...of life without the '08 kits around, that is! : D
This is the ongoing story of Heidi and friends, wild raccoons who frequent my backyard buffet. It is time now for Heidi to start bringing her little tots (kits) to the buffet any day now. Can't wait to see the little fluf balls.
The prior thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/833977/#new
Below is a pic of Dennis (Heidi's 07 son) getting into the 'raccoon' pool.
Is Dennis still allowed in the pool?
Great shot, btw. Probably going to wash all the sugar from the Peeps off his hands.
Thanks for the new thread! Dennis sure has a pretty tail, too. A little junk food won't hurt such healthy critters.
Dennis is a handsome fellow and not a bit spoilt either.........LOL
Terese,
Absolutely not [allowed in pool]. This pic is circa Apr 12, 2008, so it predates Heidi's new rules regarding the pool and surrounding territory. I have not seen Dennis venture into the pool since his eviction, not even today when he arrived before Heidi.
I found that pic this afternoon when I was looking for a cover shot. That's when I got the "The End" idea and decided as a touch of whimsy to go with it. Thanks, although i usually scrap pics which don't feature faces, this one seemed worth saving for some reason. Couldn't find a compelling cover pic. Then when I saw this one I thought, well it's different.
LOL at the idea of Dennis needing to wash the sugar off his hands after eating peeps. That might well be what he's doing in the pic.
Keywords,
You are very welcome. Thanks for reminding me.
Dennis is getting larger now in leaps and bounds. He is also getting prettier. As a kit I always thought he was a bit comical looking but lately he has lost that gangly look and is looking more and more like Heidi - same face. His coat, tail, etc are all looking 'fancier' day by day. Cissy is looking pretty cute lately, too. Was just noticing that today.
I agree that a little junk food won't hurt them. I try to keep things balanced, give them both healthy nutritious food and treats and alternate between sugary treats and healthier treats like grapes and peanuts and yogurt. Dennis really loves the sugary treats though. That one guy who chided me for introducing junk food into the wild is on a health kick. He eats chicken breast and green beans every day and drinks only water during which time he likes to deride the rest of us for eating anything 'bad', consuming caffeine, etc. Then he has a meltdown ever so often during which he eats candy bars, cookies, chips, etc by the case and/or bag - at a dizzying pace. LOL at people.
LOL, doccat
No, not the least bit spoiled!
Just a quick aside. You know the guys at work may have their faults - I mean they don't like raccoons for heaven's sake. at least not when they are in the group mode - but today they really came through for me in such an amazing way. I guess they aren't all 'bad'. (I'm thinking they must each secretly like raccoons but can't admit it. No one could show the kindness they did today and not also like raccoons, after all.)
When I pulled into my parking spot this morning, I noticed that the car in front of me had its light on. I opened the door to get out of the car, my purse and laptop in the backpack on the passenger seat beside me. As I do each day, I activated the door lock. Normally, my next step would be to get out, reach back in for the backpack, then close the door and head into the building. At that moment, however, after I had opened the door and activated the lock and before getting out of the car, I decided instead of trying to memorize the license number of the car in front of me (so that I might broadcast an email in hopes of alerting the owner) I would walk around behind the car and call the guys on my cell phone to read the numbers to one of them and let them send the email. So, I stepped out of the car, leaving the hefty backpack on the seat and the car door open. As I headed for the other car, a gust of wind pushed my car door shut just enough to catch the lock, the door still partly ajar. A that instant I realized I had screwed up. There I stood with everything except my cell phone locked safely inside the car. Arg! (This morning I was so exhausted. I think the hours and stress may be getting to me. Really need some down time this weekend if at all possible.)
I have AAA and they would have sent someone to open the door, except that the locksmith would not be able to get into the place where I work unless I met him at the gate - miles away. One of my colleagues had opened my door about 2 years ago when I last locked the keys in there. (lol at me. guess I need onstar or a keyless lock or something.) The prior time he had used a coat hanger, not in the traditional manner but by pushing it through a tiny gap in the window and using it to grab the lock mechanism inside the door. So, I called him to ask if he could please perform that same miracle again for me. He was sick BTW, having been off all week. As I placed the call I was praying he would be in - and wouldn't be too sick to help me.
Anyhow, he was there. He and one of the others came out to help, but no one could find a wire coat hanger anywhere. They ran all over the building looking for someone who might have one in their office or car. No luck. They did all of this running around while I sat on the picnic table outside doing nothing and feeling helpless. Then when they had exhausted all efforts to find a hanger, they actually drove to the store, bought hangers, came back, and opened the car door, and refused to even let me pay for the hangers they had to buy. Are they sweet or what? Any ideas how I might do something nice to say thanks? Am thinking of maybe taking in donuts. There are only 3 guys total, but even if I don't eat any they can polish off 2 dozen mixed donuts by lunch time, and, yes, Mr "I only eat chicken and string beans" chows down, too. But was wondering if any of you might have another, perhaps better idea. They really went out of their way as both were essentially not working for close to an hour while helping me out - and we are all under pressure to meet the same deadline. They really saved the day for me today.
Sorry to have taken up time with my locked car story. This afternoon I got what I hope will turn out to be some cute footage of Dennis and Cissy. Just got it downloaded from the camera. Haven't viewed it yet to see if it's light enough to see. Don't want to spoil the surprise and/or get your hopes up in case the video didn't turn out so I won't give more details now. Have to get to bed now. Big/early day tomorrow. But will try to post them tomorrow if they are viewable.
I was going to suggest a surprise lunch delivery of pizzas for the guys; but if the building is so hard to access for outsiders, that probably wouldn't work. Donuts should be a big hit; I used to take them in on Sunday mornings for shelter staff, and they always disappeared in minutes.
Hey, Ruth,
Great idea. Pizza might be the one thing they like better than donuts. We did pizza deliver once when a customer gave us a gift certificate. One of the guys went out to meet the delivery guy at the gate. I could do that. Super idea! Thanks!
Great news. I checked the video clips and they have good lighting! In the mean time until I can post them, here is Cissy drinking from her birdbath.
Heidi. I call this one "Eating is Such Hard Work". She had been standing for some time and had eaten that whole dish full of dog chow. When she got to the last handful of kibble I think she was pretty full. She sat down to eat the last bit.
BTW, I think she may have had the babies in the tree tonight while she was leaving. The limb kept jiggling about such that I kept waiting for someone to enter the yard but they never did. About 2/3 through her meal Heidi went back up the fence as if to leave. Then a few minutes later she came back down and finished her meal. Then the jiggling branch again (branch of the Heidi tree right over the area where she went for a few minutes during her meal). That's when I remembered last year writing the same words, that I though maybe the kits were in the tree because the branch kept moving. That was shortly before I saw them.
Great news! I remember the kits in the tree last year before they finally appeared; won't be long now!
Glad the pizza idea is possible; sure the guys will love it. You'll be their favorite person of the hour; might even be able to get away with raccoon stories (lol).
Such cute pics! I was out on our porch last night around 10pm and I could hear lots of chatters and clicks in the woods. So hope to catch a glimpse soon of our babies!
Glad you were able to get help and they deserve a big thank you for sure!
Cute pictures! Love the one of Cissy drinking.
Ruth -- They do love pizza, but even that isn't likely to make them listen to raccoon stories, at least not intentionally, but that doesn't stop me from holding them down and forcing them to listen to raccoon stories from time to time. They are a captive audience after all. (And the HATE it!)
nanny - Thanks. Now at my house chatter and clicks (heard in backyard) is probably associated more with either romance or an argument. For my group the bringing of babies is a top secret affair, done in complete silence in the dead of night, esp early on. But I could be wrong.
goldfinch - Thanks. Ok, I'll spill a few of the beans. The video clips I got yesterday include Cissy and Dennis doing some fairly cute things which includes a short clip of Cissy drinking from the fountain - and more stuff you haven't seen. And these clips were quite bright, not dark like the last ones. The sun was out and they came earlier so appears I had good light. I'm eager to post the new clips. My only complaint was I wish they were longer but couldn't keep the raccoons doing cute stuff longer.
It has been a very rough morning btw. Did you guys forget to put in a word for me with 'you know who'? I need all the help I can get to avoid the need to work over the weekend so I'll have more time to rest, catch up around the house, play with raccoons, and post videos, so please pull all the strings you can. ;-)
OK - I'll start working on it right away! We want you to have time to post those videos!
Thanks, goldfinch!
I just need to get through another 4 hrs without mishap. Just 4 hours...
BTW, I'm on lunch break right now. I noticed that the grammar, verb tense, etc is all over the place in my comments above. I attribute that to the fact that I'm in software mode right now. Different mind set. Software languages are, after all, fully formed languages; so in a sense it's like being bilinqual. We don't have verbs, tense, etc in software.
We don't care about that, Sheryl. We only care about you and your critters. Prayers for a good day and a work-free weekend going up from KY....
Dennis in chair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y64IE6PoY14
Dennis beside chair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Po1QiNLBI
Cissy eats from dog food jar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j1rmQwiyUw
Cissy and Dennis (Dennis barfing in this one): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg93daKVjAc
Dennis eats dog food: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqihcK8CSTI
Dennis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkiIc4KTU7g
Heidi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA5LRYjh25I
Heidi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMFlb4BDEJQ
Cissy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqElQZykzf0
Got the videos 'published', except for one cute one that failed several times for some unknown reason. will come back to that one another time. Thanks for the help, BTW. You guys have tremendous influence!
Cheryl, I loved the videos......Dennis is a piece of work!! ROFLMAO!!
Great videos, Cheryl; thanks! Dennis' fur looks clumped like it's wet in a couple; were they taken before he was banned from the pool?
Glad to hear the positive thoughts helped.
Thanks, doccat!
Yes, Dennis really is a riot to be around. I was so glad that he came out in the light that day while I had the camera and that he did some of his cute things for the camera. It can be very difficult to get all of the stars to line up just right for the videos. That day things just fell into place, and I was thrilled at the opportunity to capture a little of what I see on a regular basis so that you might see what life with the raccoons is really like.
Ugggggggg... i'm getting "Problem Loading"
checking my hosts file right now........
Ruth,
You are most welcome. Thank you! As mentioned above I was so excited to have everything work out so that I was able to get video of the real Dennis and Cissy in action. BTW, I was actually trying to give Cissy the whole jar to play with. Had not expected her to take the candy out of the container while I was holding it - but you know what they say, "that's live TV for you, anything can happen".
Those videos were taken the day before so definitely after Dennis was banned from the pool; however, he has since discovered the litter pan of water which is well out of Heidi's area. It's maybe 6in or so deep and large enough for 2 raccoons in a pinch. Dennis seems especially fond of wading through water and now routinely gets in and/or walks through the pan of water. Also, Dennis frequently shows up like that with his lower fur looking wet. I don't know whether he is taking a quick dip in the pool earlier in the afternoon sometimes when no one is around or if, heaven forbid, he may be exploring the nearby ponds. He has always been the explorer at heart, after all. Lastly, while he never goes near the pool or basins anymore while Heidi is around - and she was there during the filming of those videos - yesterday I noticed that the instant Heidi left the yard, Dennis headed straight for the pool just so that he could walk across the pool and out again and then eat some food from her dish before continuing on to other escapades. It looked as though he just had to touch her stuff (pool and food) just to break the rules.
LOL, Terese,
Uggg! wasn't exactly what I was expecting as a comment on my new videos. ;-)
Actually I just tried and and got the same msg. May be a problem at YouTube, not your computer.
Terese,
Right now I can't even go to YouTube directly. Seems like a problem there. Guess I broke UTube. Kidding.
Gotcha, thanks.... sometimes i sorta 'freak out' when things don't work the way they should... and then i wonder if i added something to the HOSTS file to keep the kids from viewing things... but I didnt think i'd done youtube -- since DH is a video watcher.... I'll give it some time and check back later.
You're welcome, Terese,
I know that feeling when you think something is wrong with your computer setup. Was hoping to catch you before you spent to much time trying to 'fix' it.
I guess YouTube just wasn't prepared to handle the traffic generated by all of the raccoons' friends and fans. Dennis probably sat around in a tree somewhere running his videos over and over and over, emailing his friends so they could watch...
BTW, yesterday since you guys generated all that positive energy for me I got home early AND the raccoons came out to visit early so all of the stars lined up and I got lots of video clips, more than the day before. Unfortunately, they aren't necessarily all great. Dennis, who has a Jekyl-Hide personality, wasn't in his sweetest mood. He was in that excited, can't be still for a second mood. I took out a pack of crackers and cheese and a bag of marshmallows, both of which were from the recent gifts we received. For the most part, however, everyone seemed determined to either get so close to me that I could only film the tops of their heads or (when I tossed the mm away from me to get them to move off a bit) eat with their back to me.
But I did catch at least one great shot - don't want to blow it - hoping this one won't be too dark as I've found that they show up slightly darker when streamed from net than when viewed on my laptop for some odd reason, and this one was shot near the limit (of low light). If it is too dark, I'll have to try out that program Marylyn suggested which will delay the presentation a bit, but I just know you will enjoy this one.
Hoping to get a chance to post them this afternoon or evening - if the 'tube' ever gets back up.
Oh, no, was just thinking...
...what if Cissy thought her video made her look fat so she launched a denial of service attack on utube to block folks from viewing it. Those wily raccoons are awfully smart, you know.
...Yes, I have lot's to do today and need to get to doing some of it - and stop playing on the computer.
LOLOLOL Between Dennis and Cissy, YouTube is never going to be the same again! LOL
Looks like it's back online now. Guess they managed to block Dennis and Cissy's IP addresses. ;-)
...or maybe the raccoons just couldn't stay awake any longer. It is way past their bed time after all.
Edited to fix typo and add extra blurb
This message was edited May 3, 2008 10:44 AM
LOL... and could you even imagine if they were actually back there on their laptops viewing images!! Oh what a vision!!
i'm wandering over now........
Awesome clips Cheryl... and Cissy is very pretty!! nice looking lady.
funny -- when i was on youtube .... I was looking around and saw a lil envie[for mail] and a user name... LOL... it's my kid's account. Wonders never cease...
Terese,
Thanks. Cissy is a cutie, and has such nice manners, too.
Oh, that's so cute about finding your kid online. Now you can snoop. LOL
One of the videos from the group the other day failed repeatedly to load on utube. Finally gave up and tried Google video for that one. Loaded 1st try. Don't know why utube refused it, but here it is: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5845267706754713157&hl=en
Dennis always, always goes for that jar of peanut butter. Even with the lid on he seems to know what's in there.
