The 3rd and final visitor tonight was a small opossum which in every way both looked and acted like Snowball but which was entirely too dark, being a medium charcoal color all over except for his dirty-white face. He was the size of Snowball and displayed Snowball's characteristic level of comfort around me but Snowball could only achieve that color if he'd rolled in the mud all day. Still, he really looked like Snowball.
The opossum ventured out about the same time that the last raccoon arrived. While the raccoon was still eating dog food in Heidi's area (before the egg scene), the opossum pulled up a chair over in Juliet's area and started chomping away. Normally, the opossums try in vane to eat the crunchy dog/cat food quietly. They eat slowly, looking around a bit between crunches, trying not to draw attention to themselves, but this 'guy' just walked out there, sat down, and started chomping away with total abandon. Usually, any significant movement on my part will cause the opossums to run off; but even when I reached forward to hand the egg to the raccoon, the opossum continued munching his dinner undisturbed. The opossum was about 8ft from me, the raccoon about 5ft away.
After the raccoon finished the 2nd egg, instead of going back to his dish in Heidi's area (where there was plenty of food) he wandered over to Juliet's area to look around and nibble a bit. As the raccoon approached the dish, the opossum, having been driven from his dinner plate by the advancing raccoon, was semi hidden on the other side of the strawberry jar (hidden from me but the raccoon probably knew he was there). When the raccoon stuck his head into the dish, the opossum reached out and snapped at him. The opossum didn't actually bite the raccoon. It looked more like a bluff. The raccoon moved his head only slightly, but his feet never moved from there tracks. Clearly, he wasn't particularly threatened. The opossum stood for a moment with his mouth still open, endless rows of teeth exposed, before giving up and walking away from his dinner.
A few minutes later, the opossum walked around to Heidi's area to eat - just 5 feet from me. The raccoon took his food, so, no matter, he'd just take the raccoon's food. A few minutes later, the raccoon left, and the opossum went on eating in front of me. Normally, the opossums run away when I try to toss them food. Thinking I'm throwing things AT them, they run away before they have the chance to see that it's edible. Snowball has become increasingly comfortable around me such that, if I'm careful, I can sometimes toss him a treat or two. Given that opossums are an ancient creature and in many ways unlike most of the animals we're accustomed to, I thought I'd see if they had a sweet tooth. Slowly, carefully, I tossed him a piece of candy corn.
What I learned is, opossums do, indeed, enjoy sugar. He showed a clear preference for the sweet goodies; but his manner of accepting them was unique. When I would toss a piece of candy to him, he would not take it immediately, but would 1st eat a bit of dog food and/or look around a bit to be sure I wasn't threatening him, and then, having determined that all was safe, he would retrieve and eat the sweet morsel. After a while, I dropped a few pieces 1/2 way between us. He ignored them for the obligatory period and then, much to my surprise, walked right over toward me to retrieve them. Even more surprising, after eating the 2 that were only about 2.5 ft from me, he turned and with his back to me (something they never do as they always, always keep an eagle eye on me at all times) sniffed around to find and eat a few pieces I had dropped there earlier.
After he had eaten a scant handful of candy corn, the opossum went over to the pool for a drink, yet another thing which I have never, ever seen. He climbed up, hoisting his back feet up onto the rim of the pool and sat there drinking. And then as I watched I saw it - his tail - the only part of him that touched the ground was his tail. There it was like the leg of a stool, his tail stretched taunt between his body and the ground, a 5th leg with which to balance on the edge of the pool. Even as I watched I could scarcely believe that his tail could be held that straight and taunt, that it could be used as a pole upon which to rest and balance while sitting on the narrow edge of the pool. How cool. I had read of this, but it's the kind of thing you really must see to appreciate.
He ate a few more candies and a bit more dog food before leaving.
Heidi Chronicles: The Kids are Still Here For the Holidays
I just laugh and laugh. This thread makes me feel so GOOD.
Susan
=^..^=
Thank you, Susan! I am so glad that you enjoy it!
Scutler, you must remember to take the camera.......we need to get you something with multiple pockets......LOL Love the word pictures, poor little iris...........
These post more than make up for the days when not much was going on!!!! I am soooo envious!
Is it possible that Snowball's coat turned darker?? That is amazing about their tails--I didn't know that. LOL, another candy corn lovin' critter! You're gonna have to start brushing their teeth after all that sugar. LOL
What a wonderful night with your critters! I giggled at your iris woes - we do put up with a lot of grief from our 4 legged friends! Again, I'm amazed at the comfort level your friends are retaining this winter - ought to make the coming warmer months even more interesting! If you go on vacation, you'll have to get a critter-sitter! LOL!
OOOOO, I volunteer!!!!! LOL
Saw 2 racoons around 6am this morning over in our neighbors yard. SInce having read this was wondering if ours are just getting started 'making kits'. They may have been 2 of the 4 kits we had last summer too. Looked like they were trying to get home before daylight for sure!
squirrel update for those that don't hate squirrels, gray squirrel moved into oak hollow and filling it with pillow stuffing, I hope this is a sign she is "with squirrel":) we will see, she really is funny to watch and feed, I gave her a bunch of different nuts and wondered if she could open a brazil nut, a little tough but not that tough she really enjoyed it.
I'm not surprised--still have the scars from one that opened my finger and thumb when I picked her up to rescue her...their teeth are unbelievable!
Please update us when the blessed event occurs.
Here's one of our little visitors saying "Thanks for the sunflower seeds!":
doccat,
Again tonight I ran right out there without the camera, remembering it only after it was too late to go back without interrupting the party. I'm afraid the problem with the camera is not one that can be solved with a pocket. The camera is only slightly smaller than a 5lb bag of sugar - and weighs nearly as much. It doesn't fit in my largest pocket, and it's too bulky and too heavy to wear comfortably from a lanyard around the neck. As I've mentioned in the past, the one thing that does somehow seem to work is if some of you post a reminder during the day. I usually read that sometime during the day at work, and it helps to jog my memory when I get home and grab the food to run out.
I know, poor, poor iris. I got a brochure in the mail today from one of the iris vendors I use, and I opened it thinking, "Might as well go ahead now and reserve replacements".
Thanks, nanny,
Glad you are enjoying the posts...and you're on for that critter sitting event!
KyWoods,
I don't know enough about opossums to say whether Snowball's coat may have gotten darker for some reason, but it sure did seem like Snowball in every other way. I've read that they can use their tail as an extra leg and can hang upside down from a rope or branch using only their tail to hold on. The opossum's tail is a multi-tasking feature: temperature control, balance, 5th leg, and who knows what else. Even after reading about this versatile appendage, it was surreal to actually see it in action.
After seeing that row of teeth in his mouth, I think I'll hold off on the tooth brushing.
Liz,
It's funny how once you get to know them it's easier to shrug off the little things - like a half dead iris or two. Then again, I imagine they may feel the same about us when we do things that annoy them however unintentionally, like when we chop down their favorite tree or forest or clear the brush pile where they used to find some yummy snacks or even tear down their home without realizing it.
It was a great night last night. Tonight was fun, too. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to tell you about it tough.
makj,
The gray squirrel sounds adorable.
(Cute pic KyWood.)
Did you 'guys' see this thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/802588/#new
Dave is adding Tags (he might call them something else, not sure). If you're not familiar with the concept, the thread explains what they are for. To assist him in setting this up, he's asking people to go to their Favorites page and practice setting up some Tags on things of interest to them.
I was thinking this might be a great opportunity to officially Tag some of those pages in prior Heidi threads, the ones we are always having to go back and find again like favorite pictures of Rupert and the others and special moments like when Heidi started 'showing' and when the kits 1st showed up each year, etc. Once anyone tags a particular page or post, we can all then use that tag to search for and retrieve the information again. For instance, maybe someone would put the Rupert Tag on some of the favorite pics of him; maybe someone else would tag the 1st post when the kits showed up as 'kits' (or perhaps you'll think of a better tag), etc.
What do you think? (I'm going to give it a quick try now before bed and come back tomorrow - on break - to do some more.)
Ok, I went back to one of Terese's posts where she had links to some of the better Rupert pics. I tagged those pics with the following tags:
Rupert
Rupert photo
Rupert and Diva (for the ones with both of them)
Note, BTW, that tags are not case sensitive. 'Rupert' is the same as 'Rupert'. Now others can use the tags I've added both to find the pics I tagged and to tag additional items. You can also add new tags to those and other items.
Here's how you do it. Find something you want to tag (a post or pic). Open it and look for the 'folder' icon near the top of the page on the right (but below the banner). Click the folder icon. You will be asked to fill in a tag or tags for that item (comma separated list). As you type, the system will automatically show matching (existing) tags below. You can reuse existing tags or type new ones. There are instructions at the bottom of that page.
To view tagged items, go to your Favorites page or to your 'My Tools' page and look for the 'Tags' item (mine is on the vertical list on the right side of the page. Click 'Tags' to bring up a list of tags. Click a particular tag to see a list of associated items. (Try Rupert and check out the few photos I already tagged.)
Sorry for the OT post, but considering how often we end up going back to find certain things and post links to them again and again, I thought this would be a valuable tool for organizing the 'important' pics and data. And, at the same time we can help Dave by giving him data points to use in developing this feature. :-)
Those will be very useful I think. More so in some areas than others, but definetly an advancement forward for Dave's.
Hi nanny,
I suppose I may have neglected (tongue in cheek) to mention that you can also use the new Tags feature to mark things in other (non-Heidi) threads as well. ; )
I think it will be great for finding tidbits of info hidden here and there in the threads. I've never had much success with the search feature which always seems to bring up more stuff than I can possibly sift through.
I cannot find my favorites page, it has disappeared, sigh. I have found the tags but haven't figured out how to add my own yet. Challenges way too early in the mornin...........LOL
doccat,
Dave is basically removing Favorites to add Tags. When you go to your Favorites page, which will now be your Tags page (or something like that), items you had marked as Favorites should still be there (at the bottom, I think). You can no longer add new Favorites but he said he wouldn't be removing the existing ones.
To add tags (I had trouble figuring this out, too) just go to any page or post that you want to Tag and click on the 'folder' icon near the top right (under the banner). Then it will ask you to enter the word you want to tag the item with. Existing tags will be listed below. You can use an existing word/tag or add a new one.
Hope this helps. I pulled a lot of hair out last night trying to figure it out.
LOL, hope you don't need a wig now, Cheryl! It sounds like a great idea, but I haven't checked it out yet... Wouldn't it be fun to put together a whole raccoon family album, with all the generations and friends?
Hi KyWoods,
Yes, that would be great!
When I was thinking about what I could tag (in response to Dave's request for people to generate some tags for him to work with), I remembered how the same questions and requests come up every few months or so, and someone, often Terese, has to go back through all of the past threads to search for the information or photos for things like:
Favorite pics of the kids
When did Heidi's kids arrive in 200x (so we have some idea when to expect them in the current year)?
How many raccoons are there and what are their names/genders?
etc.
As time allows I hope to tag these items so that we can find them more easily the next time the questions arise.
Scutler, thanks so much! I owe you cookies! WOOHOO! I'm now doing tags and so stylin"! LOL
Just had a thought.. You don't need to worry about brushing Snowball's teeth. When he/she hangs upside down just slip some of them crest whitenign things on. : )
ROFL starlight!!
LOL, good one! Hey, I wonder if they'd chew Greenies??
Because of the new tags, I stayed up way too late last night reading about the TITMOUSE!! At one point, I had tears running down my face, I was laughing so hard.
I went to the next thread too and finished it this afternoon. But it just kinda ended November 9, I think. What happened??
I want you to know I have titmice that also land on my head and pull out hair. I thought it was just me. They never did tear up my house though. LOL
Just had to tell you you tell the very best stories. If I see scutler on ANYTHING, I make sure to read it.
Susan
=^..^=
Titmice, huh? Where? Can you give us a link to that story, Susan? At first I thought you were talking about my warming up cold baby mice in my bra, but then I remembered that conversation took place in the chatroom. LOL
OH the titmouse sag is hilarious!!
Mr T Rides again!!
Here is the link to the first one
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/548658/
I think that one gives the link to the next one
It is hilarious!
OMG baby mice in your bra!!! ROFLOL
Susan
=^..^=
KyWoods,
Have you tried using the new Tags yet? I love them. Last night I went out and tagged all manner of things. Why not try them out to find the titmouse thread? Just go to your member page. Look in the 1st box on the left (unless you've customized things and moved them around. Click the link to go to your favorites. On the favorites page look at the list of items on the right. Look for 'Tags'. Click that. Now you should see what they are calling a 'cloud', basically a bunch of words in alpha order. Find and click 'titmouse'. That's it. It will take you to a list of titmouse related links. At this time all but one of those are links to the 2 threads Susan is talking about. The ones "urgent need help..." and "crazed bird destroying house" are the 1st 2 in the series. They were done at the same time just in 2 different forums. "Mr T Rides Again" is the last one".
(I don't know how I ended up as a spokesperson for Tags. lol. But I really like them. I think they will go a long way toward helping us organize and find all of the great information and entertainment available here at DG. See? It has already worked. It helped Susan find the Mr T threads. ; ))
LOL, I just read the first few posts in that thread, and it reminded me of our woodpecker who likes to peck on the beams supporting our back porch roof. I call him our "housepecker". I'll be back later, gonna finish reading the story of the angry titmouse. Hey, that sounds like the title of another book you can write, Cheryl! LOL
doccat,
You are very welcome. Aren't Tags great? I'm a Taggin' fool now. On other sites I've always ignored Tags, but I spend a lot of time on DG and love the idea of this new way to organize, keep track of and find information tucked away here and there in the threads.
Cookies, huh? What kind? Home made? Great! Dennis said to send him one, too.
ROTFLOL, starlight! Next time I see Snowball hanging from a limb, I'll call you and you can come slip that white-strip over his million or so sharp, bone-crushing teeth!
KyWoods,
From time to time I put some small to med size greenies out there. All I know is they are always gone the next day. When Widget was a few months old he used to drive me crazy - kind of like now only for a different set of reasons. He chewed the edge of the laptop. the phone, the phone cord (chewed that one in 2, had me troubleshooting to figure out why my phones were all dead), a roller ball pen, a few rolls of bathroom tissue, etc, etc, etc. When I found out that a greenie would keep him entertained for 15 or so wonderful and peaceful minutes I went out and bought a boat load of them. Now he won't have anything to do with them, so I have a huge overstock which I pawn off on the critters at the buffet from time to time.
Susan,
THANK YOU!!! : D
What a wonderful compliment. Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed the titmouse threads. (Sorry they kept you up so late though) As you could probably see, those threads started out as a rather desperate plea for help. That tiny little bird was out there walking away at the window all day every day. He ate the screens, clipped around the perimeters of them as though he were opening cans. My house still had that 'new house smell' at the time and I was going crazy thinking that he was destroying my new house. (I'm pretty much over it now.)
Unlike the raccoons, Mr T doesn't come back on any kind of regular schedule, so that thread is very much subject to the whims of the titmouse. Back in November when T and some other bird showed up again and started attacking the window, I went to the thread to tell the folks there. People are always eager to hear from T again it seems. At the time I was working from home while my office was being renovated. Unfortunately, I was under considerable pressure to meet deadlines so I really didn't have time to spend on it. A few times that day I tried to get a picture of the 2 birds at the window but whenever I entered the room they would move back to the tree. I guess i need to go back 'over there' and say a few things so things aren't left just hanging that way.
I loved it when the titmouse was walking around on my head plucking hairs. It tickled, and I laughed so hard a few times that I scared him away temporarily - until he got used to my giggling. If the neighbors saw me out there giggling so they must surely have though I was loosing it. After that someone sent me a link to a woman with a titmouse on her head. I had no idea this sort of thing was so common.
Thanks again! Glad you enjoyed the threads. Given his history, Mr T will probably be back this summer with more of his antics, so stay tuned...
Thanks, Terese,
Did you read the 1st Mr T thread, the one where he was destroying my window screens? I think that's the best one. I was trying to get help to find a way to stop him. People started writing in with all kinds of suggestions, some serious, some joking. Then when I started trying a bunch of the serious suggestions, nothing worked and the efforts to stop the bird just made things worse. The whole thing - all the unsuccessful efforts to stop the bird - just got so ridiculous with the supposedly smarter and more capable human being completely outdone by the tiny little bird; and at the time I was SO frustrated with that bird!
By now some of you might already have noticed that I've started our next thread. I noticed that this one is getting a bit long and thought this would be a good breaking point. The next thread in the saga is here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/803943/
Hope to see you all there!
I think I worry about that squirrel almost as much as my animals, I think it was a sharp shined hawk was gunning for the squirrel today, I hope she is fast, I probably looked like a crazy person chasing the &*^%%* hawk, today the squirrel was playful and hungry, here she is eating on the car, my husband will be thrilled:) can't find that one here she is eating her corn
