that we were targeted this past summer-thank goodness. We are NOT around major areas unless they are considering the three rivers in Pittsburgh (24 mi. from us). We are the county just north of Allegheny County-where Pittsburgh is. Our rabies numbers had been going up, so I guess they are trying to stop that. I hope it works. It is kind of sad to think that two years ago if we had seen Maggie out in the daylight, Kent might have shot her, not realizing she was looking for food. Now she is the boss of the food for now. As I sit here typing, I can hear a few tussles outside. It seems like our regular gang comes early now and the few outsiders seem to come later-not much food left, so there are a few arguments now and then. Right now it is raining off and on, so I haven't made many trips out on the porch to see who is doing what. I THINK that the original coon that I called Sadie a long time ago MAY be the other lactating raccoon Maggie keeps trying to keep away from some things, but let her at the squirrel nuts. The only other coon I saw her allow to eat at the dog food bowls was Stubbie, the one I theorize is a female now. Not sure who is out there fighting now-I hear it out in the distance in the woods.
Earlier, before the rain, I took out the food, gave them the extra animal crackers. I put some apple pieces and grapes in the pool. I;ll be anxious to see what is left. Oh, and a package of over ripe strawberries (don't know if they like them or not). BTW, I went out today looking for that "scat" that had the berries in so I could get rid of it--no sign of it anywhere. Now what could have happened to it?? Birds?? Opossum?? Very weird. That is tonights report. Karen PS-I enjoyed the videos of the kids and Juliet in the pool.

The videos are great, Cheryl. Are you still thinking that Juliet has delivered her kids? She still looks, well, large, and is still eating with that "late for work" urgency; but guess this could be lactation.

You hit in one guess the reason for limiting the oral vaccine program: cost. Understand that I am in no way defending their thinking, but their logic seems to go like this: money is best spent on preventing human risk/potential loss of life. People in areas where raccoon rabies is unknown are more at risk than people in areas where rabies has been endemic for years: the latter mostly know to avoid contact with raccoons, and to report any that appear ill. It frankly infuriates me, also, to be written off as not worth the money. I would like to say that the people with decision-making authority might change their minds if they'd ever seen the poor raccoons who contract this disease. But I fear that they may well have seen it, and it simply doesn't matter; the goal is protecting human health and getting the most "bang for the buck." I try to tell myself that any government-sponsored effort at controlling rabies is better than nothing, but the grapes taste pretty sour some days....

Geographically isolated areas like the barrier islands are particularly at risk with a disease like rabies: once it enters the population, it spreads like wildfire because the population is closed. If food is scarce for the wildlife, this is also when it's likely to cross species to animals not usually at high risk: for example, possums (carrion eaters) who feed on an animal who has just died of rabies are at some risk of contracting the disease. This does make the stats for your county less scary; it's not doubt still out there (it's out there pretty much everywhere up and down the east coast), but you're probably not having an epidemic year in your immediate area..

Ruth -- Thanks. When I played them back on Webshots I was disappointed. They look much better running from my computer. I think I may try loading them on utube or somewhere like that to see if they playback any better. I found that a lot of detail of Juliet eating the peanuts in the pool were obscured apparently due to "drag" when playing back on WS. I'm beginning to think I'll need to reload that last one but will wait until tomorrow to allow the hour they specified.

Actually, I do think that Juliet has already given birth. She was absent for a few days. Now while she isn't thin she also isn't so rotund and puffy as she had been. Also now she moves much better and is no longer having difficulty with the fence. As you mentioned it took Heidi a while to "deflate".

Right now they are less fun than usual. Both Heidi and Juliet have babies somewhere (or so I believe); they are only interested in scarfing down food and getting back to the kids. Both are super grumpy, fussy, bossy, etc. Juliet starts a fight with anyone who even looks at her. Not complaining, just reporting. As you will recall, last year this time I didn't have any real contact with Heidi. I was still tossing goodie bags over the fence back then, so I missed this unsociable part of the process.

Tonight was a particularly strange night for a number of reasons which I will, unfortunately, have to cover later; but I brought it up to mention that dispite the fact that I was out there for quite a while Heidi was strangely absent. I don't believe that has ever happened. At least, not on a night when I was out there to witness it. Hope she's ok.

You're right, if Juliet is moving more easily she has no doubt delivered. The mothers do tend to be "all business" while the kids are still very young; suspect they're just too darn busy and tired all the time to have energy for much else. I wouldn't worry unduly about Heidi's absence for one night: the kids are about a month old today, and are probably beginning to get more mobile (though still uncoordinated), making for more demands on her time and energy. If she missed dinner tonight, she will no doubt be on a real mission for food tomorrow...

I certainly hope that she shows up this evening. Maybe it's just a one time thing...(got my fingers crossed)
Joey

Ah... so you named the other "sister" Panda??

and those clips of Juliet are great. She's a cutie... and the way she watches the camera... you can tell she doesn't care for it.

I had to come up to the Club House to view the videos, ,as the signal is too weak at our unit to view - pretty much anything.

only 1 was missing. number 55 out of 56.

It was one of those moments that make it all worth while. Ahhhh. :-D

I came home tired. It was raining - a constant rain - and had been for hours. Tired and sluggish, I didn't want to feed the raccoons today. Today I didn't want to be responsible for anyone or anything else, just wanted to rest. And anyhow, it was so nasty out, wet, raining, muddy. The raccoons could take care of themselves for one day...I thought...as I started to drift off...toward the quiet haven of sleep...but Heidi would be hungry. She'd missed dinner last night, I thought...as the clouds and darkness filled my mind...

...I awoke...it was almost dark out...or maybe the dog woke me...what about the raccoons...needed to feed the raccoons...a heaviness pulled at and dulled my mind...sleepy...didn't want to get up...didn't want to go outside...didn't care...just wanted to sleep...

Relalizing the need to save the feeder from what would soon be 6 hungry and frustrated raccoons, I summoned all my strength and arose. At the back door, more awake, more aware, I figured I might as well take food with me. It was a short walk out to drop it off on my way to get the feeder. As I opened the door and stepped out, food in hand, I saw a smallish creature scurry away. In the semi-darkness I couldn't make out what it was; it really didn't look like a raccoon to me.

I rounded the corner and saw that the animal still loping away, having now almost reached the forest edge, was Heidi. I called to her, "Heidi!" in a tone not unlike you would call out to a friend across a parking lot. It was an impromptu moment, no time to think it through, just called out to her, happy to see her, not wanting her to leave this way.

Still loping she cast a quick glance over her left shoulder, and then it happened, the moment - the moment that made it all worth while, the moment of recognition conveyed so perfectly by her entire being, a greeting, "Oh, Hi there. It's YOU!" as clear as any ever voiced by any human anywhere. She came to a sudden and a most abrubt halt, every aspect of her being spoke volumes of recognition, of happiness as she turned to come running back to meet me. With the very excitement and glee that every pet owner knows so well, she rushed back to me and it was all that I could do to get the food into the dish at my feet before she started to eat with the ferver of the truly hunger.

She had been so busy with the kids lately and before that just tired from carrying them. There hadn't been a lot of these touching moments lately, and this one might well have to last a while as well, but it was worth every day I'd spent hauling food out to her only to be grumbled at and ignored. The instant when every cell of her body had shouted, "I know YOU! I'm glad to see you!", the moment she had changed gears from flight to recognition, from fear to friendship was such that try as I may to describe it, words fail miserably in any effort to capture that instant.

For the next 15 minutes or so she at my feet scarfing down her food and looking every bit as calm and trusting and certain of her safety as my dog might have been, so much so that when HRH showed up she pivoted around her dish - still eating, mind you - so that her back was to me, just a foot away. As she watched in defense of her dinner, I had her back...

You are such a good mom!! :^)

Hubby had told me a few days ago that he saw some racoons around the house. We live in a wooded area, so I told him yes I am sure there are some here somewhere. He meant close to the house. I got to see one of them this evening. My darling daughter dog Gracie has been chasing something in the early evening when I allow her outside and I thought it was a feral cat (we have several here and at least one of them has had a litter). Turns out it was probably the racoon. He was eating from a bag of dog food that had been accidentally left outside and got rained on. The raccoon was dining on that and as I went outside just casually turned around to look at me as if to say "I am having dinner right now but will be with you shortly" and went back to eating. I could not have been more than five feet away. He (or she) jumped down and waddled into the woods after a few minutes and did not seem at all alarmed by my presence. After it left I went ahead and let the dogs out for their evening walk. It was a new experience for me to be so close to a wild raccoon. :^)

Both ways--you had her back and you had HER back. Sniff. Glad she is back. Hope the babies are ready to leave soon before she has a nervous breakdown. Glad you got up to feed her. Karen

Well, Ruth, it seems you were right - as always. : )

Joey, thank you for your positive thoughts!

Terese, glad that you were able to watch the videos. I was afraid you would have to skip them due to BW. I have replaced the defective one here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/video/3084313190015894510TchOXL . I'm still not happy with the way they are playing back on this site. If time allows later I may upload them elsewhere, and if that works better, post new links.

You caught that, huh? Yes, I didn't have a chance to tell you guys yet, but I decided to name the last 06 kid Panda which brings me to another topic. I named her Panda because she looks for all the world like a Panda bear. I tried to get a pic of her in the video to show you this, but her one quick glance at the camera was obscured by foliage so I gave up. You might recall that I previously used similiar words to describe another raccoon - HRH. When Panda came down to eat and I saw her at a distance and in the dark I though for a moment that she was HRH, but then realized that she was much too small. Upon second look, squinting a bit, I recognized her, and it was then that I realized for the very 1st time that HRH with his very unique features might very well be her father and, therefore, the father of the 06 litter.

In terms of their appearances the gang stacks up like this. Trouble, the fearless and friendly male who hasn't been around for a while, is almost a clone of Heidi so much so that I had to strain to find the things that differentiated them. Juliet looks a lot like Heidi except that the former has a darker coat, more like mink or sable while Heidi's coat is more the color of a rabbit or deer, and while their faces are quite similar in shape and even have much the same mask, Juliet has a bright, pale, beige band around her eyes that is not found on Heidi's face. That same bright, pale beige band does, however, occur on the faces of Fraidy, Panda, and HRH. Juliet's face, although I did not realize it before is a blend of Heidi's and HRH's faces but one which looks more like Heidi's.

Sugar looks a lot like Trouble and, therefore, like Heidi except that she is now visibly smaller than either and her face is longer and narrower. Still, she has the "Heidi" facial coloring. I used to get Trouble and Heidi confused sometimes. Due to the size differences and the longer face this is not a problem with Sugar. Sugar's temperment is quite similiar to Trouble's. But for the obvious size difference I would be inclined to confuse them even now. I now believe that she was the "2nd" one when they were kids, the one that was always right behind Trouble as though led by him. Trouble was always out front of the gang and getting into everything 1st. He was the clear leader. There was a 2nd kit that looked almost like his double and which was always on his flank, similiarly fearless and easily led [into trouble]. I never named that 2nd one because I could only ID her at the time by her position as 2nd to Trouble. That was Sugar, and she still has that same attitude, so much so that a few times when Trouble 1st left I was tempted to think that she was him - except that I could not rectify the clear difference in size, especially since he'd matured and grown so much larger.

Panda's face is almost identical to that of HRH but she is very small. In fact, Panda is only slightly larger than Fraidy. If you recall, last year I mentioned that in addition to Fraidy who almost never left the fence there was a 2nd smallish kit, only a tad bigger than Fraidy, who vascillated between the fence and the group. That was Panda. While Fraidy was afraid to leave the fence at all and was picked on by the others, Panda had fearful moments during which she befriened Fraidy at the fence but also frequently accompanied the others in the feeding area. Panda was accepted by the others and allowed to eat with them. Panda's coat is similiar in color to Fraidy's. They both have long narrow faces, but where as Fraidy's face is sleek, Panda has furry cheeks. Their faces are similiar in appearance in that they both have that bright, pale area around the eyes (apparently inherited from HRH) but while Panda's face is almost identical to HRH's, Fraidy's face is another Heidi/HRH blend. Due to the similarity of their overall size, and length, shape, and color of face, it is easy to confuse Fraidy and Panda in the dark, but I can easily tell whose who by checking for Panda's furry cheeks and longer coat. They are also very different in behavior. Where Fraidy is timid, Panda has the "in your face" attitude required to actually growl at Heidi. Where Fraidy trusts me and comes to me for treats, Panda is leary of me and mostly avoids me.

So, yes, folks, I now think that HRH is the Dad of the 06 crew.

Hi, Karen, thanks! Yes, It was very nice, and I'm glad she's back and that she's ok. Karen, a long time ago you asked if HRH might be the father of the 06 group. At that time I said I couldn't tell. As you can see from the above, I now think that he is.

Thank you, tetleytuna! (I missed your post earlier. skip to new let me down. sorry)

Aren't they adorable in person? You know, a long time ago before Heidi and I "met" formally, I went outside one night and on my way back to the house I happened to notice 2 eyes in the darkness peering at me through a rose bush. She had probably been out there around me hiding in the darkness on numerous other occasions when I didn't see her. They are, after all, the original ninjas, silent and invisible. I suspect that "your" raccoon friend was not alarmed to see you because he/she has also been around you many times before, a secret shadow in the night. You may have just met him for the 1st time, but he has likely known you for a while. : )

Here are a few pics from the same night as the videos. It wasn't a great night for a photo shoot. No one wanted to have their picture taken. It was like they had all just run out for a quick dinner but hadn't had time to dress and just didn't want to be "seen".

This is Heidi. Note that she is much slimmer than in her earlier pics - about 1/2 her size, I think. Her coat is looking better but still a few split ends. Years ago I had a horse that was some 25 yrs old. I had ridden him many times as a child, and as an adult I bought him. We heaped all manner of loving care on him, and while he responded well, there was something of that wilderbeast look in his structure. Like the parts didn't all match up anymore like they had in his youth. I'm starting to see a little of that in Heidi now, I think. Only sometimes and in certain positions. (She's eating a peanut.)

Heidi (left) drinking from the pool while Juliet (right) is eating peanuts. Heidi is getting impatient. She thinks Juliet has monopolized the pool and its peanuts long enough. Juliet doesn't appreciate having her space invaded this way, but she isn't quite willing to say so to Heidi's face.

Juliet eating a peanut.

Do they eat the peanut shell and all? I once had a small dog who was vet good at shelling peanuts. He would spit out the shell and eat the peanut.

Hi, George, no, they don't eat the shell. They are exceptionally talented when it comes to shelling peanuts. Mostly they bite they hold it upright (vertical) and bite the "top" off to get to the peanuts. Amazingly, they are often [somehow] able to then extract all of the peanuts and toss the shell aside so that it's pretty much a 2 step operation. Sometimes I give my little dog Widget a peanut [to entertain himself with]. One peanut will entertain him for 5-10 minutes (during which a raccoon could eat a bunch of peanuts). He rarely manages to consume more than one of the actual nuts, and he makes a mess by shredding the chewed shell all over the place. The raccoons are far more adept at manipulating the peanut than my dog is, however, the raccoons have far more dextrous paws that resemble hands with 5 fingers and no thumb. (The area of "lawn" - in the back yard - where they eat the peanuts looks pretty tacky right now due to all of the shells, but I'm sure they will break down eventually - I hope.)

What a great moment, Cheryl: one of those beautiful moments that reminds you why you're going to all the work and expense every day. It is so rare and so special to have that kind of relationship with a wild creature.

Heidi's weight and coat look pretty good for a lactating female: no need for concern. And Juliet looks great, though still large, as one would expect of a young lady with her first litter.

I can see that you've been spending time studying the specific features and differences on last year's kids: good for you, and great detective work in tracing so many specifics to HRH. Not surprising: he does sound like a handsome devil, and charming when he needs to be, no doubt. Wonder who won her hand this year? As I recall, she had quite the little crowd of suitors when she first appeared this year.

Snowball doesn't clean up the peanut shells?? He's falling behind in his cleanup duties (lol)...

>>So, yes, folks, I now think that HRH is the Dad of the 06 crew.

Ah... so he is able to stick around for his "stud" services.... It;ll be interesting to see if he comes back next spring.

GREAT evening it sounds like. what a wonderful experience with Heidi.

Hi Ruth! This morning I awoke early and was surprisingly eager to get the day started. I did so by writing you an inspired and impassioned response. Perhaps due to all that AM energy, the words just seemed to flow. From the jovial admission that for a second or two I actually found myself saying, "I didn't know that oppossums ate peanut shells" - because I will believe almost anything it seems, so that laugh was on me - to an impassioned dissertation on the process of learning to actually see my new raccoon friends, I was on a roll. About the time when I'd written some of my most inspired prose, or perhaps words that just sounded so at 6AM (Ok, that's early for me, folks), I hit that magic hot key sequence that I manage to find every now and again that wipes it all away without a trace. By then, creatively drained and on the very cusp of turning an early morning into yet another late one, I gave up and hit the commuter's trail.

Looking back now with more than a little humor, I've decide to accept the wisdom of the cosmos that, self-described "greatness" not withstanding, maybe those words just weren't meant to see the light of day - or the internet. ;-)

In a nutshell (which might just be the better format after all - LOL), when you 1st suggested that I look for distinquishing features [between Heidi and Trouble] it was an all but impossible task. I practically had to imagine some, but some of the differences that first were non-existent and later grew to be subtle nuances have now become glaringly obvious. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that they now get much closer to me, but I suspect that it is mostly because with time I have finally stopped seeing the stylistic raccoon figures we all grew up with and started to see the individual creatures that spend time with me each day. From the pale grey-white sock on Juliet's right hind leg to the red-brown patch of fur at the base of Heidi's tail their unique markings are starting to leap out at me now.

...right about now my money is on that Rhett Butler incarnate HRH!

Hi, Terese! ...that and every now and then he moves some furniture and kills an icky bug. ;-)

Last night I noticed that Webshots has posted a notice that they are moving files across servers and are experiencing considerable technical difficulties. Maybe the videos will play better soon - or not. From the comments of other WS members it seems I've gotten off lightly - so far - as many others have lost [and are still searching for] entire folders.

Well, heck; wish I'd gotten to read your early am epistle. Don't know about you, but I find on subjects like our animal friends, my best writing usually happens when I don't overthink it but just write; and for nocturnal folks like us, early am is definitely not a time for overthinking.

I think you hit it in one, again: the ability to tell animals apart depends a lot on letting go of our preconceived impressions and letting ourselves simply see. The differences are there, however subtle, if we can allow ourselves to purely observe and take notice.

Yeah, I'd put my money on HRH for this year's paternity as well. Had to laugh at the Rhett Butler comparison, and can just see him uttering the immortal, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a .....". Perhaps with a dog biscuit in his mouth to replace the cigar....

Cheryl -->

Cool. I still wish we knew where Trouble went. He was one of my favorites. Nice to be able to tell everyone apart. In my crew, I can pretty much only tell Maggie and Stubbie. Sometimes LittleOne and LittleTwo, but that's about it. Some of the others come from across the road into the other woods and are new to me. Not much else. Flowers are blooming which is nice, but a downpour and hail storm yesterday afternoon did a lot of damage to some of the flowers. Can't save everything unfortunately. But weather should be nice next few days. Karen

Terese -- Thanks for the link. Actually, I was part of the conversation to which you refer (small part, but there, none the less); while it helps to know why it is happening, I have never been able to use the information to recover the lost information - at least not yet. I always seem to hit at least 1 more key before realizing what has happened.

No, I did not mean to indicate that Trouble had returned. I haven't seen him since shortly after I mentioned observing his increase in size. Actually, Trouble was the 1st to come up close to me - last year, I believe. He was pretty much fearless from the start, from birth, and since he was raised around me and was accustomed to being fed by me, it was almost natural that he would sneak up closer and closer to check me out.

Getting to know each other and become comfortable with each other has been a process for them and for me. Each of them has his own comfort level with me. Some will come closer than others. Some are more tolerant of movement. It's not a linear thing. I can't rank them on an absolute scale as to which is more or less comfortable with me. I can group them; Heidi, Fraidy, and Sugar are more comfortable while Juliet, HRH, and Panda are less so; but within each group the ranking is a matter of circumstances. Sugar was the obvious choice to hand feed because of all of them she is most comfortable coming up to see what I have in my hand or on my person, yet she will bolt for the forest if I stand up and start to move. Heidi, by contrast, will rush backward a yard or so if I reach out my hand to her even with a treat in it. To her reaching is associated with predatory behavior and is highly suspect. Yet Heidi is the only one who can be counted on to stand fast if I stand up and move about or when I approach from the house when they are already out there. Fraidy will curl up beside me and get so comfortable that she often stops paying much attention to barking dogs and such. Ironically, while she will often stay behind with me when the others run off in fear of some nearby sound, Fraidy will rarely venture out of the forest to come and eat with me when the others aren't around. If she does come out alone, she will eat at the isolated Station #2 behind the composter. Juliet is probably the least comfortable around me at present. She prefers to stay some 10ft or more away, but with the exception of Fraidy she is more likely to ignore loud sounds and barking dogs than any of the others including Heidi. Each has his own unique conditions for interacting with me, but all are markedly more at ease now than even Heidi was less than a year ago. All of them, even Juliet and HRH will under their own conditions come right up to me within a foot or less. There was a time when I celebrated the fact that Heidi would come out and eat with me some 15ft away; we've all come a long way since then.

I have also come a long way in my comfort with them. This time last year, for instance, I would not even consider walking near the fence at night or bending down to put food in the dish with my back to the forest for fear that one might leap onto me from the trees like a cougar. That, of course, seems silly to me now that I know them better.

Yes, I am learning a great deal about each one of them as a unique individual with her own preferences, fears, and personality - and they are learning about me as well.

Karen -- Trouble was very special to me as well. I miss him, but at the same time I'm happy to think of him out there somewhere having a great life with his new harem. We'll always be here for him if he needs us. Who knows maybe someday on his travels he'll wander by for a visit.

It took quite a while for me to be able to see some of the differences in their markings, and some of them require pretty good lighting and/or closer inspection. It sounds like you have a larger group with more visitors to add to the challenge. Give it time though. I'll bet with time you'll start to notice more and more little differences.

I was surprised when you mentioned that flowers were blooming. Are you saying that they more or less just started blooming? March through May the blooming period here was so intense that it was all I could do to get photos, especially of the ones that only bloom once a year. We still have things blooming: hydrangea, roses, glads, lilies, etc; but things have throttled back considerably. Here it is beginning to get too hot and humid to enjoy the outdoor any time other than very early or very late which is pretty frustrating. Sorry to hear that the storm damaged your flowers. Don't you just hate that - perfectly gorgeous blooms cut down at their prime that way? Sometimes when I know a bad storm is inevitable I will cut the nice flowers and bring them inside. Earlier this season a storm with some pretty high winds destroyed my iris blooms, so I can relate.

ARG!!! I've lost my post TWICE already today, and I can't even attempt to get it back because I'm loosing it by accidentally hitting the corner of the return key or something like that - as apposed to the hot key. I end up on another page in DG altogether where getting my data back doesn't make sense anymore. SCREAM!

OK, this is my LAST try. I'm too lazy to use the editor so I'm going to post in segments (i.e., safe often and early).

Last night it was almost dusk as I headed out food in hand to find Heidi waiting for me. After I put her food in the dish in front of me and sat down to watch her eat, I decided to push the envelope a bit by walking past her to fill the other dish at Station 1. I stood up and walked slowly but deliberatly forward and about 2 ft to her left. When I reached and crossed the imaginary line on which she stood, a line comprised of all points equa-distant from the fence, she began to move backward, slinking catlike away from me and toward the fence, and for a minute or so we moved in unison, locked in the execution of some strange form of Tango. By the time I reached the dish at Station1, Heidi had bumped into the pool. I filled the dish and went back to my bench while she resumed her meal, albeit now at Station 1.

It had been a successful maneuver because although she had reacted she had not run away. She had stayed and had learned once again that I was not trying to harm her. In time she would likely also accept this maneuver as normal for me.

...saving...

Soon the others arrived, and contention for prime eating spots was high. Those who had arrived too late to secure dishes were forced to scrounge for kibble I'd tossed about on the lawn. Like a game of musical chairs from time to time the music played and the players scrambled for better positions.

Eventually Heidi, who by this time had moved back to and was eating from the dish in front of my bench, left for a dip in the pool and a thirst-quenching drink. HRH quickly moved in to take her place, and she emerged from the pool in search of food. Heidi will defend what is hers viciously and with an iron hand, but the rules clearly dictate that possession=ownership. Food left behind for any reason belongs to the taker. HRH's claim on the dish was a fair one, and she made no attempt to argue the point.

As I watched her survey the area in search of food, an idea emerged. As we know, when I stand up Heidi doesn't react until I pass her [invisible line with the forest] but the others move away immediately. Up to that invisible line, Heidi will even approach me. I stood up and took a slow step forward from my bench toward Heidi's dish where HRH was eating - making no attempt to act scarey. Just as I had expected everyone except Heidi moved away, HRH included. I had to smile at this well executed and silently communicated conspiracy for even as I was stepping forward and HRH was moving back, Heidi simultaneously seized the opportunity to walk toward me to reclaim her dish! Perfect! Now we were not only communicating in some new and shared language but even working together to achieve a goal!

Now please don't misunderstand me. I've learned to appreciate HRH, too, but he isn't feeding a family these days and Heidi is - and later after she had eaten her fill he was able to eat a quantity which when combined with the food he would track down later in the night while she was nursing babies would keep him well fed.

...saving...

Believing that a picture IS worth a thousand words (or more), I made a few drawings to show the layout of the area where the story unfolds. 1st, below is a basic drawing of the scene including locations of dishes.

Here then is a drawing depicting the action in the above post where I walked past Heidi to put food in the dish at station 1

Lastly, because this was even more incredible and I could never explain it correctly without a picture...

I had put the last of my food on the ground in the area where Fraidy usually comes to eat; however, as Fraidy had not yet shown up, Panda sneaked around to eat there. When Panda had eaten about 1/2 of the food, Fraidy showed up. Seeing the large crowd and seeing Panda in her spot, Fraidy came to me in the location shown on the attached diagram with a potted plant or 2 seperating her from Panda.

Since I didn't have anymore food with me and knowing that Panda had already eaten food from Station 2 and about 1/2 of the food beside me, I decided to see if I could pull off something similiar to what I had done earlier with Heidi and HRH. The difficulty, however, would be that unlike Heidi, Fraidy (and everybody else for that matter) might also leave if I stood up and started walking about. It seemed all but impossible that I would be able to get Panda to leave the food without also scaring Fraidy away. I mean, if the big, scarey human has just essentially pushed one raccoon away, you would think the other raccoon would be afraid to approach. Still as I wanted Fraidy to get a little food, I decided to give it a try.

I didn't do anything mean or overtly scarey to Panda. I just took the box I carry the dog/cat food in (it's a dog biscuit box) and moved it very gently toward Panda. It never touched her, but she naturally moved away from it which caused her to back out from the spot she was in - the gap between the pots where Fraidy usually enters to approach me and to eat. I still had no idea how I would convey to Fraidy the plan, the fact that I was doing this to allow her to enter, that she was now to walk around the potted plants and take Panda's spot; but immediately after Panda backed out and even before I could fully withdraw the box, Fraidy did exactly what I wanted her to do. (Does anybody know? Do they read minds by any chance?)

For a second it looked like that had also worked perfectly, but Panda was not willing to give up her spot that easily. She moved in behind Fraidy and a spat ensued ending with everybody back where they had been before I started. For a moment, especially during the brawl, it looked like this time I'd caused more harm than good. Still, I REALLY wanted Fraidy to get some food so even though I had little reason for hope that we could pull the whole thing off again or that it would end any better on the 2nd try, I repeated the manuver again. Again, Panda moved back. Again Fraidy moved in and took the food. This time Panda gave up and went over to join some of the others who were picking up kibble from the lawn. Fraidy ate the rest of the food. It wasn't a lot, but by the time she finished Heidi had left so I reached forward, grabbed her dish with the handful of food she had left and gave that to Fraidy as well.

Everybody got a share. Nobody was too upset with me, and I was amazed to have conspired with and communicated with both Heidi and Fraidy to pull off joint goals with each of them in one evening.

Edited to fix a typo or two and to add that now as I think about it it's not so clear whether I REALLY communicated my plans to them or whether it was they who communicated their plan's to me. ;-)

This message was edited Jun 23, 2007 3:19 PM

Well, folks, as it is the weekend and I have more spare time, this afternoon I went out with food, a very sweet watermellon cut into 2-3" chunks AND the camera. Unfortunately, everything went down hill quickly from there. The neighbors also came out - in there yard which is practically in mine - with there kid and their steaks. They were more than a little loud over there, the parents even more so than the kid; so I spent the next hour or so enjoying the aroma of charcoal and dreaming of those tenderloins in my freezer while mosquitos pierced my flesh with what seemed to be daggers in total disregard of the mosquito patch I was wearing. With all that noise out there the raccoons weren't about to show themselves in daylight. When it was so dark that I could barely see her, Juliet finally came down to eat at Station 2 behind the compost pile. As you've seen in the past I can't really get good photos of them when they are over there. Eventually, tired of battling the mosquitos and not having a lot of fun anyhow, I left. Sorry, guys, I tried.

I neglected to mention that last night when I stayed out for such a long time, I was able to witness what appeared to be PLAY. Do young adult raccoons play? Do they wrestle? That's what they appeared to be doing. It looked like Fraidy and Sugar but hard to tell as they were over in the pool and by that time it was pretty dark. There was no food in the pool. They started frolicing much like puppies will do, rearing up and "embracing" each other in a pretend fight posture, wrestling, no sound effects, no growling. The action was clearly not serious or angry. They were not fighting. I don't know that I've ever seen them play, not even as kids. It was an awesome opportunity.