Heidi Chronicles: The Next Chapter

vinegar+hot pepper would get their attention.

Bring to a boil together like you would for pickles, cool and strain through a coffee filter.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of the combination. Now we are getting to serious deterrents, no doubt.

The water blaster could be an excellent way to handle the newcomers, especially if loaded with vinegar water and/or hot peppers. Given the heat in the garage (which I just can't imagine in your climate in summer), it might be worth picking up a new one at ToysRUs; as toys go, they're not expensive. They shoot a powerful stream for quite a distance, and some make a machine-gun-like noise, which could also be very effective.

The image of the overdressed dude removing raccoons from attics just tickled me. What on earth was he doing, trying to capture them with his hands? I always used a net with drawstring closure and wore a pair of thick gloves designed for handling wildlife and/or feral cats; never needed more than that, and never was bitten by a raccoon. It's not like the raccoon is going to come charging at you in attack mode, after all; only the rabid ones ever do that, and they're so ill they're the easiest to catch.

If the newcomers predictably arrive later than the old gang, you might be able to trap at least a few of them successfully; actually, if you could trap the leader of the pack, the others' behavior might be more malleable with him or her gone. Just remember, if you try trapping, to keep an old towel or blanket handy to cover the trap once there's a raccoon inside; it helps keep them calm when trapped. The towel will get pulled through the holes, so make sure it's something you don't mind seeing trashed.

Something very interested and, for me at least, quite unexpected happened tonight, but then that's the way it is with raccoons. You just never know what will happen next.

Things started off rather ordinary. Bast was waiting for me on the patio when I went out at 7:30, a full 30 min later than the preceding few days and clearly she had noticed. I was very busy and considered skipping tonight altogether but decided to go because I had saved the outer 2 to 3in of the 1/2 watermelon from which I'd eaten the heart. I figured it would get icky if I tried to keep it another day, or at least that was my excuse.

For a while it was just me and Bast. Then Blondie showed up and finally Heidi and the kits. In addition to the usual dishes, I've been tossing a few handfuls of kibble on the slope between the fence and the pool lately. Heidi's kits like to eat there, especially the more timid ones. They stayed over there eating kibble. I tossed them the few handfuls of grapes I'd brought along and, just in case they left before getting over that way, picked up a number of chunks of the watermelon and tossed them over, too. And then, out near the street as it was still daylight, they heard someone playing music. The sound was over as quickly as it had begun but no matter for by that time Heidi and her kits had all disappeared into the forest.

After that thinks proceeded in a fairly normal manner, except that Cissy brought her kit - and I didn't even know she had one until now - and Blondie brought her 2 as well. Blondie is pretty lax with her kids. She's a lot like Diva. If you don't see them arrive or leave together you may wonder who those little guys belong to as they are rarely ever seen anywhere near their mom. About the only time I see Blondie near them is when I start tossing them treats. Then she will run over there to try and steal all of the treats before the kits can reach them. On the other hand, her kits seem fairly well trained in the art of self defense. They are considerably smaller than Heidi's kits but the other day I when I was tossing grapes to one of them and an adult came over to try and get in on the action, that little kit turned around snarling and spitting and chased that big raccoon away. Surly little fella but certainly able to fend for himself. Blondie's kits have come up very close to me on several occasions, generally just for a few minutes at a time to eat grapes or something like that. Blondie neither encourages nor discourages this.

Cissy's kit was, surprisingly, a very light golden color, so we don't have to wonder about his/her parentage. Cissy is a more concerned parent than Blondie. The kit followed her down and over near the pool and then upon seeing me for the 1st time turned and ran back up the fence and into the cherry tree where he sat calling his mom. Actually, when he 1st arrived at the fence, panicked and lacking experience with the fence, the kit repeatedly threw himself against the vertical boards of the fence each time falling back to the ground. Despite their awesome claws for some reason even the adult raccoons are unable to gain a foothold on the fence boards and are only able to climb the posts. After a number of failed attempts that were almost painful to even watch, the little fella finally realized his error and jumped onto the fence post upon which he was able to scamper up quite easily.

Cissy ate some of Heidi's food for a few minutes while watching her kit. Then she went over to the fence to call the kit. When it appeared atop the fence, she turned and started eating some of the kibble on the bank, and the kit came back down to join her. Then, realizing the little guy was afraid, she led him through the brush to a nice protected spot by the little birdbath. He was shy at 1st and stayed behind his mom peering out at me with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, but after I tossed him a few grapes and a few pieces of watermelon he soon was out in front of his mom eating treats.

The food was going quite rapidly by this time. I watched as Bast ate all of the food from one station and about 1/2 from the other. Cissy and her kit finished the other 1/2 of what Bast had started. Reba ate the food from a 3rd station and Blondie finished off the last station on that side leaving only Heidi's dish and another area near it. I had, after all, reduced the food back to the amount I'd set the previous year, the amount that had worked fine before all of last years kits grew up and started families of their own. Now it was clear that this smaller portion of food would hardly stretch to feed our gang much less the intruders.

The leader of the mean pack arrived along with her more surly sidekick. As the 1st order of business the chased Cissy and her kit out of town and settled in to eat, the leader eating the rest of Cissy's food and the sidekick gobbling up Heidi's food. Yesterday while i was doing yard work, I parked my cart over on the path adjacent to the only remaining food. The sudden appearance of the cart there last night threw everyone off. Whereas that had been a favored place to eat previously. The suspicious arrival of the cart, which just happened to cast a dark shadow over the food, now caused everyone to avoid it if at all possible. While the meanies were eating, Dennis took advantage of this and sneaked over there to eat. The meanies didn't seem to notice her over there, so they left her alone.

About that time Heidi returned with her kits. The kits stayed back on the bank while Heidi went around the area to check things out. When she found that their was no food left anywhere except for the food in her dish where the nasty sidekick was eating and in the scary spot by the cart where Dennis was eating, Heidi came over to stand about 1 ft in front of me. She just stood their looking at me apparently telegraphing her order for more food. I told her their was no more, and almost as if she understood what I'd said, she turned and walked back over to where the leader of the meanies was now rummaging about for kibble in the grass in front of the pool. Heidi walked right up to her, let out her nastiest grumble-growl, and then lunged and bit her on the side chasing her out of the area.

Having rid the area of meanie #1, Heidi then turned her attention to the sidekick who by this time was eating from the watermelon (that was supposed to be Heidi's). Heidi walked up beside her and issued the grumbly-growly threat. The sidekick laid her ears back and growled in return. For a minute or so the two stood their ground in a growling face-off to see who could look the meanest. The sidekick was most reluctant to give up the watermelon, but Heidi was equally adamant that she must do so and now. Slowly, the sidekick backed away from the melon leaving Heidi to walk up and take over.

One of the kits started eating the small amount of food that remained in Heidi's dish. The other 3 went over to the spot by the cart where Dennis was eating. About that time, Heidi lifted her head out of the watermelon to issue a warning to Dennis to leave. Reluctantly, Dennis acquiesced giving her food over to the kits and came over to stand and eat from the table behind me where I had put a few handfuls of food for just this purpose. Then Fraidy showed up and I called her over and put the small amount of food I had left on the ground at my feet for her.

Suddenly, Heidi was her old self again, kits or no kits. Barely tolerating Dennis and Fraidy both of whom were beside me, she allowed no one else in the area period. The small amount of food that remained was not sufficient for her and her kits and she wasn't about to share. So was this the answer? Had I accidentally stumbled onto the solution? The right button to push to get Heidi to fix her own problem - and mine? Watching her it now seemed so obvious. Heidi hadn't lived this long and remained this healthy by failing to choose her battles wisely. As long as I made sure there was always enough food for her and her kits, why risk injury fighting with the others? But if food was going to be limited, would that be another matter entirely?

I really didn't have enough food for Fraidy. I even reached around and grabbed a few pinch or two of the meager bit Dennis had remaining and gave that to Fraidy knowing it still wasn't enough to keep a gnat going. I had used the last of the bag of cat food tonight so I couldn't go back for more cat food, but I did go back for a few eggs and some more grapes.

When I returned, a very hungry Heidi was hiding in the shadows with her kits this time - instead of having left. I held out an egg and called to her and low and behold upon seeing the egg she hastily reappeared. She took the egg and bit into it while the kits gathered around her. At one point she directed them to stand back a bit as some were trying to grab the other end of the egg. She some how, and I remain amazed, managed to separate the egg shell into 2 portions each containing part of the egg, one which she gave to the kits and the other she kept. Carefully holding their 1/2 of the shell so as not to spill the contents, one of the kits carried it over a foot or so and sat it down where they all began slurping at it.

While I was watching this amazing egg eating scenario, I suddenly felt a cold wet nose touch my arm. I turned to find Fraidy hiding under the table beside my bench. I reached under there to hand her a grape, and she took it ever so gently in her outstretched hands. I gave her a few more grapes and then reached down between the bench and table intending to put an egg on the ground for her. As soon as she saw the egg she became very excited. Before I could put it down she reached out to take it gently. Seeing me give her the egg, Heidi issued her 'get out of here' grumble, and Fraidy ran back toward the house still holding that egg. I watched as she stopped some 20ft or so away, put the egg down, and then backed into a busy flower bed taking the egg with her. There she could hide and eat the egg, hopefully without the risk of anyone taking it away.

I gave Heidi another egg. It came to rest against the back side of the watermelon. Heidi never ate it. She and her kits ate the grapes and left. I stayed for another minute or so hoping that Fraidy would come back so that I could give her another egg. While I was sitting there alone in the darkness, the leader of the meanies reappeared to gnaw at the remains of the watermelon rind. While that vicious raccoon had her head in the watermelon rind, Fraidy reappeared and ever so bravely sneaked up to the back of the melon rind to grab that remaining egg right out from under that raccoons nose (LOL) and run with it! Later I saw Fraidy climb the fence to leave, so figuring she had had enough, I left as well - leaving the leader of the meanies pack to gnaw the melon rind.

Well, that's fascinating but makes great sense: why should Heidi fight if there's adequate food for all? Clearly, she can defend her right to the food for herself and the kits when food is short. You may well have found the solution to the problems, though it will be hard to limit food if it means Fraidy and Dennis run short. Congratulations!

Wow!!! What an exciting time ya had. : ) That amazing about Heidi and the egg. I can't even crack one in half right. It also sweet that she would share her food like that.

Ya the extra clothes was to protect ya from the claws if ya was trying to oustthe meanies up close. Didn't want anythign to happen to you since they seem to have such wicked claws when ya might least expect it. Dumb idea I guess , but was thinking of your welfare.

Wonder if heidi wil keep up chasing the meanies out. Hope they get the message and soon. Worry about Widget too, hope he don't run into one of them thinking it one of the regular gang and a playmate. Still chuckle everytime I think about him and Dennis and him losing. heheheheh

Ruth,

Those new guys have to go - for so many reason. The combination of their bad behavior and the overcrowding is putting the whole project in jeopardy. The whole experience has become unpleasant. If Heidi, possibly with the help of the rest of our gang, can remove them, that would surely be the best and most natural way. Rupert didn't get to eat last night and only got crumbs the night before. Neither Dennis nor Fraidy nor even Heidi and her kits got their fill, but it looks like this may be necessary, at least temporarily, to move our gang to action.

starlight,

I though you ideas were very creative. Just don't think I can implement the one where I have to 'get a raccoon mad on', and I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of extra clothes in this heat. Last night I was out there using the tail end of my tank top to wipe the sweat off my brow (at 7:30PM). The weather map shows the heat wave that is currently in the TX/AZ area coming this way this week. Since we have been under a heat advisory for about 3 wks now with indexed temps in the 105-110F range, I can't imagine what a heat wave will do for us. I may have to ask the raccoons to come inside for a while so I don't have to sit outside in the sweltering inferno.

Just joking with you about those extra clothes. It's a good idea actually, but around here only for winter. I like the hose idea though.

Cheryl, I also worry about you with that "new crew". With more strangers invading, it is also more chance of disease. You have been blessed with Heidi and her group being healthy. But you get this "meanie" crew in there, with more fights and heavens knows what else....not good.

What about an old fashioned broom to chase the others off? Keeps you at a distance, and can get rid of them without harm. Just be careful.

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about them not having enough food. Think of it as "you are supplementing" what they need from the forest. This way, if you have days you can't take care and feed them....they still have the training to know whats in the forrest for them....and train the kits to do so also.

I hope the heat isn't as bad as they say it will be. We are expecting a cold front up here of all things....if I heard right!

Debbie

Hi Debbie,

I'll address the safety issue after work but... could I please get some of that cold front, PLEASE? (Oh, that is so unfair. LOL. A cold front in August. July and August are the most unbearable months of the year around here. I try to stay indoor as much as possible and just try to suffer through.)

Bottle me up some of that cold air if you don't mind and ship it here. I can't wait to open up a can of that. ; )

I know, can you believe this! We didn't even get the air conditioner in the window this year (so far!)


BUFFALO, NY Extended Forecast

MON

81
67 TUE

81
68 WED

79
65 THU

77
63 FRI

71 SAT
62

OH Debbie -- what fabulous weather!!
I've been back home a few days [in IL] and it's HOT and STUFFY. some rain, but UGGG, stuffy!! gave the A/C a reprieve on Saturday [what a mistake] as the dew pts were still up there.

getting the car packed and heading back north, where it still gets warm and muggy, [and the evenings get cooler] but where we are, we stay a tad cooler as we are in the trees, and i have a pool 90 steps away ;-)

looks like a cool down Wed/Thurs and into the weekend... CANT wait.

Ok, Debbie,

Now that just plain bragging. ROTFL ;-D
Our forecast for Thur is 100F actual, 110F or higher with heat index.

The best we can hope for on any given day right now is a severe thunderstorm to cool us down to the mid to upper 80's for an hour or so.

Wow, Debbie, that makes it tempting to move up there--but what are your winters like?

Winter? ummm, what winter? (ducking and hiding). We had a horrible ice storm in October two years ago....and the kids have known a Halloween or two where they had to wear snowsuits.....other years, shorts. We are very close to Lake Ontario....so we don't get hit (knocking wood) as bad as some areas. If it is lake effect snow....we get nailed.

This was last winter....in my back yard. It will cool all of you right off!

Debbie

Pretty! We've had early snows in October that make all the branches bend under the weight of the snow, and it looks interesting.
I didn't know it got quite that hot in North Carolina, though!

Debbie -- You did know I was kidding. Right? I was in one of those silly moods this morning and just couldn't help but rib you about those temps. Actually, I'm happy for you that you are enjoying such wonderful, cool temps. Hearing about it actually makes me feel cooler somehow. Maybe in part because it evokes memories of cooler weather and because it serves as a reminder that this sweltering heat will not last forever.

That snow looks so inviting. I'd like some of that inside my house right now.

KyWoods -- I must have missed something. How did North Carolina get into the conversation? If you were referring to my post on our current temps and forecast for the week, I'm in South Carolina. The sweltering temps I referred too are just for the coast line area of the city of Charleston and its barrier islands, not for SC in general. Even such neighboring areas as North Charleston and Summerville are not included in the extreme heat advisory. I find that most people are unaware of the high temps here along the lower coast of SC, but on some Zone maps we are included with a strip that runs from Houston, TX through New Orleans and the upper 1/3 of Florida. An ultra slim sliver of that zone comes up the east coast just far enough to include Charleston.

Edited to correct my error. I just read the heat advisory for tomorrow and while some of the previous ones did not include the surrounding areas mentioned above, tomorrow's does.

This message was edited Aug 5, 2008 12:48 AM

Debbie,

Oh, forgot to mention. I appreciate your concern about me being out there with those mean raccoons. I've been a bit dubious of them myself and am taking care to keep them at a distance. It had also occurred to me that the combination of outsiders infiltrating the group along with overcrowding and lots of fighting was not a good thing at all from the stand point of disease. The one good thing is, and I think I may have neglected to mention this earlier, I did finally manage to get the rabies shots a while back, so I do have a degree of protection. That doesn't mean I feel impervious by any means, but I do feel a bit less vulnerable as a result.

Hope that helps you to feel a little better about the situation.

Cheryl, first off I did realize you were joking.....but people up here are complaining about "the cold". Good heavens! They are now talking of Saturday getting into the 50's at night...what a shame. (I love that weather to sleep in.)

I am glad to hear about the rabies shots. Up here, rabies is rampant...and scares me so much. Seems weekly there are reports of animals being picked up.

I also worry about when the construction starts up behind you...and in the general area....that all wildlife will be in your back yard!

By the way, I haven't heard mention of my little Snowball....how is the little gal/guy? So precious the pictures of Fraidy, she and Dennis (and Rupert) have such a special place in my heart.

My sleepless nights are kicking in...and I am going to try and get some shut eye. Wish I could shut the brain off for a bit!

Debbie

Duh, I meant South Carolina, silly me! Oh, yeah, any sign of Snowball lately? And the other one, what was it--Puddle?

Debbie, KyWoods,

So nice of you to ask about Snowball and Puddle. I haven't seen much of them lately. I suspect that the fierce competition for resources among all those lactating female raccoons has put the opossums on the same temporary list of those who aren't allowed at the buffet as HRH and Trouble. Right now it seems to be all about raccoon moms and babies. No one else allowed, except me, of course.

I did get a quick glimpse of Snowball once about a month ago on the 2nd day I put out the BBQ beef with beans and rice dinner. I even got a pic but didn't post it because while it documents that he/she still exists, it's a really bad pic. Snowball was back there in the weeds when I shot the pic. I've noticed that whereas the raccoons don't like normal human cuisine, cooked food, leftovers, etc so much, the opossums actually seem to prefer that stuff. I suspect it was the smell of the BBQ beef that drew Snowball out that one night - although the meanies quickly chased him away. I have a bunch more of those old dinners, so maybe I'll start putting them out each day or so for Snowball and Puddle and the crowd. They may have to eat after the raccoons leave, so I may not see much of them.

About the heat here in Charleston, SC, I think one reason I stress this so much is because I realize it is not intuitive. Most people don't expect the temps here to be as high as they are, and I must admit that I would not be inclined to expect them to so either - if I didn't live here. I must also reiterate that while most of SC is probably subject to 'warm' summer temps, the temps here in Charleston along with those in, I suspect, Beaufort and other areas along the extreme coast of the lower portion of SC are quite out of the sync with SC as a whole.

Today, if you go to www.weather.com and look just to the right of the little weather map on the home page, you should see 'National Forecast' and under that find 'Heat Wave' and "Heat Indexed Forecast'. If you click on the latter item 'Heat Indexed Forecast' ,which on my screen is in blue, you will see a map of the US showing 108F over my area on the SE coast of SC. Note that we are the hottest place on the US mainland map for today, hotter than NM, AZ, TX, FL etc. This is not an isolated occurrence. Every summer about this time I find that the hottest temp (heat indexed) vascillates between the places mentioned and Charleston, SC even though one would not be inclined to think so.

Ok, that's it for me complaining about the heat - for now. Just wanted you to know what those poor raccoons are going through. ; )

Arggh. It's over 90F now. I stepped outside a few minutes ago to walk Widget and it's like stepping into an oven - an oven with a dense blanket of heavy, humidity. Ugh. It was hot and stuffy at work this afternoon. I guess the AC system couldn't keep up. And it is still around 82F in my house even with the thermostat set at 73F. I still only have 1 working unit where I am supposed to have 2. Up until this week, most days the house would still be this warm when I got home from work but by 8 or 9PM would the AC would have gotten the temp down to 73F and turned off. Not tonight. The poor AC unit has been running non-stop and it's still 82F and stuffy in here. I just turned it off to let it recuperate - to keep it from icing up. I'll turn it back on in maybe 30min.

That's not the worst of it. I just received a heat advisory notice from the national weather service. Tomorrow it is expected to be over 100 actual degrees in the late morning and reach a heat indexed temp of 112 or higher in the afternoon.

Debbie, help! Can I come stay with you for a week?! Can my 14+ raccoons and their 3 or 4 dozen babies come, too? And Widget? What about Snowball? Is it still cold there? Quick, tell me a cold story. Please.

Anybody got any dry ice you can send me? I'm dreaming of a big block of dry ice and a fan to blow the cold air on me. Thank goodness I got a new old car. The AC in this one will freeze you until you turn blue before you get to the end of the street, but at least I know I have somewhere to go if it get to cold. I can just drive around until I turn blue and then come back inside the house to warm up.

Ok, I know this is supposed to be a raccoon thread, but I think I'm delirious now from the heat. I might have to rent a hotel room (and sneak Widget in) to stay for the rest of the week until it cools back down to our normal high of 100F.

Cheryl, pack up the babies and come on up! I have a big empty "field/forest" in back of us they can lounge in, complete with a creek running through it.

We don't have airconditioning though. I think tomorrow is supposed to be mid 70's high. Hmmm will have to check that out.

Todays weather update:


BUFFALO, NY Extended Forecast

WED
80
63

THU
77
63

FRI
70
61

SAT
74
62

SUN
77
64

Might want to bring a coat with you (smile).

Oh, about the raccoon, I knew I'd forgotten something...

Things were pretty normal tonight. I opened the last bag of the cheap dog food. I skipped last night, BTW. There must be food out there in the forest somewhere because they didn't even finish the dog food before I left. Bast ate a lot, but the others just ate a small amount and left. The dog food is always gone by morning though, so I figure they will go off foraging for something better, and those who can't find enough on their own will be back to top their meal off with the remaining dog food, which is a good thing really. It means they will be encouraged to use their own food finding skills but will have a back plan if necessary.

I also took out a bag of mini pita bread and a can of vanilla frosting to make pita sandwiches. I gave 2 to Reba and 3 to Dennis. Heidi and her kits ate the rest. One of the most awesome parts of the evening was a few minutes after Heidi and the kits came down. I was opening the can of frosting to start making sandwiches when I looked up and saw Timba literally running across the lawn toward me. At 1st I though he was running to Heidi's dish which is maybe 3 feet in front of me and to one side. By the time he passed the dish without slowing down I realized he was looking right at me with one of those great big 'granny Cheryl's got some of my favorite sweet, goey frosting' smiles across his fluffy, little face. You know the one. He ran right up to me, too. Stopped a few inches from the table. Then as I was fixing him a frosting pita, I spoke to him in my sweetest voice, but that seemed to snap him back to reality - that mom said to stay away from humans because they will hurt you. As I reached down with the frosting sandwich he backed away quickly.

I tossed Timba the frosting witch and one of his siblings rushed over to get one as well. The two of them stayed over near me until they had eaten 3 mini pitas each. Later as I was tossing pitas to the other 2 kits on the bank beyond the pool, I tossed one to Heidi who was also on the bank, dropped it right at her feet. When she finished it, she did just what I knew she would do. She came all the way across the lawn to stand at my feet and request another, so I fixed her one stuffed with lots of frosting. By the time I finished making it, she had turned to go over to her dish apparently thinking I was ignoring her. I called her name, and she stopped to look back at me. I held the tiny pita stuffed with a huge glob of frosting out toward her and spoke gently, coaxing her to come over.

She had not accepted food directly from my hand since that one time a few weeks ago, but that, I have found, is how it works. When she took the 1st item from my hand that day she ran back a ways to eat it. That often happens the 1st time. After that she had refused to come to me to get food again. That is usually the 2nd step. Tonight when I held the frosting without out, she came forward slowly, paused for a minute trying to decide whether it was proper to take food from humans with ones hands or with ones mouth - her mother didn't teach her this after all - and then she stepped up and gently licked a bit of the frosting before ever so gently taking the pita into her mouth. This time she did not run away. She backed up a step or two, back to where she had been standing before I offered her the pita, then she sat down to eat it. This was step 3. We had made a little more progress.

After a few pitas, Heidi went over to the pool for a drink and the kits followed. Remembering how they always enjoy eating things from the pool, I started tossing chunks of dog food into the pool, while Heidi and the kits eagerly fished them out and ate them. The kits have only recently turned the corner so that they no longer run when I throw things. Now they get all excited and look to see what kind of food gifts I'm tossing to them.

While I was tossing kibble into the pool for Heidi, Dennis showed up. I had kept back a few handfuls of dog food for her and for Fraidy. It was in the bucket at my feet, the bucket from which I was getting the food to toss in the pool. Even though there were plenty of places to eat, Dennis came over to eat at my feet like old time - as the meanies were not there. Dennis stood beside the 3 gallon bucket and reached in to shop for treats. The fact that Dennis was rummaging around in the bucket, caused me to stop tossing food into the pool momentarily. Then I looked up to see Heidi standing there in the pool looking over at me as if to say, "Hey! What's going on over there? Can't you see we are out of kibble over here?" So I gently brushed Dennis aside to get another handful out to toss to Heidi and the kits. Thankfully, that was sufficient and they soon left. Dennis ate some dog food and 3 pitas, and then left as well.

Then for some reason Bast came over and decided that she would like to eat from my bucket, the novelty thing I guess. She was very polite and orderly about it, so I let her. After a few minutes Fraidy showed up. Even though Bast, who is known to be quite feisty, was standing in front of me eating from the bucket, Fraidy walked right up beside my legs as if she knew that Bast would not dare to attack her there - and she didn't. I took the bucket from Bast, and she went elsewhere to eat (as there was plenty of dog food in the dishes). Fraidy ate a little dog food and then started nudging me with her nose almost like dogs do sometimes - and horse do that, too. I kept saying, "what do you want, Fraidy?" But I knew she could probably smell the residue of the treats, the ones that were gone already.

Fraidy kept nudging me. I could see that she was trying very hard to get her point across. She reached down on the ground at my feet and picked up the plastic spoon I'd given Dennis to lick earlier. She wanted frosting, and she knew someone had eaten frosting...well, she was just so darn cute I couldn't help myself. I went back to the house - after telling her to wait right here - for another can of frosting and some grapes. When I returned, the others were all gone - chased away by my coming and going - but little Fraidy was still standing there by my bench waiting - probably because I've gone back a few time recently to get her something, so now she recognizes that pattern. She's pretty smart. The other night when I watched as she so defty sneaked that egg out from under the meanie's nose, I realized that while I might have helped to give her a leg up when things were down, her 'smarts' have probably gotten little Fraidy a long way, too.

Debbie,

Those temps sound wonderful! It's almost 1AM and I still haven't gotten to 80F WITH the AC! We're on the way. Then you guys can come and stay with us in the winter when it gets chilly up there. I just have to check with the raccoons to make sure it won't conflict with any of their schedules. ; )

Oh, and I know they would love a creek to play in. That would make our 'pool' look like a big muddle puddle. You must have some happy raccoons up there at your house. Isn't that rabies thing such an awful scourge? Such adorable little creatures, and we have to keep our distance. So unfair. Sorry to hear that you have such a high incidence of it there. We actually have a fairly high incidence in Charleston, too, but from what I've read most of the cases are coming from some of the islands, one in particular. While they are not part of the city of Charleston, they are part of the county of Charleston; so they still effect our numbers.

Oops! I'd better go and see if I can sleep in this heat. I've been late to work 2 days in a row. Sure would be nice to be on time tomorrow for a change.

Ok, now I am REALLY mad. I sent a message to the webshots user asking very politely to have my photos removed or to be given credit for them. I got no response what so ever. I followed the link on the webshots site to report copyright infringement. It asked that I send an email to a certain address and that I provide certain information. I did so to the letter. I received one of those computer responses saying that someone would get back to me in 24 to 48 hours. Four days later, I received a message from a person at webshots. The message said if I feel a copyright infringement has occurred I should...followed by a copy and paste of the same stuff I read from the site, the directions I already followed like send us your name and address and the URL of the photo that infringes, blah, blah, blah. The email ended with a link to a govt site with copyright rules and an indication that they can't help me unless I provide the requested info (which I provided in the email I sent in the 1st place).

I sent an email back, and I might add not the nicest one I've ever typed. I went in and marked my newer albums and all of the raccoon albums private. If webshots does not take care of this matter promptly, I will, at a minimum, terminate my account there. After that, I'm not sure. It's not about the photos anymore. It's about the principle. Now I feel doubly abused. Depending on my mood tomorrow, I may just go ahead and cancel my membership there now. I don't much care for their totally non-personal response.

Sorry, Folks, I'm going to try harder to stay on topic in the future. I know when you see that there has been another post to the thread you don't come here hoping to hear about the weather and my photo infringement issues. Yep, I think the heat is getting to me.

You have every reason to be upset, Cheryl, and I empathize. If the website cannot provide some kind of personal response, or at minimum adequately protect your private property/photos, there is every reason to be p...ed off. And I totally get the principle involved. Can you delete the stuff you've already posted on their website? If so, I'd definitely do so, as well as cancelling membership. We've all learned, courtesy of the 21st century and its technogical advances, to tolerate a truly poor level of customer service. There comes a point when you just have to stop tolerating the crap. And BTW, the combination of excess heat and humidity turns me instantly into a raving b...ch, so I'm with you on the combination involved here.

Cheryl, hugs, kiddo. I would also be totally ticked! Evidently those people can't read their own e-mail.........sheesh!! If you can delete your photos I would certainly do so ASAP! Can you go directly to the webmaster of that site rather than following their directions? They are basically encouraging this type of thievery as far as I'm concerned by their lackadaisical attitude! It's a shame, some idiots have to try and spoil it all for the rest of us.

Cheryl, I can't remember if I told you this before or not, but my DD has a Caringbridge site. This is set up for kids with serious illnesses and such. I started her site in 2000 or so, with her history and pictures.

Imagine my surprise some months later, when I was visiting another site of a child with cancer, and found my daughters picture....listed as this persons daughter!

Thankfully, I was able to contact the site host, tell them what happened, and they found out that person to be a fraud...not even having children. A very sad thing all in all....but I do understand how you feel.

And you are NOT off topic....it concerns the raccoons being violated via pictures.

It is a very very hot....humid....and sweltering 79 right now. It really is humid...and the sun is just beating so heavily on us. (Did that make you feel better? rofl)

Debbie

Debbie,

That's awful about someone trying to represent your daughter's pics as their own. Sounds like Munchausen's by proxy - in my opinion as an engineer who watches a decent amount of Law and Order reruns. I would think having your daughter's pics used in that manner would feel like an even greater violation than what I am experiencing. Glad the website was helpful in taking the pics down.

If webshots wanted to help, they could easily see that the other user is a fraud since all I had to do was a quick search on 'raccoon' to find that all of his/her pics are from other people's albums. Sadly, someone actually wrote to this person asking for advice on when to release a baby raccoon they had been raising.

Debbie, I don't know what to say about your weather conditions except that my heart REALLY goes out to you up there in that sweltering, ultra humid 79F weather with the sun just pummelling you guys so unmercifully. Just try to hang in there the best you can. Wear light clothing, drink lots of fluids, and stay indoors - or maybe go to the beach. Hang in there, fall will be here in time. LOL.

Hmmm, maybe we could all get on the site and send messages to that fraudulent person....
Creepy about the cancer patient fraud, though.

Ruth, doccat,

Thank you both for your words of encouragement and support. I won't have a chance to deal with the matter before the weekend but will most likely pull my photos and cancel my membership then - unless they do something to fix the problem in the mean time which seems highly unlikely.

I know it is probably hard to imagine but right now it is just too unimaginably hot here to do anything except sweat and try to stay alive. Thankfully, if I can make it through one more day, 'Debbie's' cold front is supposed to be here by Friday. It is supposed to bring our daytime high down to around 85. That is our low for tonight.

KyWoods,

Cute and creative idea.

I just came in from feeding the raccoons. It is almost too hot now to live. At 12:30Am the outside heat indexed temp was 93F. I sat out there in nothing but a very thin cotton tank and shorts. I 'sweated' non stop the whole time. By the time I came back inside my tank was soaked and I looked as though I had been mowing the lawn on a sunny day with a push mower. Raccoons, however, seem quite impervious to heat. No matter what the mercury says they show no outward sign of distress.

As I was sitting out there I saw a few faint flashes of light behind the trees. I was never so excited at the prospect for a thunderstorm. I was hoping for a BIG one, but as the night progressed and I watched the flashes make their way across the back portion of the sky beyond the forest, slowly making an arc along the tree line, I realized that there would be no storm for us, after all. Even as I watched its progress in anticipation, the storm was passing us by and would dump its cooling rain somewhere else.

When I 1st got out there no one was around. I figured they had all given up on me. I was just about to leave the stuff when a few stragglers started showing up. Eventually, Heidi and the kids were there. As soon as Calvin and Timba got into the yard good they came running over to me - something I feared I would not see with all that has been going on lately. They argued over the watermelon at my feet. I gave them peanuts to help settle the argument. Heidi and the other 2 kits stayed over on the slope near the fence. I was very pleased to see that the 2 bolder kits coming over to me to eat without their mom. There may be hope for me to get close to this group yet.

After a while, Blondie showed up with her 2 kits, and as soon as those guys got on the ground they came running for me, too! It was a nice treat to be greeted that way by both groups. For a while the 2 sets of kits managed to co-exist in the area around the pool and in front of me. The didn't play together but they did manage to tolerate each other while eating peanuts.

I haven't seen much of the mean ones since that night when the food was scarce and Heidi ran them all away. Normally there is a period each night when they dominate. There must be 6 or more of them and they are all pretty rowdy. Lately, though, things have been very calm and peaceful. It has only been a few days. Too early to be sure but am hoping this represents an actual change. It has been interesting to see how much more attention I got from the kits, Heidi's and Blondie's, tonight without the meanies around to scare them away.

Tonight they actually gobbled up the dog food. In fact, even after eating massive quantities of watermelon, when the dog food ran low, Heidi actually came over to sniff my bucket and let me know that she needed more. (I had some dog food in there that I was holding back for Dennis and Fraidy, so I gave her a handful or 2 more.Those 2 never showed up anyhow.) I wish you could see Heidi eat watermelon. For some reason she never seems to do this when I have the camera out. She sits down HRH style with the 1/2 watermelon sitting in front of her like an upside down bell, her head buried in the thing. She always sits on the side opposite me, naturally, so I get this view of Heidi sitting down with her face in the melon. It's a cute pose. I'll have to try to get that pic before the summer (and watermelon) ends.

Edited to add: Then again, maybe the raccoons were so willing to eat the dog food tonight because they too think it is too hot to do anything, including go out foraging, anything except lounge around in the trees hoping for rain.

This message was edited Aug 7, 2008 1:10 AM

Boy wouldn't it be nice if the food scarcity, and Heidi's resulting attempt to drive out the nasty newcomers, actually worked! I suspect there will be lapses, and needs to reinforce the message, but it's a promising sign, for sure. Glad to hear that some of the kits are becoming so comfortable around you despite the disruptions.

Heidi's watermelon posture sounds adorable, but I suspect she's much too concerned with her dignity to let you capture that in a photo...

LOL, Ruth,

Maybe that's why she never seems to do that when I have the camera.

One more day of unbearable heat before our reprieve. I feel as though we have sunk into the depths of ____, well you know, the hot place. It was 93 (actual degrees, not heat indexed, that would be 100 or so) this morning as I drove into the parking lot at 9AM. Ugh. Last night I literally had to talk myself into going out to feed the raccoons in that heat. Praying for rain.

Cheryl, I think your cooling off zone is on its way. We are in the upper 60's right now and overcast. Was actually chilly last night and had to use a light blanket. Tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler, high of 67.

BUFFALO, NY Extended Forecast

THU 74 62 FRI 67 60 SAT 72 61 SUN 77 63 MON 76 64

I think your raccoons are not so much worried about the heat, as you provided them fresh water and fresh food. I think if they didn't have that water they would be much more bothered.

I hope your day goes well.
Debbie