that is sooo cute.... i love the way he keeps searching in the corners of the jug to see if there are more treats ... of course, then heads to the 'goody chair' for the PB. obviously he can smell it.
Heidi Chronicles: Almost The End...
Thanks, Terese,
I'm sitting right beside the good chair, so that one moment when he looks toward the 'you' he is checking out the camera and almost puts his nose on it. I like that in that clip you can even see how he climbs onto the chair as apposed to jumping. I read somewhere that they can't jump.
-----
BTW, for those who still haven't seen all of the older videos, there are quite a few videos on Google. If you follow the link above and then look to the right side of the screen you will see tabs one of which says something like 'more from this user' or something similar to that. (Those are from 2006 and 2007. The only new video on Google is the one for which I provided the link.)
Oh, nooo, I have to wait until Monday to go to the school so I can see these videos! You really got one of Dennis puking? ROFL Did he eat too fast or something? That kid!
I could tell he was doing 'something' -- then when I saw Cheryls comment about the lil guy hurling... it made sense.
I'm off ot watch all the old ones on Google.
LOL, KyWoods,
I didn't actually expect that to be a plus. I mentioned it more as a disclosure in case anyone might find it disturbing. Not quite sure what caused the problem, but according to Ruth's earlier description I figure he must have eaten too fast. The whole barfing thing didn't seem to have any kind of adverse effect on his appetite. He would be hurling one minute and eating the next, hurling, eating, hurling eating.
Sorry you won't be able to see them before Monday though.
Sheesh, I never knew bulimia existed in the animal kingdom, too...LOL Yep, this hillbilly dial-up connection doesn't do videos well. I'm thankful I can use the school computers whenever I like, though.
This afternoon I was out late working in the garden. I could tell from Widget's reaction as he ran along the fence bouncing up and down as though he had just "tree'd" a squirrel, that some of the raccoons were up there in the tree waiting for Dinner but I had a lot to do today and really needed to finish. Worse, my plan was to end the day by running the lawn Beast around the backyard to cut the grass. I was sure that would not make the raccoons at all happy.
When I did finally drag out the riding mower and start driving around back there I could see and hear them back there still in the tree over the fence and getting very impatient. I find that simply amazing. I even drove the Beast right through the feeding area a few times, and these are the same raccoons who will leave their food and run away when the neighbor runs his lawn mower in his front yard! It's as though they understand that it's me making the noise, so, therefore, it's not such a big deal - just annoying. For that matter, it was specifically when I had the Beast in the feeding area that Heidi started climbing down the limb as though she were about to come into the yard despite all the 'racket'. I had to laugh to myself. I mean, there I was driving this big, noisy, bright orange monster through the feeding area and apparently Heidi was thinking "Well, the human is in the feeding area, and that's the signal to come to dinner, so what the heck."
As soon as I had returned the beast to the garage, I grabbed the food and headed out to feed the raccoons. Heidi and Dennis were on the ground looking for food even before I got out the back door. They were clearly not deterred by the noisy beast.
Dennis gets away with things with Heidi that the girls would never be allowed to get away with. He does stay out of most of her area now, the only exception being the area around my bench, and at least while she is in the yard he avoids the pool. Still, when I went out there with the food - and I always feed the Queen 1st - Dennis followed me right up to Heidi's dish (along with Heidi) as though he were planning to eat from it. Heidi was grumbling and growling, clearly unhappy. As I started pouring the food, Dennis put his head in to eat, and Heidi, standing back a bit, reached waaay forward to grab the dish and yank it out from under Dennis and toward her. As the dish bounced across the bumpy ground, cat food went everywhere and the dish came to rest upside down. I reached down and turned the dish upright again so that I could fill it. No sooner had I set the dish right than Heidi grabbed it and ran back across the berm towards the fence carrying the empty dish with her. It was too funny to watch. I have no idea what she thought she was accomplishing. I guess she was keeping Dennis from eating out of her dish. So I had to go over there and take the dish from her, admonishing her to cut it out already, and return the dish to its rightful place AGAIN so that I could finally fill it. Only then did Dennis follow me over to his dish to eat, leaving Heidi to eat in peace.
I took out the circus peanuts, another gift item, and a toy ball. For fun, esp since I had the camera with me, I tossed the ball and a peanut into the pool. As I sat there trying to get Dennis into the pool, I remember - no one is allowed to USE the pool. So that was a bust. At one point when Heidi went over to the pool to drink she actually picked the ball up, lifted it out of the water, looked at it, batted it about a bit and then got out of the water. Unfortunately, by the time I got the camera rolling that moment had passed.
Didn't get any great footage today. While the camera was rolling everyone, even Dennis, was just eating. We had Friskies cat food today, and they seemed to enjoy that and/or were very hungry. Everyone chowed down for a time even ignoring me over there with the treats. By the time that Cissy made it over to pick up the circus peanut and sit eating it in the most adorable way, the camera said "out of memory!". So that's how it went today. I left early as I was pretty tired by then.
ROFLOL at Heidi running off with her dish!!! "MINE!!"
Here are a few from Friday afternoon/evening.
This is HRH. By the time he arrived the lighting level was getting low, but I think you will enjoy this one anyhow. You can see him run down the fence as he arrives. Then he does something I've described to you before but never dared dream I'd get on film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BlYaBBRlCg
HRH eating a cheese sandwich cracker (gift). Unfortunately, getting too dark now. If I get the chance to lighten it with software later, I will repost it, but for now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWg32LkejLg
Here's Dennis being a little ____. He was in his brat mode. He eats a marshmallow or two, chases Cissy away (listen for the snorting sound he uses to tell her to take a hike.hard to hear for the other sounds), and at one point stands upright and grabs the camera lens with both hands. Finally, I had to tell him to cut it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogRSSs8h3NI
Dennis again. Eating marshmallows. If you look close you can see the marshmallow on his claws/hands. Notice that when I call him, he drops the marshmallow to come. I actually find that they (Cissy, Dennis, and HRH) are responding to being called by name lately. (but it may just be that they know I'm talking to them): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R00MqOdWZCY
Dennis again. He was in a mood this particular day. If you watch all of the videos from that day you can see what I mean about him having ADHD. He is all over the place, can't be still, can't stick with one thing. Do you think Dennis could be doing drugs or something? Here among other things he digs a whole in yard, like I need that, before climbing the fence to leave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUa8KJ8snHc
This message was edited May 4, 2008 3:17 AM
Someone should put that kid on Ritalin (lol); he really does act like a poster child for ADHD. But so cute. And the videos of HRH are wonderful; such a hunk that guy is.
Dennis again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VZU2p2n5m0
Heidi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwBswQmUA34
Cissy eats MM and dog food in pool. This one begins as soon as Heidi leaves. Dennis walks through the pool, spins the top, gets out, and eats from Heidi's dish. Then Cissy shows up, comes over to me, gets in the pool, gets scared and runs away. I put mm and dog food in pool and call her back... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wft0TgnNywI
Cissy. a continuation of the previous one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPRA5Cp3MqQ
Cissy eats a marshmallow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYTShUxIOso
Cissy eats mm and candy corn from jar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDXNbDWGQEg
Cissy plus Dennis in Chair. starts with Cissy then cuts to Dennis in the chair. If you pay attention you can see that in this one he's in the hyper mode where he can't be still long enough to eat the marshmallow or the dog food from the box. He's just looking for something interesting to do. In this one I try to pet him and he pulls away. As soon as I turned the camera off he was fine being petted. I think he doesn't want his friends to think he's a mama's boy wussy type: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC1mHrU1WQ0
Even though Dennis didn't stand still to be petted, you can see that it didn't bother him. He stayed right by me, etc. If I tried to pet the others they would run 4ft or more away as soon as the saw the hand coming at them. Also notice that when he doesn't want to be petted he doesn't fight he just backs away and leaves.
OH that is totally priceless that Heidi took her dish and ran, just to keep Dennis from eating out of it.
Glad that Heidi trusts you , to allow you to take it back, and put it where it belongs.
I'll watch the videos later. [i'm on wireless, which i find slower than hard wired .. and DH is on my PC at the moment.]
plus -- i usually ask Alex, my son who is always interested in this raccoon stuff... to sit and watch them with me.
he's a night owl, so he wont be up for hours.
Don't want to be a pain, but do ya happen to have any photo's too? I know folks are getting a real kick out of the videos and glad they are but some of us on dialup cant' get youtube or the vidoe's and gonan whine here, but want to see what happening too. ( pout)
I know ya busy and it great to get them on vidoe because it wil be greta teaching or helping tools for somebody maybe going into the specific wildlife study of coons, but if ya could post a pic once in a while, when ya get time that is, like you realy have any spare time, sure would appreciate it. : )
Starlight,
Sorry about that. I guess I have been heavy on the videos lately and light on the pics. Thanks for keeping me aware of the needs of the dial up folks. When the raccoons come out in daylight I'm so eager to take advantage of those rare opportunities to take video (which I can only do during daylight right now) that I don't dare change the camera over to the still photo mode - esp since the camera hasn't been fixed yet so I still have to reboot it not only between shots or movies but also any time I change settings/modes (which is rapidly becoming a major annoyance). The time needed to reboot the camera is an eternity in raccoon time and one that causes me to miss a lot of great shots.
I did take a handful of pics the other day though after the light got a bit too low for video. When I get some time I will also see about extracting a few of the better shots from some of the videos so that I can post them as still pics for those on dial up.
I have to edit the photos, crop, zoom, lighten, then I'll post them.
Great videos scutler!
Thanks, pelletory! Glad you enjoyed them and that the raccoons were willing to venture out in daylight and perform their 'tricks' for the camera.
I love the videos, but I can only watch them because I am at my DD's right now and she has dsl. So when i return home I will be back to having to skip the videos again. :(
Actually I CAN watch them but they take like 45 minutes to load for a less than 2 minute video.
Susan
=^..^=
Susan,
Thanks for the info. Glad you were at least able to view the current round of videos.
All,
I think maybe now I see the reason for concern RE videos vs photos. Just recently I've posted links to numerous videos and only a few photos, so maybe it looks as if I'm changing from photos to videos permanently. Don't worry, that is not the case. Right now the videos are something of a novelty (which is quickly wearing off) because the opportunity to shoot them is extremely rare. Right now while Heidi and the others are coming out in the sunlight I'm eager to capture as much video as possible of them doing their usual funny stuff and also just being themselves.
Rest assured, however, that I don't plant to do this forever or even for much longer. First of all I suspect that once the kids start to join her Heidi will revert to night time dining - which is unfortunate since I would love to get footage of the little tykes. Even if she doesn't, I'm probably not going to be willing/able to feed them a few hours before dark all summer as that shortens my time to work in the garden and once it heats up out there those last few hours before sundown become a precious commodity.
Lastly, whereas the videos are cute now because they are such a novelty, I'm sure we only need just so many videos of HRH eating treats, Cissy playing with the jar, and Dennis climbing around on the chair. So, rest assured that while I am loading up on videos right now just in case each chance is my last, I don't plan to continue shooting video instead of photos for very long.
While videos have many obvious advantages such as giving you guys the chance to see the raccoons in action and a chance to glimpse their individual personalities for yourselves, they also have disadvantages other than those noted regarding viewing issues. One such disadvantage is that to shoot video I pretty much have to turn the camera on and hope they do something interesting. Even when they do accommodate me by doing something cute, I don't know when to stop shooting for fear of missing something else. I often end up shooting lots of dead air, someone eating with head hidden behind the pool or the bucket or some weeds - in a clip that has a cute moment on one end or the other so that people have to sit through the boring part to get to the action. With photos I can wait for the cute moments and try to capture someone at the height of such a moment like the now 'classic' shots of Diva reaching out for mm's, Rupert in the 'car', HRH stuffing a mm in his face, and so on.
So, anyhow, what I'm trying to say is please (everyone) understand that this is a temporary thing, and we will get back to photos - soon. ;-)
Cheryl -- what time is it that they are coming out? dusk, or say 5pm-ish?
and I'm sure you are right about Heidi bringing the tykes once it gets dark, for protection.
and that should be pretty soon ... or who knows, she may be doing it already.
didn't we figure they were born the end of Feb? so they'd be around 10 or 11 weeks already --- if i calc'ed that correctly.
Terese,
Heidi is coming out well before dusk lately, and some of the others follow her. I have something of an antagonistic relationship with the tyranny of time, such that when possible I actually avoid watches/clocks, etc when not working. As a result, I don't know exactly when Heidi arrives. I'd say between 5PM and 6PM since she was already out there when I came home early on Friday. That's another thing. I don't know exactly when she arrives since she is usually waiting for me when I go out there.
Those times are, of course, EDT. Right now sundown (and note that it's not even dark at sundown) is around 8EDT, so she is getting here well ahead of dusk. Except for that one day when he came out in bright sunshine, HRH usually arrives late, but even he gets here before dusk. Even though it looks dark in the HRH videos, the fact is is not even dusk yet. Not sure why the videos turn out so dark at that hour, guess the ambient light is just not adequate for the camera. To the naked eye it is still quite light out at that time, not direct sunshine but light. I could easily read the news paper or a magazine at that time. (Just to put this into perspective, when I went out this AM around 9, it was a glorious sunny day, yet when I snapped a pic of a 'black' iris that was hidden from direct sunlight by the house, the auto flash went off indicating that the light was inadequate for the camera even on such a brilliant, sunlit morning.)
I think she is bringing them with her now and stashing them in the tree while she eats. My guess is that she will 1st introduce them to the area late at night when neither people, raccoons, opposums, nor even food are around. I think she did that last year to let them get accustomed to the area, learn to maneuver the fence, play in the pool, etc without a crowd around. I figure it's easier and safer for her to teach them the drill without the dangers and distractions posed by the presence of the rest of us. Once that is going well and she feels comfortable about things, I think she will begin to bring them during feeding time. That is when I think she will also transition to eating at the normal time thus closing the video window which usually only lasts a short time each year.
I don't recall the birth date but believe we calculated the arrival for early May - or now.
yea -- our sundown is just a tad before 8pm too. sometimes it depends on how close you are to the 'time zone boarders'.
[i recall once when we were camping in ND and wanted to get the kids to bed because it was late {they were 3 & 6} and they were like, no way... the sun is still up... and it was 10pm!! same thing happened when we were in Lake of the Woods, ON Canada ... still light at 10pm]
funny =-- yesterday when Alex, his GF and I were watching videos... he asked if you could get clips of Snowball. and i told him, figuring that it's true.... that lil snowball only comes out after dark.
Our Momma coons have been coming to feed at around 5pm, too, and then again after dark. I guess the babies are literally taking a lot out of them.
No fear.... Get all the video footage ya can. Maybe oen day you be lucky and get video of mom's and the kits. Not really complaining and got all the stories to read.
They probably cost way to much but would probably be neat to have them cameras that shoot like 24/ 7. They gotta have some sort of lightening on them to photgraph in the dark I would think. Then ya could see how the kits are trained at night.
I don't know if you do this now or not, but before th ekits come, wonder if you leave outside or back light on at all. Woner if maybe one of them like battery operated camp lights and set up your video camera for runnign late night. Maybe the moms would get used to the light and brign the kits to grab some video's. Just thinking here.
You words are pictures too, they powerful words, so happy with them too. Just don't want to miss some of the good action.
Terese,
By mid summer around here it's almost 10, probably 9:30, when the sun goes down. Tends to be confusing even for adults. I figure I can 'play' until dark and then still have the evening to get a few things done before bed, but not if dark is 10PM.
How nice to hear that the 3 of you get together to watch the videos and that the kids enjoy them, too. Glad to hear that he is interested in seeing a pic of Snowball, but you are correct that with the current equipment I can't take pics after dark and have never seen Snowball around before dark. Actually, I haven't seen any of the opossums recently even on nights when I'm running late and don't get out there until well after dark. Don't know if maybe food is plentiful in the forest right now or if they are trying to stay away until the Heidi calms down a bit.
With respect to the availability of natural food this time of year, yesterday while working outside I noticed some gorgeous looking, ripe blackberries right there in the feeding area out back. Blackberries seem to be a very prolific weed around here. I am forever pulling them out of my flower beds and no matter how many I pull there are always new ones coming behind them and by mid summer there will be fruit laced all through the flowers.
The hostas are up which means slugs will be out in force. I've also seen snails on a plant here and there. The blueberries are ripening in the backyard. I've noticed the raccoons going over there to the blueberry bushes. Also available in the backyard right now: crabapples, small quince, camellia fruit, small peaches (not yet ripe but they usually eat them green), strawberries, and rose hips.
Oops, got a little off track there. Anyhow, I'm hoping to get a night time outdoor camera setup soon. Just a few more things to do 1st - and need to get past the current situation at work, get back to a normal work day.
Cheryl, throw some coffee grounds around your hostas to ward off the local slug population..........
I know you probably have critters [toads maybe] that eat slugs... but you can help eliminate them, so they don't eat all your precious hostas.... a 10: 1 ratio of ammonia to water. [errr, 1 part ammonia]
at summer's peak.... sun goes down at 9pm. you get an additional hour of daylight... but - sun comes up around 5am.
starlight,
Thank you for the wonderful compliment, and don't worry we'll get it all worked out. We'll have photos and sometimes videos. I still have lots of recent photos to post, just haven't had much time lately. Photos take longer to process as I have to edit them individually to zoom and crop so the raccoon won't be a speck in the background, then sometimes lighten before posting individually to Daves. The videos can be loaded as a group and don't require editing, so that's one reason it was easier for me to get them online even when I was so busy - but we will have plenty of photos. Promise.
And don't go feeling bad about speaking up. I'm glad you did. I would much prefer that you guys let me know when you perceive a problem or issue or whatever than to spend time fretting in silence. Also, it sounds as though your concerns were shared by a number of others, so by speaking up you both made me aware of the issue and gave me an opportunity to try to reassure others that while we are having a run on videos right now we aren't switching from photos to videos but will have both.
Terese,
LOL, what time the sun come up is rarely an issue for me as I am not often up to witness that event. Guess I would get more done if I were, but...
How do I use the ammonia mix? Spray it on hostas? Never heard of that one.
Funny thing is although I know the slugs are there because I sometimes see one on a leaf and/or see a few holes in a leaf here or there, they don't end up doing much damage. I wonder if that is due to the great work done not only by the toads but also by the raccoons and opossums. One night last summer (while I was out there feeding the raccoons), they all disappeared. I looked around wondering where they all went. It was like being that person at a party that everyone is trying to get away from. (lol) Then I saw them all over in the hosta corner where it appeared that Heidi was holding some kind of training, perhaps a lesson on the joys of escargot. BTW, I bought a cute little toad house and set it up back there under the hostas because I had seen frogs back there before and wanted to make them comfy.
In the hosta forum, we've been talking about it for a long time.
some people douse the gound in the spring. I just spray the slugs... they die shortly after.
i use just a spray bottle ... some have those big sprayer units... my shade garden isn't that big.
I can send you the links so you dont have to search for them....
and -- i'm one of those who are up with the birds... but i also turn into a pumpkin around 10pm.
Wholy smoley. I don't want to say witchy or anything, but man were the Queen's feather ever ruffled today! She was in a horrid mood...and I think Dennis had something to do with it! Not sure exactly what he did, but...I can only imagine. Must be especially rough for her right now. The babies are up and around now, probably getting into everything. There's bound to be a new Dennis, too, heaven forbid. And at the same time the older kids are acting up. Now she had 1 Trouble and 2 Dennis. No wonder she's a tad cranky.
I let Widget out late this afternoon. He and Dennis started a round of tag and chase. I guess Heidi must have been pretty hungry and tired and not in the mood for all of that nonsense before dinner. I could hear her out there fussing at them from time to time, making that "Huuuuuu!" grumbling sound she does so well.
I went out to get Widget. He and Dennis both came to my feet as though they were 'co-pets', just stood there side by side looking up at me in what seemed so ironic a moment. I picked Widget up to take him back to the house. Dennis started grabbing at my pants legs. Had to fuss at him. When I got back to the patio, Widget in hand, and just as I was about to open the door I heard the distinctive sound of Heidi grumbling and fussing and it was coming from right behind me! What? I turned around to see Dennis following me and Heidi following him and fussing up a storm! When she saw me turn around she stopped and turned back toward the feeding area.
When I got out there with the food, things were NO better. Dennis kept grabbing at my legs. I stomped my feet, told him 'no', and even kicked lightly in his direction to make the point that he should cut it out. Clearly the bad Dennis was out today. Heidi was waiting to be fed. Remembering the events of the previous day when Heidi and Dennis fought over the dish, I decided to fill a dish over in 'Juliet's' area 1st in hopes of giving Dennis something to do for 2 minutes.
Well, I guess I stepped in it that time! Apparently, protocol dictates that the Queen must be served first! So while I was trying to pour a dish of food for Dennis Heidi came over and once again grabbed the dish, turned the food over, spilled everything everywhere, fussed and fussed and fussed. It just seemed like everyone was in the most beastly mood possible. Is it full moon time or something?
Heidi grabbed one of the dishes in Juliet's area and decided to eat there. She chased everybody out of that area and refused to come back over to her area to eat when I filled her dish over there. And that's not all. Dennis ate beside me for a while, and Cissy ate from Heidi's dish, but both of them and especially Dennis were determined to have their area back. Even though they had plenty of food and water - the pool and the basins, they kept going back over there to mess with Heidi - who was in no mood to be messed with.
Cissy wanted to eat over there by the blue chair where HRH was eating in one of the videos. Dennis wanted to eat from the other dish in Juliet's area, the one beside Heidi, and Dennis was determined to drink from the cat litter pan - as if the pool of fresh clear water newly poured yesterday was not enough for him. Every time one of them went over there, Heidi went after them, but they wouldn't quit. Heidi ran Cissy under the blue Adirondak chair and then lunged under there to bite at her. I was shocked to see that when Heidi backed off after the attack, Cissy then lunged out from under the chair to strike at Heidi! Wow, it's always the quiet ones.
After repeatedly telling him to get away, Heidi finally went after Dennis who was creaping around in the weeds trying to sneak over to the litter pan of water. She lunged into him and sent him rolling. It looked pretty bad but was over fast, ending with him getting into what looked like a submissive position to end the fight. After that Dennis went over to sit down under the willow tree in the veggie patch. I don't know if he was sulking or if Heidi made him sit in the corner - or maybe his feelings were hurt over getting pummeled in front of company. I only know that he stayed over there until Heidi left the yard - and might I say that is the longest I've ever seen him sit still. When she left, I called him and he returned to eat beside me. He was well behaved and mannerly for the rest of the evening.
I don't know exactly what was going on, but it looked like there was a power struggle for sure. It was not the most peaceful evening in the garden. I found that most ironic considering that there was more than enough food for all who were there.
I'd imagine Heidi is quite tired and pushed to her limits with the lil Tykes and the yearlings.
Poor Heidi needs a day at the spa to be pampered.
must have been a sight to see Heidi run over and flip the dish you were filling, to show her disapproval in not being fed first.
Sounds like a chaotic day at the diner, for sure. Heidi no doubt is well worn out and in no mood to be messed with these days; if the kits are following her now, that would add to her stress level as she worries about their safety and what they're up to in her absence. Can you carry a marshmallow or two to toss away for Dennis and/or Cissy to chase while you feed Heidi? It is important to feed her first, and that might buy you the moment or two you need to do so without interference. Heidi is not likely to chase after sugary treats, but the yearlings are another story...
Oh, wow, Ruth,
That is an excellent idea! Although she got into the argument after the fact when Heidi took over the area where she normally eats, Cissy isn't a problem. She never runs up and tries to eat from Heidi's dish while I'm pouring food and such. Dennis is the problem child. Giving him something like a marshmallow, a small section of grapes, or something like that would probably work to keep him busy and entertained long enough to let me feed Heidi. I always feed her 1st. She's the one who started it all. She deserves to be fed 1st. Today I just thought maybe feeding Dennis 1st would get him off my back, but that just seemed to make Heidi all the more agitated. Great idea. I'll try that tomorrow.
Heidi seems to be maxed out right now. I'm wondering if this litter might be larger than the 3 she had last year. I've never seen her coming unglued like this before. I suspect at her age this must take quite a toll on her. She is still having the wheezing, coughing attacks periodically, esp when she has to chase after the yearlings a lot; however, while she still has those attacks, she has far fewer attacks than last year and they seem less severe. We are at max pollen count right now and have been for a while. I'm on allergy meds myself, and sometimes poor Widget has multiple sneeze attacks, so she may just be experiencing allergy issues as was previously suggested. I also notice that she's moving pretty slowly and laboriously when climbing the fence post these days. I have that on a video. Don't know if I posted the link for that one yet. There is a noticeable difference between how she climbs the fence vs Dennis and Cissy - but then again if we compared my movements to a teenager, we might well conclude I was a goner. Come to think of it, if I had to chase after a couple of teens, I'd be in worse shape than Heidi is. Never mind.
Great idea, Ruth. I'll try that.
LOL, since you put it that way, yep, I imagine keeping bratty teens in line while trying to tend to, say, quadruplet babies, would certainly try your patience and energy level! Poor Heidi. Good thing she's got you to help her out.
"If I had to chase after a couple of teens, I'd be in worse shape than Heidi:" lol and amen! Chasing after a couple teens would be enough to make me exhausted and homicidal, even without a batch of babies at home.
I still think Heidi's wheezing and coughing are probably due to allergies, and it certainly 'tis the season; after a couple hours of gardening, I'm ready for an oxygen mask these days (or at least a strong antihistamine). In the natural order of things, Heidi's litter size should decrease as she ages; but of course the diet you provide may alter that equation. Heck, in the natural order of things, without your diet she might not be able to reproduce at her age. Will be interesting to see how many kits she has this year. The five in '06 clearly pushed her too far, hence Fraidy's stunted development; of course, that was before the grand opening of the diner throughout pregnancy.
Hope the sweet distraction idea works; worth a try, at least.
Oh, oh, since ya didn't feed her first, wonder if she not gonna give ya toe touches and leg rubs or anythign more. LOL You may be punished for a while too for bad behavior as she has staked you out as part of her territory.
I don;t know of any mother who at somepoint doesn't get frustrated at one time or another, she got the kids and then with the new kits, I wonder if they go through post partum depression too.
Maybe the baby sitter didn't show up on time, the kids wouldnt' be quiet or listen. Sure it just as frustrating being a coon mom as it is a human one.
I do chase after a couple of teens, and I can guarantee...it's not for the weak of heart! Especially a female hormonal teen of age 17! AND....I have my own Dennis...age 15. After 3 girls (other two are 22 & 24 and still needing Mom alot) but my only boy is giving me a run....sweet as anything...then BOOM watch out! LOL
Yep, Heidi, come on over and have some coffee...we Moms can chat. My "Dennis" had the nerve to eat my chocolate ice cream...didn't even put it in a dish! ROFL
Debbie
That sounds like a 15 year old, Debbie. The nerve! I'd be doing some serious "child abuse" there! LOL Never take a woman's chocolate!!!
Ruth,
Smaller litters work better for helping to keep the backyard population under control, too. I few kits per year is enough for us to enjoy.
Tried your mm idea today. It worked great - and then for some odd reason when I didn't see Heidi, I went ahead and filled the other dishes 1st. She was in the yard already and hiding behind a shrub.Since Dennis was eating his mm, Heidi didn't get all upset or anything but she ate from the 1st dish I poured which put her in the wrong position. Tomorrow I will get it right.
This afternoon after digesting what you said last night and while tending my garden, I think I realized what is really upsetting Heidi. (Now I'm thinking Dennis just stirs the pot.) I think you got it right with her being stressed about the kits. She shows up here some time near 5PM. The past few days I've been busy trying to get things done before dark and have gotten out there around 7PM. If she is waiting around for a couple of hours for me to serve dinner, she is not only getting very hungry and impatient but is also away from the kits for longer than she wants to be. I'll bet that is the real reason she has been so distraught the past few days. And then after she waits for 2 hours, I open the door and the dog runs out to chase Dennis around the yard. By the time the food actually shows up she is in a fit. Poor thing. Don't quite know what to do though. Some days I just can't feed her at 5PM as I have things to do first.
But the mm worked like a charm. Thanks for the idea.
starlight,
I doubt one can afford to have postpartum depression in the wild where it's get up and get going or die. Those genes probably die off fast, unfortunately.
And can you just imagine having 3 or more babies as one time? That must be especially rough.