I had just headed out with my little dog on our evening walk. I heard a bit of commotion and rustling off to my left in the woods. I first spotted a big crow perched in the tree right in front of us. I looked just a little to the left of the crow and saw (barely) this cute little masked face looking back at me!
I tried to get in a bit closer to get a better view. I think it may have been a female but I am not sure.
Of course every time I moved it went a bit further up the tree. I didn't want to frighten it any more than I already had. So one more quick shot and then prceeded on with our walk and let the raccoon be and continue on with its agenda.
Quite the "peek-a-boo" picture. Great shot.
What are all those green things on the tree? We don't have any of those yet!
LOL!!!! They just appeared magically overnight last week!!! Some are fully leafed out and others still working on it.
Good eyes nanny!! Very cute!
What a little sweetie. Love the pics, nanny!
Thanks!
Ah what a sneak, so cute.
So adorable!!! The only time I see raccoons at the ranch is on the game cameras - and they only show up at night. That one is sooo cute peeking out between the leaves. Thanks for sharing!!!
~ Cat
What fun to add to your day while walking your dog. I just love the look of that little face playing peek -a-boo with you and your doggie. That second and third picture would make a great cover on a greeting card. I'm tring to think of a greeting to go with it but my brain just isn't functioning well this early........o.k. its not THAT early but my brain doesn't wake up til noon!
Judy
Funny thing...was out at the ranch yesterday and found this little bugger up a tree. Have no idea where the mama was at...but after a couple of hours I went back to see if it was still up the tree and couldn't find it - guess it climbed down and scampered into the woods.
~ Cat
ps...not as cute as that racoon...and bottom line is...a 'possum is a 'possum - nothing going to change that!!!
This message was edited May 10, 2009 10:50 AM
Aw I think that little fella is just adorable! Think of all the wonderful sights (and critters)we miss by looking straight ahead when we walk through the woods. I would treasure that picture,a rare sighting I am sure.
Judy
Oh Cat, your little possum is adorable!! Hope it got home safe.
Cute little baby Possum, I only get to see them in pictures.
OMG! Yes, that little baby opossum is just a cute as he can be!
When I 1st saw the pic, I was wondering what kind of adorable animal that was. I thought it was something specific to the SW since I had certainly never seen anything that cute around here. Even when I 1st read that it was an opossum, I couldn't believe it. I was looking around for another picture, the one of the baby opossum
Guess all baby animals are cuties. Too bad some of them grow up to be uuuuhhhhg-ly!!! :o)
At least Nanny's raccoon will stay cute through adulthood!!!
Here's another photo of the baby 'possum...only as cute as that lasts.
~ Cat
I think all possums are ugly. But after being on DG for a couple years and learning about them, I have a new respect for them.
They are a pretty amazing animal and pretty good for the enviorment.
I have a few that raid my backyard buffet from time to time when the raccoons allow it. I've learned to appreciate the little fellas. Two of the three that come to my yard are 'runts' and are almost solid white having only a tiny bit of light grey here and there. I named one of the Snowball. In the dark he stands out like a sore thumb (being white) which can't be a good thing in the wild. Anyhow, they have become semi-comfortable around me, and I have learned to semi-like them.
I don't like them at all...cute or not. Between them, the grackles and the woodpeckers my tangerines, oranges and grapefruits take a beating. Of course, having one scare the willies out of my mom doesn't help. Turns out she was staying with me while she was recuperating from foot surgery and decided to hobble around on one leg and sweep the living room while I was at work. When she moved a video tape shelf she saw a gray ball of fur behind it and thought it was one of the dog toys so she pushed it out of the way with the broom.
She nearly broke her other leg backing up when it started to move!!! Of course, she then realized what it was and beat it silly with the broom and pushed it out the doggy door with the broom.
Guess it either got in through the doggy door or one of the dogs caught it and brought it inside.
~ Cat
Cat,
I'm sure that wasn't very funny at the moment, but it sure makes for a funny story now. Raccoons are known to come in through pet doors, so it figures that an opossum might try the same stunt.
As for the bird food, I can totally relate. Between them the oppossums and raccoons have destroyed and carted away more bird feeders, thistle socks, suet cages, and hummingbird feeders than I care to count. In so doing they have managed to run off my wood pecker, hummingbirds, and countless song birds mostly because, for the moment, I've thrown in my seed scoop, waved the white flag and given up the fight with them over these things.
Edited because, oops, last night I had one of those embarrassing moments during which I posted content here which was intended for another thread. While it is my personal practice to never remove content (because I feel that conversation should not be altered after the fact), I'm making an exception this time, especially since the content that was here (before I edited in out) made absolutely no sense at all in the context of this thread.
Nanny, I totally apologize. Thank you very much for letting me know about this faux pas.
This message was edited May 19, 2009 11:10 PM
SO good to hear that Fraidy is still around!!
But hmmm... did you mean to put this on your thread?? lol
Not that I mind... :)
OMG! Nanny,
I am SO embarrassed! ROTFLOL! I have always known I was going to do that sooner or later though. Big oops! Yes, I absolutely intended to put it on my thread. I guess that explains why the folks over there didn't seem to realize that Fraidy was doing so much better. I'll move it right now. (she says as she back away slowly, head down, shoulders drawn up high around her ears, hand cupped over her eyes in an attempt to hide...)
:o) too funny Scutler. So you've created a cookie monster!!! Don't worry...the deer get all the house scraps...which sometimes includes cereal and stale cookies or donuts :o)
~ Cat
Cat,
Yes, I'm afraid I have created a few of those cookie monsters now. Bottom line, after years of loosing the battle to keep the little scoundrels away from the bird feeders, I finally gave up and decided to feed raccoons instead. I'm sure it's not for everyone, but so far, at least, it works for me.
Thanks for helping to lighten the atmosphere, so I don't feel quite so embarrassed. LOL.
(backing slowly slowly out of the room now, because I really don't want to get OT here and start hi-jacking threads...)
Oh...hijack away!! :)
Last night I was on the phone with my youngest GD...anyway I am watching out the back door. The lady across the road from the back of us takes pity on all the cats that are let loose and puts food out for them. Naturally this attracts raccoons also.
Black&White pregnant momma kitty comes around from the side of the house, just as a raccoon is heading from the front around to the side... the both scared each other and jumped....and then each just continued on their way!!
I thought that was a very interesting observation...not what I would have expected at all!
Nanny,
In general, I find that the raccoons in my yard take a definite live and let live approach to other species. Be it dog, cat, or oppossum, they don't bother it unless it bothers them 1st. When my dog Widget was a puppy, he didn't know he was supposed to dislike or fear the raccoons, so he would just ignore them - and they ignored him. The trouble between them started when Widget got old enough to start defending his territory and trying to chase them off. By the same token, I see the raccoons eat side by side with the opossums all of the time.
ARGGGGGHHH!!! I was out of town for a couple of days and got back in today. You're not going to believe was I found inside my house today! Well, let me rephrase that - what I smelled when I entered the house - A DEAD 'POSSUM!!! UGH!!!!! Dratted terrier must have caught and killed it and brought it in through the doggy door! UGHHHH!!! House reeks!!! EWEEEEEEEEEEE!!! HACK! HACK! The dang dog left it in the guest room on the sofa. At least I had the sofa covered with a doggy blanket since the dogs like to lay there and look out the window.
I cleaned up the place, threw the dead varmit over the back fence and sprayed lots of lysol and air freshener throughout the house and tossed the doggy blanket into the washer! UGH! Just sitting here remembering that churns my stomach!
~ Cat
ps...I learned just last week (when I was out of town and returned to find a dead rat on the living room floor) to not through a dead animal into the outside trash bin - when I had to add more trash and opened the lid I nearly fell over from the stench!!!
Yes, last week the dog killed a rat and brought it inside the doggy door - at least I'd like to think that and not think that a rat actually got in through the doggy door!
Am going to have to set some traps out in the back yard to catch those varmits. I think the fruit trees are attracting them.
This message was edited May 22, 2009 9:14 PM
OH MY!
Ewwwww......gagging here!!!
Man with all the critters you have there I would be afraid to have a doggy door! LOL
Oh, how horrible. It may have been the dog, Cat, but small animals like opossums and raccoons are know to come in through doggy doors. They smell the food inside, find the opening, and in the come. I can't have a doggy door for that very reason. My house would be full of raccoons in no time.
Sorry to hear about the stench. Is the weather such that you can open the windows and let it air out for a few days? That would probably do more good than anyting.
I had to drive out to the ranch today so I closed all the bedroom, bath and kitchen doors. The dogs had access only to the living room area...so if they brought anything from the patio doggy door it wouldn't dirty up the rest of the house. It was much to hot to open the windows to air out the house - but the lysol and other air fresheners did the trick.
Might be that the critter was slinking along the patio porch wall and found the doggy door and crawled through it. Either way that terrier is a much better than a feline mouser at catching varmits. :o)
Will say if the three dogs are sleeping in their beds in my bedroom at night and I hear the doggy door flap - am going to FREAKKKK!!! :o)
~ Cat
Cat,
One of my favorite youtube videos is one where a woman hears something at the doggy door and goes in with her camcorder to catch it. You see the flap open and a raccoon sticks his head in and looks around then a raccoon arm comes in through the flap, grabs the door mat and tries to take it out through the hole. The head and arm back out of the doggy door but the raccoon drops the mat. The flap closes. Then a moment later the arm shoots back through the flap, feels around in the dark, grabs the mat and yanks it through the door. LOL. That is so cute. If you haven't seen it you really should.
Whoa stinky. but glad, you were able to cut that smell, out of the house.
I had the smell of a skunk last week. Something got sprayed by the foundation, on the side of the house. I could smell it from my laundry room. But the downstairs bedroom door was closed, and when I open it, the smell was overwhelming, it was as if, it had sprayed inside that room. Worst thing was, I was expecting company, over last weekend, and that was their room. I did manage to clear the smell out, by the weekend.
My cat drags in, live chipmunks and squirrels, through the cat door. They are not easy to catch when inside, to many nook and cranny to hide in.
Am thinking I saw something like that but I thought it was on one of those tv shows...or perhaps it was youtube - either way I remember it was funny!!!!
Chipmunks and squirrels...would hate to live in a house with my dog and burn_2007's cat!!! Can you imagine the menagerie of critters!!!
Ah...skunks. Grew up at the ranch where skunks and dog had run-ins frequently - and there was always some part of the house or yard that got sprayed - and back then we didn't have air conditioners and everyone slept with the windows opened. The stench of that was so strong it would just about make you puke!
However...on a strange note - when I moved to the city - never did smell a skunk there - but when I'd go on a road trip and get a whiff of one I'd get homesick from the smell :o) Even now I still get warm fuzzy memories of growing up on the ranch when I smell a skunk - weird, I know!!! :o)
~ Cat
