Scutler, You are going to have to take out a 2nd if they all decide to come home to see you and bring their families....LOL I can see the word spread thru the local raccoon population.."well, there's this human that has the best food, and toys and pool"! LOL
Heidi Chronicles: The Kids are Still Here For the Holidays
Ruth -- At this point, I'm thinking the raccoons probably haven't gone far if at all. As you might expect, Dennis and Cissy seem to be doing fine today.
nanny -- Sounds like you aren't sure which one to feel sorry for, Dennis or Heidi? lol.
doccat -- That is a scary thought! If they all come back at once, I may have to move.
Now there's an image: all of the raccoons from the past two seasons waiting for you at the back door one night. Poor Widget would have a nuclear meltdown. Maybe they could all carry signs requesting the favorite food item they've been missing.... Yes, it would be time to move. Thank goodness the wild creatures have controls in place to help keep that from happening: mamas kicking out the kids, dominant male kicking out the young guys, etc.
Just a quick note to let you know that tonight when I 1st took the food out, Cissy was there waiting for me. Rupert hopped down from the fence a minute or 2 later. They had only been eating for a few minutes when Rupert's growl alerted me that something was approaching behind me. It was Dennis.
Ordinarily one might expect a wild animal who was trying to pass me to take the long route around, just for safety; but Dennis walked right up against the side of my bench where there was only a scant 6in passage between the bench and the chair next to it. On the way through, he stopped, stood upright with his front paws on the arm of my little 24" single seat bench, and poked his nose straight up into the air so that all I could see was his Adam's apple and the underside of his chin. He stood like that for a minute or so checking to see if I had anything for him. I spoke to him, touched his nose, and rubbed his shoulder. Then he walked on over to the dish by his sister and began to eat.
Heidi didn't show up during the time that I was there. The three of them, Rupert, Dennis, and Cissy were still eating when it started raining and I stood up to leave. As I looked back from across the lawn all 3 were still eating,
I found it interesting to note that Blondie was not with her two cast out siblings. The night before I had noticed that one the one hand Blondie wasn't trying to eat from Heidi's dish but on the other hand Heidi hadn't made any effort to run her off. I had long thought that Heidi favored Blondie for some reason, perhaps because she is the largest, the most attractive, the best dressed, the most likely to succeed in carrying on her line. Will Blondie be permitted to stay with her mom a little longer? Is it easier perhaps for Mom to push the kids out one at a time than all at once?
Raccoons have adam's apples? LOL, you have got to include that in your book! You have learned some amazing things about them from being so close to them, Cheryl.
I love the way you described Dennis--I can just see him, standing up, head in the air, sniffing to see what goodies might be awaiting him. And you got to touch his nose? What did it feel like? And rub his shoulder? For how long, just a sec? What fun!
Who knows why parents come to favor one of their offspring over another? I doubt it's intentional or conscious in any species, but clearly it happens in species other than humans! You're in pretty new territory these days, Cheryl: rehabbers never get to see natural family behavior in the ways you do. It makes an already incredible experience even more awesome; someday your book may help contribute to knowledge about raccoons among a wider audience than our bunch of admiring amateurs.
LOL, KyWoods,
I took artistic license with the Adam's apple. Just trying to figure out a way to convey that I couldn't actually see Dennis' face at all, just the giant triangular shaped area under his chin and neck. It was a buff color. Such a funny way to greet someone, neck first. I guess that also shows a lot of trust. I would think one would be wary of exposing the vulnerable neck area so prominently.
I've touched his nose before, just lightly with the fingers of my open hand. His nose is a lot like a cat's nose. I probably didn't mention this, can't recall, but I have on numerous occasions fed Dennis and Cissy pb chips, Reese's pieces, and such from my fingers. They always take them very, very gently.
I only rubbed his shoulder once. Then he got down and went over to the dish to eat.
Even though I know he's very comfortable around me, still sometimes I'm surprised by little things he does, like I probably would have expected him to walk around the area to get by instead of squeezing through beside me and the other chair but I guess to him I'm almost like another raccoon. And I though it was cute how he stopped 1/2 through and stood up with his paws on my chair and his nose in the air. That is just what I would expect Widget to do. The only difference being that Widget would not have stuck his nose straight up in the air like that. Funny critters, they are. Then again, they probably say the same thing about me.
Sculter, you may be right about him exposing his throat. I don't know if raccoons do that in the wild, but most animals have dominate/submissive behavior patterns. It show great trust and he's probably looking for those really, really good marshmallows or maybe some gourmet yogurt........LOL You have proven yourself to be a source of wonderful yummy goodies......LOL
Is Widget a dog or a cat. I am assuming dog. Do you have pictures of him too?
Again, I am just enthralled with your story.
Susan
=^..^=
Widget is a Maltese ... i'll find a pic.
peeking under the fence
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3817581
amongst all the stuffed animals
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3817575
this ball of fluff i just can't figure out... but you can make out his feet and his nose.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3817482
That is so CUTE !!!!!
Thanks tcs.
Susan
=^..^=
Cheryl -- thought you may enjoy this!!
DUH, I remember Widget. She was from the "Terror in the Garden" thread on pets and I was even the first person to post after scutler. Wow, what a memory I have. :(
Still, glad to hear Widget is doing good now, going after raccoons. LOL
Susan
=^..^=
What a lovely picture, tcs! Is that in your yard?
Thanks, Ruth!
That my time with the raccoons, the observations, and book may help to contribute to the knowledge of these awesome and enigmatic creatures is a pretty awesome thought.
You know, doccat,
I've not served those yummy marshmallows in quite a while. Thanks for reminding me. I think I'll pick some of those up on my next shopping trip. Maybe that's what Dennis was looking for, that or a grape.
Ky -- thanks... and that is the property behind my house... it is actually state property, but that is where i hang my feeder, and you can see my composter there too.... it's where i run my dog... he loves the open area... since my back yard is only 42'x62'
Cheryl... did happen to see my DM?
Susan,
Glad you are enjoying the story. Yes, Widget is a dog - as you know - but most guys tell me he's really a cat in disguise. They don't accept something that small and fluffy as a dog.
Widget as a 'baby'. The rust color is just that, rust, a discoloration due to iron in the water in his birth home. That is gone now: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=1933135
Below is a more recent shot. Widget is actually a 'he' though, but understandably everyone considers him a 'she'. He was very happy to hear that you asked about him. Sometimes he gets pretty jealous of those 'annoying' raccoons. They seem to get so much attention around here.
he is a lil handsome man.
Terese,
I LOVE the photo. Thanks! I am SO envious. I want some ice and snow, too! I had the AC on last night. I love to look at pictures of ice and snow. Don't really want to be snowed in for days but would love a one day event. It's been over a decade now.
DM? (confused). I looked back through the last day or so of posts to see if I might have missed a pic of your Dear Mother and double checked to see if I had any DMails. Nope and Nope. I even went back and scrutinized the photo of your yard to see if your mother was lurking in the shadows. Nope. Help. You know I'm not good with the text and Internet abbreviations (remember OT?) Do you have a Dog named 'Magic'? ; )
yes... i sent you a DM regarding video that you take with your still camera. I did some tonight, of Buddy [my dog] and they clips are REALLY dark, and i want to find a way to lighten them. I thought you did that for your clips of the 'coons that one time.
and as for the snow... I thought you'd enjoy that... at least from a distance.
I had no idea we were even getting snow, and it started around 3pm ... i think we have about 4" already.
gonna go shovel the back patio .... DH went out, the kids are home [my boys and 1GF]... but I'll be in bed before mid-night most likely.
That's a cute picture of Widget, Cheryl! My sister's maltese, Sophie, can't have her hair put up anymore, because of her habit of rubbing her head on the carpet when she's excited to see us. I miss the "up-do", it was so cute!
Widget again. We love shameless self promotion. Anyhow, it's not a good night for raccoon watching, not with the endless array of ammo going off around here since sundown. Any self respecting member of the raccoon clan would surely be hiding in a tree somewhere deep in the forest about now.
Too bad you don't live here--Sophie would just adore him!
Terese,
Glad to hear that you are surrounded by friends and family, esp that your sons are there. For some reason I didn't get the DM. Can you resend? Not only does it not show up in my new stuff, but I even checked my old DM and it wasn't there either, nothing since about a week ago. Odd.
KyWoods,
I'll bet he would adore Sophie, too! lol
Sorry to hear that you can't put her hair up. I have difficulty with Widget, too. When he arrived here from the breeder (who also shows frequently) he had a very tidy updo loosely held in place by a tiny rubber band - not tight at all. Despite being loose, it stayed in place for weeks. Ever since then I have struggled to keep a rubber band in his hair for more than a day or 2 no matter how loose or how tight. He doesn't like them, so he rubs them off if he can. The breeder seemed to know a secret that eludes me. Anyhow, I find they need the updo to keep the hair out of their eyes; otherwise, you pretty much have to cut the top hair short.
One time I got creative (or crazy) with my prior malt. I shaved the hair off of her body,neck and face and cut the hair on top of her head just long enough for a spiked do. I left the long hair on her legs, tail and ears. She looked pretty cool. Think I have a pic somewhere - but finding it... While walking her she actually got comments like "Co-o-o-l dog!" from a teenage boy.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Happy new year to all, and to all the wild creatures out there braving our noisy new year welcome!
The "Widget' is toooooo cute. Love the picture and better you than me, thank you. After 5 years in MN, I don't wanna see no snow, ice, yucky stuff. Looks like we might get some today later, although I don't like it, we could use some heavy snow to help bring back up the water tables.
Ok guys, I got an article on Broccoli coming out on Jan 7th! So, y'all got to read it. Lets try to control the excitement there a little........LOL I got a check from Dave for my writing yesterday, almost fell out of my chair! How exciting is that!
I want to make a copy and frame it! LOL
I want to wish everyone a very Happy and Blessed New Year in 2008! Raccoons included, yeah, Scutler, you're falling down on the job, Dennis needs grapes! LOL
>>you're falling down on the job, Dennis needs grapes! LOL
or they all need their marshmallow fix.
That is such a beautiful snow pic tcs, thank you for sharing that with us!
Widget is such a handsome little man. The maltese is a breed where they all look like girls so tell him to put a little swagger in his step so the uneducated can see that he is a king among pups. LOL
Got back from the Christmas trip to Illinois and Georgia and it took me two nights to catch up with my reading on here. I hope everyone had a great holiday and the New Year is starting off great for you all! I am sure my critters missed me for the 12 days I was gone, The paths through the leaves was well used so they kept checking on the feeding bowls. Most of the food was gone the first night I refilled them.
Widgett is adorable. I enjoyed reading about your coons and the Christmas ornament they left you. What a beautiful gift for you. I also found it very interesting about the sparrows. My mom has a large amount (in Illinois)of them,but I rarely see them in my back yard here in Va. I sure don't miss them as I do love all the variety of birds here and it seems when sparrows are around there is less of a variety of other ones.
Judy
Been busy, Cheryl? Hey, I wonder if the coons and possums would enjoy some purple cauliflower? Or orange--do they see colors? I left out apples and oranges here and they were gone the next day. Tonight they're having macaroni and cheese and the usual dogfood leftovers. It's been raining, so I'm glad we have a roof over the back porch. Watered down mac and cheese just doesn't sound appetizing. LOL
I got a note from Cheryl a few days ago... still having computer/router/networking troubles.
Hopefully she'll be able to pop in with an update soon.
Ahhh, thanks for the update, tcs!
Hello, Everyone!
Sorry if it seemed as though I had abandoned ship. As Terese pointed out, I went off line suddenly due to router issues. Sometimes my router gets hung up due to a power surge or momentary loss of power. (I know this because it almost always happens at the same time that the satellite TV reboots/resets itself - also due to power spike/loss.) In the past I have always been able to fix the router by cycling its power supply - when I finally get the umph for the pilgrimage upstairs (am I lazy or what?). This time, however, that didn't seem to work - or maybe this time it wasn't actually the router but the ISP. Usually, when I loose my connection, I can 'hijack' another one as there are usually unprotected wireless networks in the area. This time, not such luck; everyone was either off line or protected. Drat! To make matters worse, at work right now we are in 'crisis' mode in our last bid attempt to make the project deadline, so I really haven't had a lot of free time to hassle with the recalcitrant router.
And, most of all, there just hasn't been much activity in Heidi Land since we last spoke, nothing really pressing to tell you about I'm afraid. As you may recall, on New Year's Eve I had put food out but hadn't seen any sign of raccoons and didn't really expect to since the entire neighborhood in all directions was ripped and torn by the endless clamour of fireworks, the night sky sliced open by myriad streaks of light and color, the quietude continually assaulted by the endless repetition of exploding gun powder. Had I myself not know the source of all this commotion I to would surely have run for cover.
After midnight that night I was surprised to find that at least one, perhaps even 2 of the raccoons had actually made it out there to grab a few quick bites from the dishes even in the midst of the lights and noise. I strongly suspect that it was Rupert and maybe Dennis, in that order, who ventured out to eat despite the hail of 'bullets' lighting the night sky all around them.
On the evening of New Year's Day, I went out with the food to find Rupert already out there eating. Some of the raccoons had apparently skipped dinner altogether the night before and so there was still food left out. Fireworks could still be heard, although mostly faint and in the distance, as I refilled the dishes and sat down to accompany Rupert. He showed no sign of discomfort at my approach or even at having me walk around in the area refilling dishes - even his own - or at the noise made by the kibble as it tumbled into the hard plastic dishes; but after I sat down I noticed that he seemed more than a little shell shocked as evidenced by his reaction to even the most distant and barely audible of fireworks explosions. Several times I had to coax him back to finish his dinner as he would take flight at even the least hint of a far off 'gun blast'. I was touched by the realization that he at once had such fear of the fireworks and yet such a lack of fear of me.
One thing I noticed as Rupert was trying to eat between rounds of very distant fireworks explosions. I've seen the same thing in Heidi and always found it rather amusing. I don't think I mentioned it before because with only the one case (Heidi) it seemed too much like I was reading into her behavior; but now with Rupert displaying the same reaction, well... You see, when they are afraid, and in this case I mean afraid enough to leave but not so terrified as to flee for their lives, if after they have turned to leave, my coaxing and cajoling causes them to reconsider, instead of turning around and just coming back, they will walk over to the pool and stop for a drink and then come back - as though they really weren't afraid or leaving at all, just going for a drink, that's all. Heidi does this all of the time. Rupert did it that night.
Oh, and BTW, for about 3 days/nights it was officially COLD here. One night we dipped down to 26F. That's the lowest I've seen here since I started gardening and watching the mercury some 7yrs or so ago. Perhaps as a result, for days on end I saw no sign of wildlife of any kind save the fact that something seemed to be consuming the food I put out each night. But, as I've always said, cold snaps here don't last long enough to really get you down. At the end of the 3 days the high was in the 60's and now the 70's again. Last night, as it was nice out, I sat out a few minutes during which Rupert showed up for dinner. It was the 1st time I had seen him or any of the raccoons since New Year's Day.
doccat,
Widget sends his thanks. ;-)
Congrats on your 1st article. I know receiving the check must have been so great! I hope you made a copy to frame and hang in your office or above your computer - a symbol of the start of your writing career!
I look forward to seeing your article tomorrow!
Terese, doccat,
Hmm, maybe That's why I haven't seen Dennis lately. Could he be pouting and boycotting my diner due to the lack of yummy desserts lately? I must get some marshmallows and grapes ASAP.
Edited: Oops! I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. The spell checker always changes 'doccat' to 'doscan' and this time I let it slip through - and perhaps other times when I didn't catch it? Not sure what doscan means. Hope it's not anything 'bad'. Sorry about that. Remember, Folks, while the spell checker fixes most of my slip ups and foibles, sometimes it creates new and 'worse' faux pas all its own, so if I appear to be calling you a name one day, it may just be the spell checker's idea of a joke.
This message was edited Jan 6, 2008 1:49 PM
Happy New Year sculter, glad you are doing okay back east, here we got a little rain and wind, but doing ok so far, ducks are lovin it. I got home in time to feed the grey squirrel I told you about, she is really a kick, made an ugly day at work a little better, she will jump on us or climb up us which ever is easy, and choose which nut she might want, peanuts are low on the list now that there are such things to choose like walnuts, almonds and pecans are a real fav, I did follow her to where she sleeps and I was surprised that it is more of nest of leaves etc... then a hollow or abondoned nest in the tree. anyway one can spend a lot of time playing with her I find I have to walk away or I will not get anything done:) take care ALL and stay safe and warm.