This is the ongoing saga of Heidi and friends, raccoons who frequent my backyard buffet. We are all waiting for Heidi to bring the 08 kits to the buffet. (Clearly she has her own ideas about when to do that.)
previous thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/858305/
beginning thread that started it all: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/603944/
Below is yet another picture of Cissy, Heidi's daughter from the 07 litter, drinking from her favorite tiny birdbath.
Still no sign of kits or of that adorable, big 'bear' HRH.
Just a few quick (yeah, like I can do that) things from tonight's dinner:
For a while now I have been quite sure that several of the raccoons knew their names and were responding to them. This is especially true of Dennis, Cissy, and even Heidi. Tonight, however, I got some incredible feedback on this issue. Earlier in the evening I had given Dennis some grapes. I had run out, and he was off doing what he does. Then I found another lone grape in my pocket. I called out, "Dennis, Dennis". I was surrounded by some 8 raccoons. I wish you could have seen the look of total recognition and excitement on Dennis' face as his little head popped up from behind the tractor scoot where he had been trying to get a drink of water. It was so incredible to see. One minute he was reaching to get a drink. The very next instant, his head was up, ears perked, listening, and his face said "Yippee, she's calling me. That means I'm going to get a treat!" And none of the others responded. I'm telling you, believe it or not, they are learning their individual names.
Lately, Heidi has begun doing something unusual. I have things laid out very much the same as before except that now the pool and Heidi's dish are farther back toward the fence, farther away from me and from all of the others. I did this to give her lots of space for the kits - that I still believe exist even though I haven't seen them in ages. My bench is now closer to the area that used to be called "Juliet's area". I'm maybe 2.5 to 3 ft from one of the dishes over there and 12ft or so from Heidi's dish.
I thought this would make Heidi 'happy'. I always put her food down 1st. Most days I take her a treat like egg or watermelon or peanuts. Even when I'm giving the others treats that I figure she won't care for, I always toss her one just to be sure, figuring somebody will eat it when she leaves. But lately, she has become increasingly dissatisfied over there by herself. Virtually every day she leaves her dish over there to come over and join the rest of us - after she kicks the others out of their spots. Every day she comes and eats food either from Dennis' dish beside me or from the ground around and in front of me.
I figure she does this to be sure she gets her share of the treats. I'm hoping maybe this is a sign that she is thinking about and planning for the arrival of the kits. Today I moved her dish forward about 4ft. She ate over there for a little while and then still came over to eat some of Dennis' left over food from beside me, even though it was the cheaper brand that she hates - and she had the good stuff. Very strange. About 1/2 way through her meal she just come over and hangs out with me for a little while and then eventually goes back to her dish most days.
Oh, about the cheaper food thing, this week I bought 2 bags, one of Purina cat chow and one of the store brand cat food. I opened the store brand 1st. Heidi had shown disdain for this brand before. The 1st day I put it out, Heidi tossed her food on the ground (she does that to search for something tastier in there) and then went around to each dish in turn checking to see if somebody else got the good stuff. None of the others show any sign of preference, just Heidi. After a few days of that, I came up with a plan. I fill my container with the store brand except for the last few scoops which I get from the Purina bag. Since I pour Heidi's food 1st, she gets mostly Purina, and everybody else gets the store brand.
You know, Heidi is by far my pickiest dinner guest. The other day I was thinking how this goes against my expectations. I mean, Heidi has been on her own for years. I would expect her to be happy to get food period. Almost all of the others have been raised with a silver spoon so to speak. I would expect them to be the pickiest. Then I realized, the only way this makes sense is if Heidi's natural diet in the wild is actually a very high quality diet overall. Having spent most of her life eating high quality fruits, nuts, berries, bird seed, grubs, and such, she is not inclined to see most of our artificial junk food as food. For the most part, she sticks with the healthier fare, the whole foods to which she is accustomed - well except for nectar and frosting, that is. We all have our weaknesses.
Fraidy was there again tonight. I was out after dark. When she 1st showed up, Blondie attacked her. I tried to call her - by name. I used to use her name a lot when talking to her. I think she actually remembers it. She disappeared into the brush. A few minutes later she sneaked out of the brush and came up behind my bench. She came right up close behind me and stood looking at me. In the dark, I didn't realize at 1st that it was Fraidy. Looking over my shoulder, I was a little concerned to know who was getting so close to me, something only a select few normally do.
When I turned around and shone the flashlight on her I scared her and she ran towards the fence. I called her again by name, and she came back and ate from Dennis' bowl beside me.
Oh, and yesterday after Dennis was full and just hanging around as he often does, at one point he sat down behind me at the back corner of my bench and played a little 'mumbly peg' thing with the back of my shirt for a few minutes. Silly Dennis.
Oh, and almost forgot this. Tonight Dennis and Heidi were at the door waiting for me. I think Heidi follows Dennis because she doesn't want him to get 'ahead' of her. When I fed her Dennis, of course, had his head in the dish. This time when I walked away he didn't follow me as he usually does. He stayed over there eating Heidi's food - with her standing beside him grumbling loudly. I went back over there where Dennis was standing shoulder to shoulder beside Heidi. I walked right up to them face to face and used my food container to push Dennis back away from Heidi's dish. I had to do this several times as he kept returning to the dish when I would step back. Each time I got a little more "insistent", yet all the while Heidi stood right there, her head just inches from where I was pushing the container at Dennis. She just stood there like she understood that I was there to remove Dennis from her dish and was glad of it.
See, I told you I would be brief. ; )
For those who remember the nasty cut on Trouble's neck a while back, from any distance it looks like the hair has grown back over it completely, but here is a close up (and, yes, he did come that close) I got recently. (Sorry, but this pic just refused to shrink any farther.)
Here is a pic of the liver colored one at the little birdbath. Is it just me, or is she getting a bit of a paunch? She was always the sleek, skinny one. LOL, am I causing an obesity epidemic in the raccoon community now?
Here is a close up of her facial coloring. Not her best shot, but notice how bright the 'white' part is around her mask? I need to name her. When she's standing up she reminds me of those lanky cats in the tombs of the Pharaohs. There is a very well know female ruler from that era. Can't think of her name. All that I can think of at the moment is Ramses and Tut, both male. Anyone recall the very famous female? I don't think they have found or Id her remains yet. Her name might work for this one if only I could think of it. (She looks stubby in the pic because I'm shooting down at her, but when standing she looks very tall and lanky, very model chic. Look this is a terrible picture of her. I'll show you a better one another day. This is just for coloring)
Cleopatra? You could call her Cleo. :-) There was another female... hmmm.. Isis was a goddess, but that isn't who I was trying to think of. I'm sure I'll remember after I turn the computer off. LOL
I love the pictures of her! How about Lavelle? Don't even ask me how I came up with that. LOL
Susan
=^..^=
How about Hatshepsut or Nefertiti? :-)
If she reminds you of the Egyptian cats (probably Abyssinians), you could call her Bastis for the cat goddess. She does have beautiful coloring.
Wonder why Heidi insists on eating close to you; it's fascinating. Could be she's claiming you and your immediate area as territory for her kits, but that doesn't explain her moving there before she's finished her food. It does seem odd that she's the most finicky eater of the crew, but your reasoning makes perfect sense. To have survived and reproduced as long as she did before you stepped in, she has to be a very wise shopper when perusing the offerings in the forest for dinner. By now she probably has a very very good grasp of relative nutritional values. And yeah, we all have cravings that defy good sense and logic; I'll bet she's been raiding hummingbird feeders for nectar for years.
Doesn't surprise me that they're learning to recognize and respond to their names. You use them consistently when interacting with them, and use of their name is for calming or giving a treat, it seems. These guys are so smart, it stands to reason they'd learn to associate particular sounds with themselves. Also very cool!
Thanks for all of the great name ideas, you 'guys'!
I love them all!
Looonnnng day and spent waaayy to much time with the raccoons this evening. Feeling pretty beat. Need to get to sleep now. Will be back soon to finish the discussion. : )
Glad I decided to scrool down the wildlife forum this morning. Was just wondering if you were ok Cheryl, when I discovered there was a new thread. Must have missed the link the other day to this place. Glad I not lost anymore.
Maybe with all the crazy weather and late frosts and rains and such, I wonder if maybe heidi is leaving all the available food for the Kits and making sure you know that she needs her special food to keep going and then again, it may be her way of sayign thankyou to you for keeping her feed and knows instinctively that you enjoy the clos eencoutners and giving you a little treat with her clos eup preference.
You could go with Neffy short for Nefertiti.
Off subject but did you get your air fixed yet? Mine went out Monday and no way could I afford a new unit and no way could I afford a repair bill like i had a few years back. I watched the guy and learned how to service my own unit, and my unit about 20 years old and the motor had burned up.
if ya handy with a screw driver, you can repair your own and a new motor only costs about a hundred bucks and takes about 2 hours to repiar. And that with cleanign the unit out and such. I sure ya could do it yourself if I can with the help of the neighbor guy.
Hi starlight,
I tacked that blurb about the new thread onto the end of a post. Maybe I should go back and add a separate post for it just in case others are also 'lost' out there in DG land. Thanks for the heads up on that.
ROTFLMHO about late frosts in Charleston. Spring started in mid Feb and we haven't looked back since. This morning it was 90F at 11AM. (I'm sure it's hot where you are, too) I realize in some parts of the country there are late frosts and even snow as late as May or maybe June, but not here. It has been roasting hot for months now. Recently, when KyWoods was talking about it being chilly there (due to a cold front), it was about 95 here. No, I don't think Heidi is too worried about the cold here. Oh, and while we are supposed to get 52in of rain annually, lately it never rains anymore. At this rate we will be in a desert in a few years.
Heidi doesn't get to save her food for the kits. When she comes over to eat by me one of the others goes over to take her food, usually one of her older kids like Blondie or maybe Dennis, sometimes Rupert. If she wants those kits to get any food from the buffet she will have to bring them during the dinner hour because that gang scarfs down everything I take out and even searches the ground for every crumb they can find when that is gone.
My new theory is that Heidi isn't bringing the kids because she doesn't want me to turn them into 'Dennis'. She probably looks at him and things, "What a disgrace. He's supposed to be a wild raccoon and here he is acting like a common household pet for heaven's sake! Sitting on command and begging and such, why there is just no WAY I can let this happen to another child of mine!" ; )
No, as to the AC I've been doing the ostrich thing. Haven't figured out where I'm going to get the $7k (yeah, it went up) for a new unit and don't want to sink $2k in the old one. Now that is impressive that you fixed yours yourself. Heck, to be honest, I'm afraid to even get to close to those units for fear Mr Copperhead may be chillin' under there on the concrete slab. He's a bit cranky that one, so I try to leave him be. My problem isn't the motor, or I'd see if I could get the info from you on how to change it. Mine needs a new - I forgot, accumulator, I think. It's a thing about the size and shape of a 5lb can of coffee. Hmm. Maybe I'll look into that while I'm ignoring the problem. Thanks for the idea.
A few days ago it occurred to me that I had never mentioned any of this to my sister even though she has small children who might also enjoy the story, so I sent her some video links and such. That's when she told me the following heart-warming news which I thought you might all enjoy. You see my sister and her family own and live on a farm of sorts (I say 'of sorts' because they both have regular jobs. The cows, horses, etc are more of a hobby than a business). They own some 100+ acres in a rural area some 30mi outside of Charleston. She said that last year one of her co-workers mentioned that their newly developed subdivision in North Charleston was having a problem with raccoons (who no doubt lived there before it was developed). Anyhow the subdivision was planning to trap and kill the raccoons which they saw as a nuisance. My sister and her husband went out to this ladies home (well out of their way, I might add) daily for months to set up and maintain traps for the raccoons. My sister then took all of the raccoons (they caught in the traps) back to their 100+ acres where they set them free. Most of their land, except for the few acres they are using for the house and farm, is undeveloped forest with some wetlands (and will be well into the future as they are determined to keep it in the family). I realize the relocated raccoons had difficulty getting integrated with the existing population but am still very proud of her because, otherwise, those raccoons would have been killed. At least she gave them a chance at a great home out in the country where they can live their lives w/o human intervention - and without fear of bulldozers coming to tear their houses down to make room for yet another subdivision. I'm very, very proud of her taking her time to go some 50mil or so round trip daily to carry the endangered raccoons to safety, especially at a time when most folks seem to want to get rid of the raccoons they have not add new ones.
: D
Yayyy for your sister! And yikes! on the cost of the AC repairs/replacement!!
Cheryl -- that is just too funny ... Heidi thinking you will corrupt all of her children into "common household pets" who sit and beg on command.
That is so cool of your sister.
What a neat story. it funny too that ya both saving racoons each in yoru own way. That awesome and so great of her to do it. : ) Give her a thanks from me when ya talk to her next.
Sorry, I guess in my muddled mind I didn't get my words out right. I didn't mean the food in your yard for th ekits, I meant her food, the forest food, the stuff that she eats in the wild that tastes like her special cat food. Wondere dif she was feeding her kits all her wild food and that why she so hungry at your place.
Cheryl.. For real. Since ya know what the part is that bad. Call al aroudn and get eestimates for a new one. You can find out what kind of unit ya have from label on outside of unit.
Learned along time ago that repairemn wil tell you anything so make a sale and if they cna get ya to buy a whole new unit they will, The oart may just be a few hundred bucks and there not that many parts actually to to a heatign and air conditioner and you can just about do it yourself and save thousands of dollars and have air to boot.
Just sprinkle some snake away out there and mr copperhead wil move right out of the area and it aint nothign to taking the machine apart and the wires are all color coded.
When somethign major breaks, a few times I may have had to pay to get somebody out, but after one time, I learn how to do the repairs myself.
Last fall th eheating part of the unit went out. Guy wanted over 00 dollars to fix it plus service call charges. I took all the screws off got in there and looked around myself and saw all i needed was one wire type piece, took it out went to store and it costed five bucks, put it in and saved a bunch of bucks.
It is a wonderful thing that your sister did. You might pass along to her that I did that pumping fist "woo hoo" thing in her honor.
Yes, shame on you Cheryl for corrupting today's racoon youth. I can just hear Heidi now "In my day we never had cat food and frosting. You had to walk ten miles through the snow every day to get withered grapes. etc. etc. (as Dennis and Cissy roll their eyes)"
LOL tetley !!
Kudos to your sister, Cheryl; awesome that compassion runs in the family!
Good one, tetleytuna; I can just picture Heidi giving that lecture...
Whew! I too lost track of the thread and was getting an anxiety attack without my "coon" fix! LOL Although I sorted thru and re read the posts about Dennis dunking Widget and had hysterically laughing fits all over again! I have a mental picture of this poor little highly insulted furry wet ball, and a snickering raccoon in the background. A real "gotcha!" LOL
GOOD for your sister!!! Lots of good Karma for her!!!
Yikes on the ac estimate. As Starlight said, I'd call around and get some estimates as that is a major "ouch"!
Hahahahhaa Telley... That funny. : )
ROTF, tetleytuna,
Your description of Heidi lecturing the kits on the good old days is just beyond precious! I was just sitting there at my desk laughing out loud when I read it - and thinking how glad I was that I had just taken my glass of ice tea back to the kitchen.
Thanks to everyone who posted your thoughts and praise for my sister's actions in relocating those threatened raccoons to her own land. You know, I was just thinking how that might just be a 1st - people usually relocate 'problem' wildlife away from their home/land. I really was impressed by her actions. She is SO busy these days, going back to college, working full time, raising two wonderful children with whom she spends lots of quality time, making sure the kids do their homework daily, taking care of the animals on the 'farm', and trying to have a life as well. I was surprised to hear that she cared enough to spend that much time monitoring traps and transporting animals.
I do recall, however, once when she was maybe 8 or 9, she got in trouble because our parents found out that she was taking bread and crackers and such from the kitchen and going out after dark to make a trail of goodies to lead the opossum [she had seen out there previously] from the forest to the garage where she had left the back door [to the gargae] open for them to come inside and stay warm and get out of the weather - and had left a bowl of cat food in the utility room for them. Even though our parents told her to stop, she continued. Eventually the momma opossum showed up in the garage with a bunch of babies riding on her back, so I guess my sister [at the age of 8] was the family trail blazer when it came to helping wildlife moms and moms-to-be. Honestly, I think the exterior door to the utility room [behind the garage] and from the one from the utility room into the garage stayed ajar until my sister got married and moved away.
starlight,
LOL, I have my 'dense' moments. That might just have been one of them. Hard to say, though, about Heidi and the food. You might be right. I think right now she is spending a lot of time showing the kits how to shop for food. Maybe she is filling up here before she takes them out.
I got some of that snake-away - and then saw on the back that even the mfg says the only snakes for which it may not be effective are the copperhead and moccasin (which are closely related). I've seen info online showing actual test results for whether or not various snakes would cross a line of the stuff. Results for deterring other snakes were typically in the 80-99% range but for copperheads and moccasins were really low, like maybe 30%. I did put down 2 boxes of moth balls, however, (which I believe have the same chemical). Haven't seen Mr. CH since I put them down, but did see a green snake and the Scarlet Kingsnake practically on top of the stuff. I realize those last 2 are harmless but was disappointed to see that neither was deterred by the mothballs.
I am very impressed with how savvy and 'handy' you are. I don't know if I'm quite that handy with the tools or that confident in my ability to fix stuff without burning the house down - this despite the fact that I spent some 3yrs in electronics repair prior to college and have all of the tools including 2 multi-meters one of which is a Fluke [brand]. Really don't know where I'd find the time either - then again neither am I quite sure where I will find the money for a new one. Still thinking about it.
doccat,
Thanks for reminding me again about that problem on the other thread where I 'hid' the link to the new one. I just went back and fixed it. The image you paint of the scene between Widget and Dennis is too funny not to mention an apt description of just how it happened and how both animals looked in the aftermath: Widget looking all drenched, embarrassed, and pathetic; Dennis looking innocent and even concerned about Widget's 'accident'. That was truly one of the 'classic' moments in Heidi Land, I think.
So...guess who showed up for a late night snack last night?
The suspense is mounting..................
I am hoping you are at this moment relating the events of last night. While I wait I want to tell you all that at dusk last night I looked out(hadn't put the dinner behind the fence yet)to see this beautiful little masked face coming to and climbing up the bird feeder pole(actually a dead tree) I hurried to get the camera and tried to open the screen enough to get the lens through but the little fella took off. Thanks to you I can say with almost certainty it was a yearling by the size and general looks. It was so beautiful..........now I know that even though I feed them the call of the feeder is just too much....and where in the heck has my suet feeder gone ??????????
...That's right, that big, lovable teddy bear, the king himself - HRH!
Actually, yesterday I was WAY busy, so when I went out around 7PM with the goodies and didn't see any raccoons - probably because the neighbors were cooking out and could be heard talking in their backyard next door - I just left the goods and came back in to continue my work. In addition to the cat food I had 'generously donated' a half watermelon (large size). I say 'generously' because watermelon is one of my top 5 favorite foods and one which is very hard to pry from my hands. It was an excellent, red, ripe, sweet watermelon - chilled. I had scooped the red flesh out, chopped it into fairly small parts and placed it back into the bowl-like rind. As I walked away, I was sorry that I wouldn't get to see them enjoy that treat as I have learned that many of them are nearly as fond of the sweet, watery goodness as I am. I also left 2 marshmallows on the seat for whoever found them 1st.
Imagine my surprise when I went out around 9PM to walk Widget (he had just come from grooming and I wasn't eager to see him go back there and root around in the dirt around the feeding area so I took him on a leash to keep him on the grass) and found Heidi waiting patiently for me on her tree limb. Wondering why she had missed dinner (and that great watermelon), I went back to the house to get food for her. I returned with a full bucket not knowing who else might have missed dinner. In addition to Heidi's dish I filled 2 of the others. Almost immediately, those dishes were taken over by Fraidy and her smallish sister. Then Trouble showed up and I filled a 3rd dish for him. (It was good, BTW, to see Fraidy get her own dish for a change and a full serving of cat food without a bunch of others around to take it away.)
Almost as soon as I took my seat i could hear those kits 'trilling' away in the forest edge, but they did not come down. After a while the sounds stopped. I scanned the forest with my flash light to no avail.
After a while, I saw a nose poke out from under the chair beside me to check Dennis' dish for food. The nose belonged to a pretty sizable raccoon, so I figured it was Trouble as earlier he had been scarfing his food down as though he had just gotten off a deserted island. I took my bucket, still 1/2 full, and reached over beside me to pour him some food, but something about the way that nose moved as it hovered just inches from the dish while I poured the food and then reached in gingerly for a taste just didn't seem quite right for my image of Trouble. Trouble is inclined to move more rapidly with jerky, flighty movements. I would have expected him to step back a foot or more and stand like a playful Labrador retriever pup, tail wagging (retriever image, not Trouble) as he waited for me to pour the food and move my hand away.
That slow, gentle but cautious movement of the nose that waited only inches from the dish for me to finish was more like...could it possibly be...no, surely it wasn't the king. I aimed my flashlight down at the nose for a moment and even as I saw the scar on his lip I was still reluctant to believe it was really, really our beloved HRH. Surely I was mistaken. It was dark out, after all, and the scar was on the side opposite me so that I could not see it very clearly. I could still be mistaken. As the head came farther out from under the chair I shown the light on the back of his neck fully expecting to see Trouble's tell-tail scar glowing back at me in the darkness. Instead, I saw nothing but smooth fur.
And, then, even as I was trying to convince myself I really wasn't seeing things in the darkness, Trouble with his lab puppy movements sidled up next to the big guy in an attempt to steal the food. A bit of clicking and rattling later both guys were eating side by side, both faces in the dish, their two bodies locked in a grown up version of The Shove - which BTW looks very much the same as the yearling version except with less energy expended in jostling to and from, just 2 bodies shoved up against each over longways as the two males ate side by side in what in my lest learned days might have looked like total harmony.
I reached around behind the chair and poured some cat food onto the grass there at the back corner of my bench, then called HRH to come and eat there - and the big guy obliged me. It was SO good to see him home again! He didn't stay long, ate a handful or so and went on his way as did Trouble. There must be much to do in the forest these days, er, nights.
When Heidi was almost finished with her food, she came over to Dennis' dish beside me to eat a bit. This time, however, she grasped Dennis' dish and pulled it backward across the lawn(ish.lol) almost as if she were taking it over to her area. Something about the combination of her behavior and the sounds I'd heard earlier made me think she might bring those kits down tonight. The guys had just left and only Fraidy remained, so it would seem like a great time for the kits to visit and I knew they were right there in the tree just over the fence. When she left, I immediately went over to her dish and refilled it just in case. Then I waited.
Moments later a fight broke out in the sweet gum tree maybe 20ft down the fence from the Heidi tree. I could hear the snarling, fighting sounds coming from down there as the branch heaved mightily. The action was occurring at about the 15ft level in the tree branch just over the fence. The movement within the tree certainly seemed to signify that someone or something was getting a royal butt kicking. At the same time I could hear the kits calling frantically for their mom. For a moment, I was afraid for the kits, unsure if they were in that tree (as they often are) or the Heidi tree and who besides one of the raccoons could be in that tree possibly threatening them. As I've mentioned before, we don't have a lot of the predators that many of you have. About the only realistic possibility (in a tree) around here (other than a raccoon or opossum) might be a bobcat (which I doubt would come this close to houses) or an owl or other bird of prey. It is not entirely impossible that we might have cougars here, but most unlikely, esp this close to homes. But I had heard owls out at night a number of times back there, so as I continued to hear Heidi issuing such serious threats and watch the branch and leaves move violently, I imagined in terror an owl carrying one or more of the kits away as Heidi struggled to fend off the predator and save her babies.
Then the tree was still and the forest fell silent. Still I waited. Please, please, please Heidi bring the kits down. Now I really needed to see that they were ok. But nothing. I waited alone except for Fraidy still eating nearby. (It was amazing how much she could pack into that tiny body.) Then...just over the fence somewhere I heard the sound of a lone kit crying in the night...
This message was edited Jun 22, 2008 12:21 PM
...moments later a raccoon came down the fence in the darkness. I could not see who it was, really couldn't even fully make out the details of the shadow as it approached, but it had come from Heidi's spot on the fence, and for some reason I was so sure it was she...
and then just as I was giving up on the kits, another small body half tumbled down he fence post and then another and another and finally another as Heidi stepped from the darkness into the low light of the far away floodlights followed by 4 adorable little furballs!
One kit ate from the dish beside Heidi. Another hung back near the fence for a while as though afraid to get too close. One little fella ran right over to that already totally decimated watermelon rind and even though there was nothing left but the outer rind and a bit of light green, nonetheless, plunged head on into that end cap which had to be at least 10in high. As I sat there, huge Gomer Pyle smile stretching the very corners of my mouth to the limit, watching a tush, 2 legs, and a tail sticking out of that watermelon rind as the little fella went at it in there as though completely oblivious to the fact that the edible portion was long gone. Eventually, as he struggled with it, the rind bowl tilted onto its side and he crawled in there to continue his meal. As he did so, he and the melon turned so that I could glimpse his tiny mouth in there tearing at the green-white rind. By that time the 3rd kit had located the old rind still left from the day before. It was a 3in thick, 10" diameter ring cut crosswise from the large melon and one which had been eaten right down to within a fraction of an inch of the hard, dark green outermost rind and which had sat in the sun all day as well, but that didn't stop the little fluff ball from chowing down on it just the same. As he struggled with the large rind he eventually ended up climbing through the ring, wearing it like a giant hoola hoop even as he continued noshing on the edge of the rind.
It seems BTW that in every group there is always a leader like Dennis and Trouble who is out front getting into everything even to his own peril, a timid one who just isn't quite sure about all of this, and a momma's girl hanging close to mom's capable skirt tail for protection, and this group was no different. As I watched the kits eat, I searched my mind in vane for some small portion of melon back at the house that I might offer these little tykes but despite having purchased a cantaloupe, 2 watermelons, and a large honey dew, I knew that those green rinds on which the kids were gnawing were, in fact, the last of the melons.
A few days before I had put out a very over ripe cantaloupe - whole - only to find nothing at all left the next morning except of sort of cantaloupe skid mark on the grass where it used to be. Not even so much as a paper thin rind remained of that one. The night before I had treated the raccoons to the very ripe, sweet honey dew, putting out the hollow remains of the portion I had eaten along with all of the seeds and such I'd scooped out and would normally through away and about 1/4 of the sliced portion (the good stuff), all stuffed back into one side of the rind and set out for whoever might want some. It had been popular, although possibly not quite so much as watermelon. Blondie, in particular, had sat there scarfing it down with that 'drunken' look on her face, the one they get when something is just so darned, out-of-this-world good as to make them seem momentarily intoxicated by the mere taste of it. She had, just as I expected, eaten every bit of that seed stuff we throw away (hint, hint to anyone cutting a melon and tossing that stuff). By morning I had to laugh when I saw what was left of that honeydew, a wafer thin (and I mean tomato skin thin here), sliver of rind, split around the edges and mashed flat so it looked like a white-green, paper pinwheel on the lawn.
I had grapes in the fridge still and was tempted to go back to the house for them but didn't want to risk scaring the kits away on their first visit, so I sat still and watched in awe while planning to pick up another watermelon as soon as the stores opened again - something I still need to do as soon as I finish this post. I'm not quite sure how I'll get it to them but I'm sure going to try. It looks as though Heidi may be favoring the late shift now in her attempt to separate herself and the kits from the crowd. I think I will try feeding the others early as usual and then going out around 9PM with some cat food and melon in hopes of catching Heidi and the kits. Oh, and I must clean that pool today, as well. Oh, I am SO excited. Can you tell? They were just so darling, the little tykes. I went to sleep last night trying to figure out how to transport that bale of pine straw in my trunk w/o making a mess in my 'new' car.
Yayyy! the kids are here at last!!!
Oh, and despite the fact that only one kit was eating from her dish and there was lots of food there, oddly enough, while the kits were there, Heidi came over to eat from Dennis' dish near me. She didn't need to come over there. To start with, she clearly wasn't hungry any more having already eaten her fill before going back for the kids, and there was more than enough food over there in her own dish - esp since they left a cup or more in her dish when they left. I had to wonder why she came over by me. Perhaps to demonstrate to the kits that, although she had by now clearly told them to be afraid of people, I was safe? Or did she come over beaming with the pride of a new mom to inquire, non-verbally, what I thought of her new family? If the latter, I've no doubt I gave her a big, non-verbal, thumbs up in response.
And then, they were gone...but I new that this was the milestone for which we had waited so long. Now the kits would surely become a fixture at the evening buffet.
Oops, almost forgot this - probably should have mentioned it before revealing the part about HRH and the kits. Might be anticlimactic now.
One day recently when I couldn't think what to take out for a treat that would appeal to most if not all, the light went on and I took out the last can of frosting along with 3 or 4 packs of the peanut butter sandwich crackers. I dipped the peanut butter filled crackers (similiar to 2 Ritz crackers w/pb between) into the vanilla frosting and passed those around. Boy was that a winner! In no time flat I was totally surrounded by raccoon faces all wanting to make sure they got there share. Even the most timid of the bunch summoned the courage to come up near me for that snack combo, and before I could even toss one over to Heidi she made her familiar grumbling sound and headed over to get her share. While everyone else ate the whole snack, naturally, after the 1st few, both Dennis and Heidi reverted to licking the frosting off and leaving the crackers behind, which was no problem as the others were thrilled to come behind them and snatch up those well licked crackers. To Heidi and Dennis, it doesn't matter if its a cookie, a cracker sandwich, or a cupcake, it's just a utensil from which to eat the frosting. I can't BELIEVE how popular frosting is. Wow. I had to go back to the house for the rest of the box of crackers. They ate all of the crackers and the whole can of frosting. When the last bit of frosting was gone, Heidi was still there letting me know that she wanted more, Dennis, of course, was begging for more, and everybody else was walking about the grass looking for just one more bit of frosting they might lick off of a blade of grass somewhere. I had given them the empty plastic can to lick much earlier, and even though it was already licked clean, they kept going back over there and checking it again just to see if it had 'sprouted' some more frosting since the last time. It was funny to watch them, as though they all had OCD. They kept walking past the dishes piled with cat food, all searching for that one crumb or bit of frosting left somewhere in the grass and coming over to give me the sad face to see if I might pull more frosting out of my pocket for them.
I am definitely going to have to stock up on frosting! Seems like frosting goes with everything. I've even dipped the foil seal from the top of the cans in there to pick up a big blob of frosting and toss it to Fraidy. Ditto the plastic top tossed to Heidi. I gave somebody my plastic fork covered in frosting - never saw that fork again.
Hooray for the kits' long-awaited debut!! Oh, and thanks for rescuing us on the other thread, lol.
Do thank your sister for me, too, for the wonderful thing she did! How awful that they were going to kill the poor creatures--they were there first!
LOL at the "cantaloupe skid marks." Yep, ours love melons, tomatoes and grapes, too, along with their usual dog food leftovers. Last night they also had chinese take-out. We put the plates out on the back deck and twenty minutes later they were empty, LOL.
How wonderful!!! WOOHOO! Finally we got more bebes too see!
Oh, KyWoods,
Did I leave you stranded over on the other thread, too? Oops, SO sorry. I must be more careful in the future - and less lazy; I was too lazy to hit "Send" and start a new post for the link. You are welcome (for the rescue) but I guess starlight and doccat really deserve the credit as I would never have known there was a problem without them. Sure glad they told me. Who knows how many people I left waiting over there.
I can hardly wait to tell my sister all of the wonderful things all of you said about her. I think they are in TN right now. They often load up their horses and go on these long weekend riding/camping excursions.
Hmm. I didn't know they like tomatoes, too. I've been putting the left over tomatoes in the compost pile. Think I have some overripe ones in the kitchen right now. I'll put those out tonight. Mine get a fair amount of Chinese food periodically, too. Now that is Snowball's favorite. If I start missing the opossums all I need to do is put out some chicken, scrambled eggs, Chinese food (which often has chicken and eggs), etc and they will be here pronto. Yeah, raccoons and opossums make for a great cleanup crew, don't they? No matter what I put out there I always know that come morning there will be nothing left to clean up - well, except for the occasional thin strip of watermelon rind.
Glad you are back. Sorry about the confusion with the link.
Hi Judy,
Sorry, but somehow I didn't see your posts or get notified. I probably had the thread open between those 2 posts and thus accidentally blew away my notification. LOL. I thought no one was out there when I posed that question and didn't get a response (or didn't see the notification, that is). How cool about your yearling. Aren't those little masked faces just so adorable? And now I can tell you that they have personalities to go right along with those adorable faces.
You know, I keep forgetting this for some reason, but actually I find that raccoons really enjoy black oil sunflower seeds. At 1st I used to think they only ate the sunflower seeds because that was all they could find, but clearly that isn't the case. Sometimes, when I can remember, I add some to their cat food. In fact, I just came back from the grocery store where I picked up a small bag of the stuff for them - along with 3 watermelons (mostly for me but will share), 2 cantaloupes (ditto), 4 cans frosting (assorted 'non-chocolate' flavors), peanuts, and 2 bags cat food.
Hope you get another chance to see your masked visitor.
I know, doccat, isn't it wonderful! And soon Blondie should be bringing hers, not to mention that other small raccoon who appears to be nursing.
Cheryl --- YAY on the kits arrival... [wow, almost 4 months old]
do you think that the 'scuffle' in the forest was Heidi, telling who ever was near by, to stay out of the yard until the kits are gone?
I bet they were just a joy to finally watch.
I am so excited about BABIES!!! LOL
It would be so much fun to be YOU!
Susan
=^..^=
Terese -- They really are adorable. Even adult raccoons are hard to resist - I'm starting to think they cast a spell on me when I go out or hypnotize me with their eyes so I will stay until they get what they need - but kits, they are just positively magical.
As to the scuffle, I've no idea what that was about. I suspect that whatever or whoever she was fighting with, they were in the same tree with her kits. Since the kits were not harmed, I gather the 'invader' was one of the raccoons, so you might be right. I've also considered that the other raccoon may have been either Trouble or HRH, both of whom had recently left the yard, and may just have made the mistake of climbing from the fence onto the tree that contained the kits, perhaps waiting there with hopes of returning to the yard later. If that's the case, I imagine that it was more likely Trouble as HRH is old enough and wise enough to know better. Heidi is fiercely protective of her progeny at this early stage. I might even say 'over protective' were it not for the harsh realities of life in the wild.
Susan -- Wow, I hadn't thought of it that way.
Ruth -- So often, it all goes back to the parents. I think my sister and I owe our shared compassion for animals in large part to the leadership and example of our parents. Even as very small children we were always taught to treat our pets with care and respect for the fact that they were living creatures. We were never permitted, for instance, to lug puppies and kittens around as children love to do - you know how small children will grab them up just behind the front legs and 'drag' them around endlessly, body and hind legs dangling. This was a pet peeve of my mother who taught us that in so doing we might injure and even kill the pet however unintentionally.
One story of the kind of example they set for us comes to mind. Once when they went to take the garbage to the dumpster (in those days the state maintained dumpster locations for folks in rural areas), they heard a kitten crying. With some searching, they finally found the little fella who had apparently been dumped there by some uncaring person. Something had gotten after the kitten and had bitten it on the back. It was unable to use its back legs. They brought it home with them, heaped enormous love on the little kitten along with all the medical help they could summon. If love alone would have been sufficient to save him, I know the little guy would have made it. He regained some use of his hind limbs and could be found each afternoon out in the garden with my Dad, half walking, half dragging his defective limbs but appearing not to notice, appearing happy just to have a home and a family. Unfortunately, in a very short time the little fella lost the fight, succumbing after all to complications from the bite and resulting spinal damage. I knew that my parents wanted that kitten to live with all their being. I think it was in seeing this kind of behavior that my sister and I became the people we are, people who have reverence for all life human and animal alike.
This afternoon and tonight we had some pretty severe thunderstorms. During one gap in the storms, while it was only sprinkling at bit, I went out with cat food and watermelon. Even as I was getting the food together I could see Dennis out on the patio, soaked and walking about, waiting impatiently. Once outside I found that Heidi was actually there with him waiting in the shrubs. I set the watermelon down by Heidi's dish. She was there, of course, and started to fill her dish with cat food. Dennis, naturally, was trying to eat from her dish as I poured. Heidi grabbed the side of the melon and started dragging it backward. When she had moved a satisfactory distance away, she started eating the watermelon even as Dennis sat eating her cat food. As I walked away, I called him to follow me and he did.
Most of the other 1st shift group quickly came out of the wood work and took there places 'at the table'. I had a large stem of grapes with me. I pulled it apart so as to give a small stem to each of them Dennis included. Then as the rain had quickened and the thunder and lightening were getting a bit scary, I left.
Around 9:30PM, the same time I found Heidi out there the night before, I went out with a plate of watermelon and a 1/2 bucket of cat food. As I walked out in the darkness I sensed the presence of a raccoon even before I saw one. For a moment, I thought Heidi really was out there again with the kids waiting for me, but it was Dennis - the same Dennis who had eaten 2 hours earlier when I fed everyone else but who was still hanging out in the yard. Suddenly I understood why Widget had been barking so much this evening. Clearly, Dennis had been hanging around the patio and Widget had seen him there. Dennis wasn't hungry but was willing to beg for treats. Not finding Heidi, after I put the food out, I went back to get crackers and a new can of frosting.
Trouble, Fraidy, and some of the other 2nd shifters were there. I used the crackers to serve heaping mounds of frosting to all, at least that is, until Dennis started chasing them all away. This was a side of him I hadn't seen. He never behaved this way with Heidi and his siblings, probably in part because they would kick his butt. With the 2nd shifters, suddenly he was king. He didn't mind if they ate the cat food from the dishes, but any time he saw one lapping up frosting, he would run over there, chase them away, and take the treat. I had given Fraidy a frosted cracker on the other side of my bench only to have him run over there and take it moments later. As she ran away, I scooped a bunch of frosting onto the can top and sailed it after her like a Frisbee thinking surely he would not bother her way over there. For a few minutes she lapped at it in peace, and then Dennis saw her and once again ran over there to take it away. She tried to take it with her but dropped it in her rush to get away. The same thing happened with the hyena one. He came up as close as he could safely get [with Dennis there] and I tossed him a cracker. As soon as he started to eat it, Dennis ran over there doing his Karate moves and chased the other raccoon away. From that point on Dennis stood at my feet like an attack dog fighting off anyone who sought to come near. It seemed he had claimed both me and the frosting as his property.
I didn't try to alter this behavior. I didn't like it but with rare exception I try to stay out of raccoon interpersonal relations. Other than this behavior, Dennis has been behaving himself very well lately. He listens when I tell him "no" and stays on the ground behaving himself when being served. A few times when he was about to get into the chair I said "no" and he immediately got down. Tonight, excited by the smell of frosting, he grabbed my bucket from the chair while I was getting the crackers and frosting ready, but when I said "no" he immediately let go of it. A few minutes later he snatched the other pack of crackers off of the edge of the chair but gave it up readily when I said "no" and took it away. Otherwise, he sat pretty patiently (for Dennis) while I got everything open and ready to serve.
