Heidi Chronicles: A Chill Is In The Air

This is the ongoing story of Heidi and friends, raccoons who visit my backyard buffet. The 08 kits are almost grown now, a chill is is the air, and everyone seems to be making preparations for winter (such as it is here in the semi-tropics).

The prior thread: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/907852/
The original thread that started it all: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/603944

Below is a pic of Jerry, one of Heidi's 08 kits. As a little tyke, Jerry was somewhat timid and referred to stay at the back of the crowd. It didn't take her long to realize that from that position, behind everyone else, she was getting passed over for many of the special treats I often toss to the raccoons during their meal. Being the smart little raccoon kit that she is Jerry found a solution. She started standing up behind the others with her hand up to get my attention. Every time I dipped a hand in my treat bag and looked up there was little Jerry standing up behind the others looking for all the world like a [football] receiver going out for a pass, so that's the story of how Jerry got her name - taken from what I am told is one of the best wide receivers in the game.

Jerry's antics never ceased to bring a huge smile to my face. She has brought me more than a few laughs this summer. Soon Jerry and I were pals. I would see her stand up for a moment in the background somewhere and say "Jerry, Jerry, is that you?" She would respond by standing up bigger than ever as she quickly learned her name and learned that standing up, especially when called, would net her a nice treat. It has been so enjoyable interacting with Jerry this way, yet so frustrating at times because I could never get a decent picture to show to all of you. Jerry's stand up moments are all to brief and are timed to coincide with the time when I am about to toss a treat out, not when I'm holding a camera.

Recently, however, I have noticed that I can now get Jerry to stand up for a moment on command just by calling her name, even if I don't appear to have a treat in my hand - because she knows I will get her one. So tonight, finally, I was able to snap this pic of Jerry standing up on command for a fairly 'long' time, long enough for me to get out my camera, get into position, and snap the pic. I got her to do this by saying "Jerry!" again each time it looked as though she might drop back down on all fours. Of course, after the pic I tossed her a big, yummy frosted cake square

This message was edited Oct 18, 2008 10:22 PM

Edited to change from "09 kits" to the correct "08 kits". Seems I've been time traveling again. ;-)

This message was edited Nov 2, 2008 11:25 PM

Edited yet again because, well, those '09' references keep inserting themselves in this post in the dark of night when no one is looking and then I have to edit to remove them. (P.S., I'll be back in a few days to edit again when the next one shows up.)

This message was edited Nov 8, 2008 1:36 AM

Oh ... cute as a button!!

and Jerry is a she also??

amazing how so many kits are female.

Terese,

I really don't know for sure, but after seeing that most of them turned out to be females last year I figured odds are 'he' is a she. It seems to make sense that nature might opt to turn out more she's than he's. After I got them all wrong last year, I've given up on trying to sort out the he's from the she's before puberty.

Glad you enjoyed the pic. He or she is quite adorable and is finally starting to come a bit closer to me even away from the crowd. I just love how she stood there waiting to have her picture taken - and to get some cake.

Here is the long shot on that one. Is she cute or what - like a little teddy bear?

She used to do this while standing way back behind the group of her siblings to get attention, but now she just knows that standing up gets her a treat.

Here is somebody, one of Heidi's kits I think, eating cake. With all of the gazillions of kits this summer I have almost completely lost track of who is who. I can mostly only tell the kits by their mothers.

I read somewhere that Raccoons are in the Panda family .... you can just see it in her face.

How absolutely adorable.... she's probably saying... "just toss that yummy cake, will ya??"

amazing how easily they learn what gegts them yummies... or is it, how quickly you are trained to toss them. *wink*

they are probably thinking... OH, I bet if I do cute stuff, the human will toss me some thing sweet.

they are intellegent , aren't they??

oh my ... are they getting BIG!

I'm afraid things have been a bit 'boring' the past few days. Only Heidi and Blondie and their kits are showing up now. Every now and then Reba and her kits will sneak by after the other leave, and that's it. No sign of Cissy or Mink or Dennis or Fraidy or even Trouble.

The few who are there seem very focused on eating and lately seem mostly interested in cat food. For the past week or so they have walked past more treats than they have eaten. They seem to be eating with purpose now as if maybe they expect a colder winter or something. They also seem oddly on edge right now. They don't seem to be afraid of me but on edge about something in the forest - possibly on lookout for the ones who have been banned from the buffet, keeping a close eye and ear out to catch interlopers before they cross the fence.

The one bit of good news is that I seem to be cured of whatever ailed me. I say that because as of yesterday Heidi stopped rushing over to sniff me. Now everything is back to normal. I figure that means that for now at least I've been given a certificate of good health and released from Dr's care.

I'm glad that Heidi took care of the crowd, but I must say that I wish she had stopped short of removing all of my best 'pals'. Lately we are down to the ones who don't 'play' with me. Bummer.

Here is one of Blondie's kits climbing on the edge of the pool

LOL, Terese,

It is surely the latter - I am finally learning to toss cake on command!

Yes, they are almost as big as the adults now, most of them, that is. And, yes, they are very smart in deed.

Since the visitors are now limited to those who mostly ignore me, I didn't get a lot of great pics tonight. Here is one of the kits going after a mm in the pool. I can't see what I'm shooting out there in the dark. Occasionally, as with this image, I zoom to far and miss 1/2 the shot.

Here is one of the kits eating a marshmallow. In the background is a green 'bottle'. That is or rather was my insect repellent. One of the little rascals stole it from my bag. You really have to watch them. They will pilfer just about anything, little scoundrels.

Cheryl, I also have the "bad" habit of defying accepted common knowledge; probably just stubborn on my part, but I almost always try alternatives. And oh boy do I sometimes create a mess or get in trouble with that habit; but sometimes you discover a new approach that's really great. Had to laugh at your oven as storage facility; my mother has done just that since moving from their house to a small retirement apartment. Open her oven, and you find pots and pans, baking sheets, all kinds of stuff; works for her, why not for you?

The photos are great, as always, and the kits are definitely looking like preteens now instead of babies. And Jerry is just too cute - what a great face.

Great pic of Jerry. Look at all that fur. Wish I had all that fur covering me this morning. It amazing when ya think about it how actually alot of racoons have all differnt little tricks they do and use to get your attention for the treats. Climbers, sneakers, leg touchers, LOL

I think that we gonan have an early winter and maybe a cold one. Bet the others that smarter are eating and hiding food for winter and making some sturdy nests. Where do they spend the winters anyways. Up in trees or in the ground? I just realized I don't even know.

Also leanred somethign new the other day too, that squireels shouldn't be feed raw peanuts and wonder if it the same for racoons. It peanut harvest time here and they saw that there somethign in the raw peanuts that causes the squirrels body to be depleted of nutrients that eventually kills them.

Thanks, Ruth,

Glad you enjoyed the pics.

I find that I just have to question some of that 'common knowledge' just to see if I'm just doing things because everybody else does or whether there really is a good reason to do them - and, yes, I get myself into lots of humorous situations that way and usually wind up proving the benefit of common knowledge. As for your mom, sounds like you got that behavior naturally.

starlight,

I will have to check on the raw peanut issue. Sure wouldn't want to give them anything harmful. I could easily get roasted peanuts instead. Just though raw ones would be better, more natural. I think they seem to like the raw ones better, also. I should mention though that these are not 'green', raw peanuts just as the come from the ground. I tried those once last year and was surprised to find that the raccoon would not have anything to do with them, wouldn't even take them from my hand or pic them up from the ground. The ones I use are dried, raw peanuts. Since the raccoons wouldn't eat the green ones, I suspect there is something different about the two.

Glad you enjoyed the pic of Jerry. I was so happy to finally get a good shot of him standing up. Yes, they do have a variety of different ways of asking for treats and of getting my attention. I may have forgotten to mention previously but Mink had a really cute way of getting my attention, too. If there wasn't a crowd around me, she would walk up in front of me and stand up at my knee as some of the others have done in the past. When there were lots of other raccoon around and in front of me such that Mink cannot safely get to me that way, she will quietly walk around behind me, sit at my back, right side and reach up to gently rest her paws on my hip/waist area. I always found that so very adorable. The minute I felt her little paws come to rest on my hip I would always know it was she and would reach around to hand her a treat. Mink's method of getting my attention brings up another point about behavior that being the extent to which kit behavior seems to mimic that of the parent in many cases. Cissy, Mink's mom, was always very gentle and well mannered as well as very tame and trusting. It is interesting to note how Mink displayed similar behavior. (Oh, I sure miss little Minky now.)

I'm not sure about the nest question. Maybe Ruth or someone else with knowledge of these matters will way in on that question. From what I read once it seems like the winter home varies between males and females and perhaps more importantly according to what is available. I believe it indicated that some use dens, like maybe underground or in logs or stumps or whatever they can find or make, while others make homes in trees. From my bench in the backyard back near the forest edge, I can see (in daylight that is) a couple of spots up high in the trees a little farther back in the forest where the raccoons appear to have made beds or homes of sorts in the 'crotch' of a tree or limb somewhere. The ones I see are frequently at points in the trees where a large, nearly horizontal section of limb or trunk, something maybe 10-12in or more in diameter, rests against another limb or trunk perhaps from a neighboring tree. The spot where the two meet makes a nice, solid, safe shelf with one limb/trunk serving as a floor and the other as a back wall for added warmth and safety. At such points in the trees I see a collection of dead plant degree, pine straw, leaves, etc tucked into the crevices as if to make a warm and comfy bed. In the past I have seen some of the raccoons hang out in these tree houses while waiting for dinner. Somewhere back in the thread trail there is a pic of Fraidy up in one of these high rise homes. (that pic was taken in summer though, i think)

Not related to raccoons but yet another, much, much (as in moments ago) more recent example of the stupid things I will do: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/914696/

I'm not proud of this one, but I must say that I am amazed at my creativity. It almost makes me laugh at concerns about what a raccoon might do to harm the house if he/she got inside.

Yep, that th ekind I talking about the green raw peanut gcoming straight from the ground. I know roasted ok for them. Glad to hear that they instinctly know that they not good. Seems squirrels don't.

They digging raw peants up here and thought sicne they so plentiful here now that would get some for the gang and then foudn out they posion to them.

Thank you for taking time out to explain to me about their winter homes. Learned somethign new today. Though it sems evryday a discovery when reading along with your journey.

LOl.. I hate to think of the numebr of messes I have made or perdiciments I have gotten myself into thinking I knew a short cut or a better way. My worst moment was when I wanted to put a potholder on the table to router out a piece of wood and was told not to use it and went ahead and did and ended up with potholder fluff in gazzilions of pieces all over the place and thought I had it all cleaned up and my disater hidden only to find out I missed a few peices and was caught out wiht the remark, Ya tried the potholder anyways didn't ya. But I was so sure it would work. Wrong. Life is an adventure , sometimes ya get good results and sometimes ya don't but it can be fun sometimes learning.

As you may have noticed, it is time for the DG photo contest again. Based on some of your comment last year, I am considering whether to enter a couple of pics of the raccoons. DG has lots of great photographers and the wildlife catagory (which includes birds) should be a tough one. As the rules state that one can only submit 2 photos per catagory, I need to find my best 2 raccoon photos. Would any of you like to suggest your favorites? I figure a few of those pics of little Rupert are bound to be on the list along with, maybe, the pic of Diva doing marshmallows. Any ideas? I also need to go back to the thread from last year around the time the winners were being announced where we discussed this and many of you gave your suggestions.

LOL, starlight

It is comforting to know that I am not alone in doing these kooky things. (I would have had to try that potholder, too. Always hilarious when we think we have cleaned up all of the evidence and then some tiny spot we missed surfaces to get us 'busted'. )

[i've had this thread open for hours so i didnt lose it.]

it will take some time - but i'll go back thru many of the images and find some really good one, post the link - then you can see what ya think.

I've got seed gathering to do before the sun goes down, so i wont get to this til later.

T.

Thanks, Terese!

Swear I posted here earlier...anyhoo, those such cute pics of Jerry! Favorite pics, man we need them all in one place to look at them...hmmm

thank you, nanny

sometimes when I think I posted something but it doesn't show up i find that I did the 'preview' but did not 'send'. we do have some groups of more or less favorite pics tagged. later I'll look for some of those tags and post them.

Given nanny's suggestion that we keep all those pics (or links) in one place where we can find them again and again, I started a seperate thread for links to our favorite pics. To get things started, I started the thread with links to some of my tags of various pics of the gang: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/914841/

My thinking is that maybe we can corral all those links to and discussions of favorite pics in the one thread where we will all be able to find them again easily.

Uggg - i'm beat... i'll have to work on it another day.

Terese, thanks a lot for all that you did today!

Re raccoon nesting sites. In the days of yore, before our woodlands and properties were "managed" by humans, the raccoons' natural nest was in tree hollows; and they're delighted to still use these when we leave the dead tree stand to provide food and shelter for wildlife, its natural role. Since tree hollows are darn hard to find these days, the raccoons sometimes build their own shelter in trees, as Cheryl described. Or they make do with a variety of human structures: rafters in garages and barns, attics, chimneys, etc. And then of course they get in trouble with the homeowner for daring to trespass on our living space. As a species, we humans are just not very good at living in harmony with nature, or at sharing the planet.

The chili story is purely hilarious; I'll be chuckling over that one for a while. Of course those situations are no fun at all when they happen to you. Years ago, my other half got totally ticked off at a squeeze bottle of catsup that wouldn't dispense; pitched it across the kitchen; of course the lid came off mid-pitch. I'm STILL finding random catsup splatters every time I clean the kitchen; every time I think I've found them all, I find I was yet again mistaken. It blends so well with the red fire extinguisher, for example... In retrospect I can laugh at it, but that took a while.

Interesting how similar Mink's personality is to Cissy's. We can only be grateful that the same was not true of Rupert and Diva...

I'd really find it hard to pick one or two favorites of your photos. Diva with marshmallow was a true classic, and there are so many great baby portraits.

Just love the picture of Jerry - what a little sweetie!

OMG I laughed so hard at your chili story. You are such a great story teller!

Oh my. I know this a bit off topic but am sitting here just cracking up over the ketchup story . It brought back instant memories of when I was a waitress. I came out with plates all loaded up my arms and hands to deliver to a table. The table behind the guy was having fits trying to get the ketchup to come out of a new bottle. I listened as he crumbled and looked his way to see him beating on the bottom of it and shaking it.

Well the ketchup finally came out. Some of it salied to the table behind I was serving and landed dquare in the middle of the balding gentlemen at the table. There I am standing with my arms full and evidently this guy did not feel the mess on his head . This ketchup was so thick it just sat there. I served everybody food and nobody at the table said a word. I waited and waited, everybody acted like normal. Finally I had to whisper in his ear that he might want to take a trip to the mens room. I sorry but I had to go back into the kichen and laughed til the tears ran watching this guy walk the length of the restraunt with a giant blob of ketchup piled on his noggen.

OMYGOSH!!!!!! LOL

OMG Starlight, that was soooo funny. Poor old guy. I bet you were not the only one crying though.........

Starlight, that's hilarious; I can just picture it-
Ruth

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TETLEYTUNA !!!! I just noticed it on the homepage--hope you do something special just for you!
Love the funny stories about the ketchup on the bald man's head, the potholder fluff, Heidi's sniffing Cheryl's posterior, etc. !!

Thanks KyWoods! Had to work today but Hubby put a bouquet of flowers on the steering wheel of the car this morning.

Awwww, that's so sweet!

tetley -- that is very sweet.

it's funny --- just yesterday my son asked me "Does dad ever buy you flowers?"
both my boys have GF's that love/expect flowers.

and i told him ,"Only once ... my 20th Bday when he had to break a date to take me out to dinner"
He was working on call, and had to go to work. [no cell phones back in the day]

any time i want flowers, i just buy them myself, and tell him, Thanks for the Flowers.

Hi Everyone,

I've been struggling for 10 min or so trying to compose a single response. Seems I took benedryl a bit earlier for my allergies and am now struggling to stay awake. I'm just going to have to wait another day to respond to posts. I'm fading fast now...

I did, however, want to share with you one incredible thing I still can't believe I witnessed tonight. It was very late (around 10:45PM) when I got out there to feed them. I figured no one would be around and had planned to put the food out and leave. Still, having learned from prior experience to be prepared, I took my goody bag with me just in case.

Heidi and her kits must have been waiting in the branches of the Heidi tree as they came running down the fence as soon as I got back there. Within minutes the yard was full of raccoons and I was passing out peanuts and other misc leftover treats. In addition to the usual (Heidi, Blondie, and their kits), Trouble, Mink, Dennis, and Dennis' kits made appearances.

One of Heidi's kits was in the pool fishing out peanuts I had thrown there for him. One of Dennis' much smaller kits was at one side of the pool (but outside) trying to get a drink of water and a chance to fish out a few of those peanuts. I had, btw, tossed lots of peanuts back there to Dennis' kits as soon as they arrived, but this little fella was determined to eat peanuts from the pool - you know how raccoons in general and kits in particular love to eat things from the water. Heidi's kit had already done a fair amount of posturing and growling in his effort to tell Dennis' kit to stay away for his pool. This standoff over pool resources went on for a while during which Dennis' kit remained at the edge of the pool periodically reaching over the rim to snatch a peanut floating by while Heidi's kit remained in the pool fishing for peanuts and fussing at the transgressor. Finally, having had enough of other kit's determination to use the pool, Heidi's kit flew into a rage and jumped over the side of the pool on top of Dennis' much smaller kit - and suddenly 'it was on'. The two kits were instantly transformed into a snarling mass of tumbling, thrashing fur, not unlike the classic cartoon fighting blob with arms and legs protruding in all directions. This was not the usual quick slap and bite bluff. This snarling fighting match went on way too long. Just as I was about to intervene, an adult raccoon appeared as if from out of nowhere. Suddenly, the fight was suspended and Dennis' kit sat back looking a bit dazed as Heidi's kit stood face to face with the adult who had broken up the frey. The two, Heidi's kit and the adult, stood for a second or so facing each other down before each walked away in different directions. It was only then that I realized in total amazement that the adult was Dennis.

She may be ditsy and spacey. She may not be all that smart. She may not be our idea of the perfect mom, but when her kit needed her help, she was right there in a second. And don't forget, Heidi's kits are almost full size now and have been trained by the best. Dennis is clearly not the best fighter, but she did jump into the fray when her baby was threatened. Say what you will about Dennis. I know she hasn't been the best mom, but tonight I was quite unexpectedly proud of her. She may never be as good a mom as Heidi, but who knows maybe in time she will learn to be a pretty good mom in her own way.

After Dennis broke up the fight, both kits went their own way, and the pool sat empty - or maybe Dennis them if they couldn't play nice with their 'toys' they couldn't play with them at all.

Wow: good for Dennis! I'm surprised Heidi didn't break up that fight; she's usually right on anyone who transgresses, and beating up a smaller kit is pretty lousy. I know it was her own kit being a bully, but still...

Hi Ruth,

Heidi had already left for the evening. The kits tend to stay longer than she does. Now that they are older, she feels safe letting them stay behind as long as they like. I guess they know where to find her or how to get home. As a result, when the war broke out, aside from Blondie who apparently felt is wasn't her problem, Dennis was the closest thing to adult supervision available.

Cheryl -- that is just awesome. Mom to the rescue. Too bad Dennis' lil kit never made it into the pool though.
hopefully another day.