This thread is a continuation of a series the last of which is here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/733354/
Right now we are all waiting for Heidi's 07 kits to make an appearance.
This message was edited Jul 2, 2007 3:59 AM
Heidi: Now Where The Heck Are Those Kids?
Cheryl, it's definitely true that wildlife of all species develop regional and even local differences that are sometimes quite distinctive. The most obvious is in coat, which can create an apparent difference in size: colder climates produce much thicker, denser coats with more insulating undercoat in mammals. That said, in raccoons the issue is complicated by the issue of human transportation. It's well researched and documented that rabies in raccoons, once a problem mostly limited to Florida, was spread by hunters live-trapping Florida raccoons and transporting/releasing them in West Virginia in large quantities. Unfortunately, some of these coons had been exposed to rabies while in Florida, became sick in their new home, and infected some of the local population. Undoubtedly some of the transported FL coons were also healthy, and their genes spread through the population just as the rabies virus did from other coons. From the two original virus "hot spots" in FL and WV, the virus has spread up and down the east coast; undoubtedly some genes, less obvious, have done the same.
I do remember that it was much later last year when Heidi's kids first appeared. This may have something to do with her level of trust, but I still believe it had more to do with the kits' maturity/coordination, which determines when mom takes them exploring/foraging with her. My original guess was that you'd be seeing the new crew when they are between two and three months old, and it's still early. You know she'll bring them; it's just a question of when, and of the need to be patient in the meantime. [On a purely personal and selfish note, I'll be away from home and computer access through much of late July, and will really truly hate if I miss the news of their arrival...] Hang in there: thanks to you, those kids are growing bigger and stronger by the day, and will be irresistible when mama Heidi brings them for the first time.
I, too, hoped that all of last year's kids would move on, though I knew that would be very tough for you. Sooner or later, I think it's inevitable that some of the current visitors will be driven away. HRH will probably be the first to go, since his function is long since served; I still doubt that Heidi will tolerate his presence when she starts bringing the kids to Cheryl's diner. After that, I worry about the little, still-juvenile kids, but I hope I'm wrong there; if they (Fraidy and Panda) are appropriately submissive to the mothers, they might be allowed to remain.
Karen,
great photo. and even at 260+ kb, it loaded fine for me up here - possibly 'cuz no one else is on line at 6am.
Ladies... i too use both ACDSee and Photoshop. My ACDSee is so old, ver 4 maybe - it doesnt do much aside from being used as a viewer, but it's what we've been using for almost 10 yrs. (Up here on the laptop, all i have is Picassa2)
Cheryl -- you have your "kids" so spoiled with the fantastic food choices.... they're never gonna leave. LOL.
I remember the time you first put out those buscuits (left overs from a restaurant) and whom ever got them... LOVED it.
Still very much enjoying the stories.... heading home today for the 4th and to just get some things done.
OH and Cheryl -- you still haven't gotten a new camera yet??
Terese
OT : well, sorta. Cheryl... how's the tooth thing treating you?? are you getting better? less pain at least?
Hi, Terese, OT? (I'm still trying to learn my web speak) Well, I still look like a lopsided chipmunk - but much less so than on Friday. Thankfully, I don't have anywhere near the level of contant pain that I had that 1st night; however, I find that if I get up and start moving around doing things the pain and pressure start to escallate after an hour or so such that I have to rest again to alleviate it. So, not all better yet, but clearly on the way. As you may recall in addition to the extraction of the abscessed tooth I also got a bone graft to build up the area in preperation for an implant to replace the missing tooth; so I guess it's to be expected that my jaw/mouth might be a little cranky. Thank you very much for asking.
Nope, STILL no camera. And something is clearly loose inside of my broken Nikon. If I hold it with the lens pointing down while the motor is running to move the lens, I can feel it move in there - and not in a good way either. I'm still leaning toward the Canon Rebel xti DSLR but as I am so camera challenged and as I don't even know the difference between slr and what i have now, I'm afraid, based on some of the feedback I've been getting, that it may be the wrong choice for me - or not. I'm just so conflicted! But the broken camera still does pretty well in good light - or maybe it's the broken photographer...
BTW, this morning I when I went out to hangup the bird feeder (which I take in each night to keep the raccoons from destroying it!) I put out some kitten food in case anybody stopped by for breakfast. A little while ago I checked to find it empty - but then realized that I can't be sure Widget didn't eat it while he was out earlier. He always goes directly to the raccoon area to sniff around and see who's been in his yard.
Edited to add that the photo is one I took a few days ago. NOT presented as an example of great photography - consider the source - but to show that the camera is still fairly capable despite its obvious distress - but i do need to get another one and ship this one off to be fixed.
This message was edited Jul 2, 2007 3:21 PM
OT = Off Topic
>>but i do need to get another one and ship this one off to be fixed.
well, yano - if you are still happy with the current (broken) camera, why not get an inexpensive "pointNshoot" while this one is at the shop?
with the way the cost of technology has plummeted the past 5 yrs or so, you can get something pretty darned decent for about $200
Find one with good macro capability for your flowers, and for the kids, pretty much anything will do (a decent image can be tweaked pretty well in photoshop, to make it look like a "great" shot)
then you'll get your good one back, and still have a spare for those "just in case" days.
So -- Widget likes cat food, or just doesn't want any other critters eating in his yard -- so he'll eat it just so they won't get the chance?
Oh! Off Topic. Sometimes I can guess these things from context but Off Topic would never occur to me because (lol) I live off topic - that's my normal state.
I often have to take photos of the kids in the dark or near dark where the IR feature is a must just to be able to find the raccoon in the picture plane and focus the shot. When I can't get the IR to work, I end up having to shoot blindly into the darkness and hope for the best - which rarely ever works. When the raccoon is totally out of focus or not even in the picture - and I've taken more than a few of these - even Photoshop can't save it. : )
I think that Widget suffers from "the Grass on the other side is Greener" syndrome. I bought him 2 different varieties of high end dog food from PetSage, one made from fresh Wisconsin duck breast, dried chicken liver, etc. Still, back when I was feeding the last of the Jim Dandy dog food to the raccoons, Widget would grab any chunk that fell while I was filling their container. He would eat that Jim Dandy as though it were a very special treat that I was keeping from him. Now it's the same with the cat and kitten food. I read somewhere on line that Jim Dandy and Hunter Choice are made from shredded car tires. I figured they must have been joking, but I have noticed it's no longer on the store shelves after all the recalls finished. So it never ceases to amaze me how a dog who has an all you can eat buffet of the best dog foods available, none the less, steals Jim Dandy and runs off with it like he thinks he's found steak. Maybe if I put Jim Dandy in his bowl and then "accidentally" drop the real dog food near the back door when I'm going out to feed Heidi...
Edited to add: at the risk of being more "OT" I also picked up some carrots for the bunny when at the store. : )
This message was edited Jul 2, 2007 5:35 PM
Note to self: don't plan a big raccoon bash during the week of the 4th! Although it took a while most of them did eventually show up, probably because they didn't get to eat here] last night, but everybody was all jumpy and acting weird - except HRH who seemed oddly unconcerned about anything.
Heidi came down while it was still light out and ate like it was her last meal. She was very jumpy about all of the noise in the neighborhood. As soon as she had eaten enough to knock the edge off her hunger - most of 1 bowl of food - she left and returned later after dark to eat again. For her 2nd meal she ate at the dish in front of me. She ate and ate and ate and ate...I had to keep tossing her more food by the handfuls. I don't know where she put it all. (Hmm. 2 meals with a gap in between. Do raccoons regurgitate food for the young ones like wild dogs do?) No matter what I offered her, she ate kitten food, kitten food, and kitten food!
Here is Heidi during her 2nd meal. The Caption for this picture is, "This is what happens when Mom feels bad about not feeding me lfor one night" In the photo you will see 2 center cut, 1" think pork loin chops (left), a container of strawberry fruit on the bottom yogurt, meow mix cat food, Iams kitten food, and seedless red grapes.
Wow. I didn't realize how many empty lines were in that old post--I did get rid of them, thanks for the idea. I think I fell asleep, and when I woke up--just sent it. Gotta get to bed earlier. Tonight I had a late nap, so haven't seen any of the babies yet. They usually come around midnight (or at least the first two nights they did). That gave Maggie quite a bit of time to eat (since she starts at around 7 or 7:30), but she still tries to run everyone else off. Maybe she is on a Heidi schedule and I won't see her kids until later. The ones coming seem to be from two different mothers (I would guess--really a guess-Sadie and Stubbie), and are a little different in size and probably age. The camera I used to do that photo was just a point and shoot type, Sony. My son (who bought a new camera to take baby pictures) recommended to us the Canon S2 IS, but I don't have any idea if it is good for flowers or raccoons. Is there a camera forum on DG that can recommend what you want?
I just checked and no babies, so am signing off to get some early sleep. Night. Karen
At some point while Heidi and Juliet were both there eating peacefully, someone came down the fence. I was looking down at either the food or the camera so all I saw was a dark shape drop from the fence post. Instantly, and with blinding speed, Juliet ran after the intruder. The two of them headed toward the area behind the veggie patch. I couldn't see any of what happened next, but I could certainly hear it. They had one heck of a knock-down, drag out, butt kicking battle down there. It sounded like a really bad cat fight and it went on and on and on - and, no, they weren't "flirting". Just as with the last big fight, after a time Heidi stopped her meal to go down there apparently to break it up. I couldn't see a lot in the dark, but as soon as Heidi went over there the brawl ended, and Heidi came back to finish her meal. I never found out who Juliet was fighting with but I suspect that it was probably Fraidy or Sugar.
Before the fight and before Heidi returned for her 2nd meal, Juliet was there eating alone. I took advantage of that opportunity to share some grapes with her. After all, she will have some babies to bring around, too, so I might as well make friends. Before I got out the grapes she was hiding in the dark behind the compost. I tossed a grape over beside her and then another one a foot closer and then closer and ...pretty soon she was over there by me. She's a sucker for the grapes.
I call this photo, "Hey, could you cut it out with the flashing lights already?!"
Karen - thanks for deleting the spare lines. I can relate to falling asleep with the computer. Been there, done that - a few times. Thanks for the camera info. Yes, DG has a photography forum. I asked the nice folks over there, and they gave me lots of great info. I think the problem is that I don't speak cameras. The people who know enough about cameras to answer my question, do so in a language that is foreign to me. In the end, I'm not always sure what they said. I think some of them seem to think that I should probably stick with point and shoot. Some suggest that a less expensive point and shoot would serve my needs just fine. Others disagree with the less expensive options sited. Some think the Rebel DSLR is a great idea but for the most part what they say after that is Greek to me.
Basically, I'm the problem. I want to take good photos but given all of my current responsibilities and hobbies, I don't have time to learn the things I need to know to use a high end camera at all well. I chose my current camera when I learned that one of my [then] favorite flower photographers was using it. I thought your photo of the raccoon was amazingly good, very clear, so that's why I asked what camera you were using.
Even though I know that I don't begin to use my current camera to its fullest, I fear that I won't be happy with a less expensive and more limited camera. I like knowing all that power is there if I need it and have time to figure it out. (I'll check out the one your son recommends. Thanks for the info.)
Because of the fireworks, laughter, partying, and other sounds, the raccoons were jumpy. They were all over the place, coming and going, fighting, leaving, coming back later. You needed a score card or program to keep up.
This is Panda coming down the little cherry tree to get on the fence. In my rush to get the picture while she was moving rapidly, I "cut off" the bottom of her face but am including the photo because I think her little "hands" are so cute on the tree. (After this photo I changed the white balance to something a little more appropriate, thankfully. Also, for reasons which elude me this photo which began at 10M refused to be reduced any smaller than 1.3M.)
Here is someone on the fence. I believe it is Fraidy; however, as she walked across the fence and left again, I never saw her so am not certain who it was.
Here is Juliet leaving. (See her butt and tail at the top of the fence, center.) BTW, one of Juliets distinguishing features is her thick, luxurious tail beside which almost everyone else's tail looks skimpy.
After Juliet reached the top of the fence she left by climbing the limb of the Heidi tree. (Remember how tiny that limb is?)
Tonight HRH came around to the gap where Fraidy eats. He stayed farther back, however.
Slightly out of focus look at HRH through the gap between the pots. He's only maybe 3 ft from me here, and the camera is shining all manner of red lights and flashes at him. He seems to be saying, "I'm not too sure about all of this."
Fraidy (from earlier when we saw her on the fence) walking along the top of the fence. She never came down on this try.
Heidi takes a dip in the pool. Well, you can see from this photo that she has no qualms about turning her back on me while in the pool. (I think the area on her tail looks better here.)
Edited to add: I call this one "Would you Pe-LEASE get that camera out of my face!"
This message was edited Jul 3, 2007 1:04 AM
Our hunky bachelor takes a dip in the pool and has a drink.
HRH exits the pool.
Great photos again, Cheryl. The area at base of Heidi's tail definitely looks better; looks like she's starting to regrow the top coat with ticked bands of color. HRH is a handsome devil, even with the lighter coloring; the red highlights are actually quite handsome.
Photo language is pretty dense, with enough acronyms to drown the common man or woman. SLR is single lens reflex, which means that the image you see through the viewfinder is exactly the image you record. None of this holding the camera away from your face to look through a larger viewing screen that shows you approximately what you'll record, as is true with most point & shoots. In my days of using film, my Canon was an SLR, and the point & shoot digital frankly drives me crazy. One of these days maybe I'll be able to afford a digital SLR, I hope I hope.
"Made with shredded tires," eh? I'm not terribly familiar with the ingredients of Jim Dandy or Hunter's Choice, but I'll bet the writer of that colorful phrase was referring to ethoxyquin. Ethoxyquin is a preservative found in many grocery brands of pet food; it was originally created to be a stabilizer of rubber, especially in car tires, and was not intended for consumption. It has been shown through research to be a carcinogen, especially over long-term consumption. As far as I know, no pet food actually contains shredded rubber, though some brands have been found to contain bits of metal, fabric and other non-edibles when dissolved.
Hi, Ruth. Thanks! I'm camera clueles, but I keep trying. Night photography is not for the clueless, apparently. Even if the camera knows what it's doing, it seems like the human can still trip it up. Recently, I've learned by accident that (as with the photo of Fraidy standing on the top of the fence) I often get a better night photo by "grabbing" the whole scene and then cropping later instead of trying to zoom and focus (as in the photo of Panda without a nose). The former (with Fraidy) actually produced the better photo with far more detail, in part because the 8M photo allows for lots of cropping and zooming after the fact. Taking the photo of the whole area and cropping later also makes it much easier to keep the moving subject in the picture. (I REALLY need to try again to read the manual or atleast the part relative to night photos.)
Thanks for the camera info. I think I'm going to just go ahead and buy the Rebel. (If it doesn't work out, I'll just send it to you. ;-)
Probably the best answer I got on the photography forum was from someone who had the camera and who posted for me a photo she had taken of one of those dandelion puff ball things. Another problem I've been having in trying to make sense of what people are trying to tell me, is that I don't know (with respect to the Rebel) if I will be able to take close up shots of my flowers with the lens that comes with it or whether I'll need to buy an additional lens, and in the latter case what lens I'll need and how expensive that will be. From what I've read, the Rebel requires special (and expensive) lenses for auto focus. In other words, if you are buying additional lenses they have to be the pricey auto focus types or else they cannot be used for auto focus pics. When people talk to me about the camera they talk about lenses in terms of numbers that I don't comprehend, so in the end I still don't know the answer, but the one lady who posted the photo of the dandelion seed head said that she did it with the lens that comes with the camera so that helped a lot.
You know way back when HRH 1st showed up, I made a statement about him not being good enough for our Heidi. I've been wanting to tell you guys that I was being facetious, alluding to how parents always think their little girl or boy is too good for everyone else. I think HRH is "pretty". He reminds me of a cuddly teddy bear. I especially think the combination of both his and Heidi's colors and patterns makes for interesting kids.
Tonight I was noticing how totally non-combative he is. If find that surprising. It seems like the females do all of the bickering and fighting. HRH minds his own business, eats, and leaves. He never fights. Of course, I'm sure he does his share of scrapping with the boys, and I guess it makes sense that the ladies do all of the arguing because they are the ones who have to figure out how to feed 3-6 extra faces per year while all HRH has to do is take care of himself.
Cheryl, I knew you were being tongue-in-cheek about HRH not being good enough for Heidi; one would like her to have the world's most handsome, courtly, and romantic suitor. Unfortunately, with raccoons as with humans, that just doesn't often happen... And he is a handsome devil... And of course he doesn't fight with the ladies, silly; females of all species have long memories, and he wants them to take kindly to him next time they're "in the mood." He would reserve fighting only for males, and then only when nothing else works: wounded suitors don't win many girls. Once he realized Trouble had hit puberty, I'm sure he hold Trouble to hit the road; and I'm sure Trouble replied with the raccoon equivalent of "yes sir, how far, sir?" One thing I do respect and admire about wildlife is that they handle most conflicts non-combatively; fighting for them is almost always a last resort, unlike our "civilized" species.
Cheryl -- a bit OT here again - this time about cameras and photography..... way back when (Ok about 10 yrs ago) when i was just diving into computers and digital photography - i joined a listserv [back when they were 'the thing'] and i was on a few good ones... there happened to be great folks on there where i learned a lot, being a novice.
one guy Dennis Curtain - had a great web site where i was able to download free camera manuals [written by him] that were more in "english" .... anyhooo I guess i was still on his mailing list after all these years and a few weeks ago i got an email about his "new books"
BUT - he has done reviews on cameras, he helps in buying, and all that fun stuff and explains it all very well.
if you have extra time... (LOL) check out his stuff..... it may help
http://shortcourses.com/
and his books (not free anymore) http://photocourse.com/
from this page http://shortcourses.com/bookstore/book.htm
scroll about half way down - and you will see CANON -- there are free users manuals...
since you mentioned Rebel, and i didnt notice a model number - here is for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Photography http://shortcourses.com/bookstore/canon/book_canonrebelxt.htm
BUT -- Denny has great stuff! I hope it helps you in your decision and even aid in using it to it's fullest.
HRH looks huge in that picture! How big is this guy?? He looks like the Arnold Swarzenegger of the racoon world to me.
Some of the babies are out tonight. I am too tired to go out to try to see them, as they spook pretty much, anyhow. I hope I am feeling better soon, because I know they have to get to know me to trust me like their mothers do--at least not to run away when I get somewhat near them, so I will have to go out and spend time. Bad thing is they don't come out until pretty late, and I am supposed to go to bed earlier. What's a girl to do?? HRH looks great. He's getting in shape for next season ;-) Fraidy does looks a little more "spindly" than some of the others. AS for cameras, it is all pretty much Greek to me. This little Sony cyber-shot does some things ok, but it's reaction time is slow as is it's flash recovery time (things I care about), so probably will go with another here soon. I tried to get some of the flying squirrels, but the reaction time was so slow, I just got the tree. But I think I got a couple. Trying to watch the raccoons while you are standing out there with flying squirrels buzzing around your head can be a little weird feeling. The FS try to get as many pnuts out of the squirrel feeder before a raccoon gets into it. Then they go over to another tree where there is a squirrel swing for corn--and they fly back and forth--almost hit me in the head a few times. Country life is interesting. Well, I put some over ripe bananas out there for them tonight, and I am not sure anyone touched them. I will have to see in the am. Maybe Opie (the possum) will come around for a bite. Nice talking to you, guys, Nite. Karen
Hopefully with most of the fireworks being over the kids [not necessarily kits] will be coming back for visits.
Karen -- how did your kids handle the fireworks? or they not as bad since you are more in the country.
oh my heavens.... a few days without 'coon antics -- i'm starting to get the shakes....
June -- you with us on this one too? I'm also missing your lil baby antics too.
Karen -- any more dive-bombing flying squirrels?
*sniff*
Terese
Terese, I'm here, but I have no interesting pictures to post. However, I am thinking of changing my name to "Dances with Raccoons." This morning, as I was taking food out to the bird/raccoon table, I had to do a little waltz trying not to get between the growling mother raccoon and her offspring that were running around every which way.
that must have been a sight to see.
babies are just so cute... and i bet a protective mom can be quite scary.... but hopefully she does understand you are feeding them and not a thread.
I'm sure she understands that I am feeding them, but what she sees is a giant dressed in a billowing, flowery caftan, waving a plastic jug and making strange noises. It's understandable that she is a bit on edge.
LOL -- too funny June.
OK - i understand why Mom may be growling.
Cheryl, where are you darlin, I hope your OK and everything is fine. Gettin worried about you. It is so unlike you to go this long without our Heidi update.
Praying everything is OK.
Debbie
LOL at both of you! June 2-stepping around raccoon babies and Terese having DT's.
June, remember what I told you - that the babies would soon be meeting you on the way to the feeder. When they get a little bigger (towards the end of summer) they will start to come running every time they hear you open the door to go outside with or without food. And because they are so darned cute you will need incredible restraint to keep from going back to get them something.;-)
(PS. I loved the image of Canada geese and goslings along the rivers edge. Would have made a great photo.)
Debbie -- i was thinking the same thing.
*edit to add -- typing at the same time.
This message was edited Jul 6, 2007 11:16 PM
Hi, Debbie! Thank you so much for thinking of me. Sorry, didn't mean to cause any concern. I guess I've sort of been on hiatus to get well and to renew my creative spirit.
I'm working on a post or 2 right now. Sorry for the delay, folks, and again, Debbie, thanks for caring and for stopping to check on me.
cheryl... i'll catch up in the morning with my cup of Joe.... off to bed.
I'm still here, falling asleep again. Maggie still has not brought forth any kits, so I don't know what's up. She still eats like there is no tomorrow, so maybe she still is nursing some. When my camera gets full, I will have to see how the baby pics turned out. I tried to take some from the TV, too and I KNOW they will be awful since there is so much snow. My husband was saying that he thought I should cut down on the food now that it's more plentiful in the wild, but there are so many more now with the kits, that I am thinking of just giving them the same amount--that's like cutting down, right?? Since Maggie tries to run everyone off, I did put some corn on the cob and some peanuts up behind the big tree where they do their latrine duty and run to get away from her. So maybe one of the new kids will get some pnuts, anyhow.
When I get pics or any news, will let you know. Time to sneak out on the porch with my trusty flashlight and see who is about. Karen