Cute raccoon pics

[Lsbcal]

I was looking out to our backyard towards evening and saw a Mom raccoon with her 4 pups. Mom saw me and decided to climb over the "see through" fence towards the open space.

The pups were busy trying to get up a tree and figure out how to follow her. But the tree did not get them over the fence. Three of them finally figured it out and made it over the fence but one was left clueless on our side. Mom took off with the 3 but then figured out that the last one was having a tough time. Here is a pic of her climbing back to rescue the one on our side of the fence (note one pup under her hind feet on her side of the fence):




And here is a picture of the reunion. All the pups are now together.



The whole family then went out into the open space.

[MissMolly]

So cute

[RunningBum]

Cute, until the little varmints tear a hole in your screen and get into your house. I was lucky to have heard them both times and they left with very little damage. I was also lucky in that other neighbors have had bears get in, and they aren't quite as good about finding their way back out, and can cause a lot more problems. Security is a lot tighter at the castle now. No accessible windows are left open after dark anymore.

[Lsbcal]

I think they were hanging out temporarily under our deck. It was blocked up until recently when the deck was repainted.

Raccoons been around here for many years and no problems for us. But we don't leave pet or human food about or other temptations. Have to learn to live with some of nature I guess.

[Just_Steve]

Yuk, just more tick carrying Lyme disease incubators.

[Lsbcal]

Around here (Northern California) the lizards do a job on the ticks. Or so I've read.

[eytonxav]

When I was younger, I worked as a security guard in a gated community that had a club house. Raccoons infested the attic in the club house. What a racket they would make late at night, constantly fighting with each other.

[ivinsfan]

Cute raccoon? that's an oxymoron out in farm country. I can't list all the ways that isn't true. Ever seen a family eat an entire bag of 300 dollar seed corn? How about dig up your garden or dig the flowers right out of your planter? Fight with your cats? They will even take on a dog.

They love garages and outbuildings and yes, they will enter your house,we have no screens on any of our doors for exactly this reason.

[Bestwifeever]

Confession: I'm askeered of raccoons. And possums. And skunks. But the raccoon fam photo is very cute and I'm glad mama came back for the slowpoke!

[Corporateburnout]

They never leave their pups behind. Some years ago a mother racoon delivered babies inside our chimney and when we flushed her out (not realizing she had babies in there) and installed a cap on the chimney she was back the next night, removed the cap and entered again. It took a professional exterminator to get her and the pups out. A more robust cap was installed by the exterminator and we never had a problem again for the years we lived in the house.

[Nemo2]

Living in the Beach area in Toronto in the 1970s, we had a house with one of those old triangle shaped, laddered, metal TV antennas.

People next door had coons in the attic.......late one summer night there's a noise on the antenna......flung open the drapes and a family of coons, climbing downwards, froze on the spot.

Went downstairs, opened the sliding door to the deck......mom, and all but one of the cubs had melded into the night. That one had somehow gotten under the deck, (which was cut around the antenna), and I could hear it climbing up from ground level, bumping its head on the underside of the deck, climbing back down.....rinse & repeat.

The whole time mom is whistling for it from the darkness.

I went back inside and left her to sort it out.

[Koolau]

First story is about a "family" that came into the garage during the early evening (apparently). I of course shut the door for the night and by morning, the varmints had torn out all the wiring and trip sensor for the garage door. Why they did that rather than trying to dig a hole through the door or walls, I do not know. They were probably just PO'd that I had locked them in and this was their revenge. In any case, that was a hundred dollars (plus) down the drain for the overhead door co. to fix.

Second story, DW came in one early evening from the garage (now, more or less varmint proofed) but found a "family" eating from the cat's dish in the utility room. She let out a scream that brought the neighbors from both adjacent houses. The momma waddled through the family room to the cat door to the screen porch and on out to the cat door out to the deck. Seemed very routine for her and the kids. We then had to secure the cat door whenever we would not be around for a while - cat was not too keen on this turn of events, but she had simply watched the whole thing happen and hadn't lifted a paw. Serves her right!

[Major Tom]

I don't know a whole lot about raccoons, except that they have a presence and intelligence which I really like. There seem to be quite a few here in the SF East Bay, and I've come face to face with them on a number of occasions. Invariably, they stop dead in their tracks and engage in a staring match with me. These little critters don't seem to be that scared of people. I guess they see a lot of them, living in a built-up urban area.

Thanks for posting these photos Lsbcal. Love 'em!

[Corporateburnout]

Not sure if they have raccoons in Guatemala but our night shift security guard back in the work days who is from there was surprised that the "cat with beautiful rings around the eyes" would not leave when he attempted to chase it away and was hissing and growling at him.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corporateburnout Not sure if they have raccoons in Guatemala but our night shift security guard back in the work days who is from there was surprised that the "cat with beautiful rings around the eyes" would not leave when he attempted to chase it away and was hissing at him.

A Coati?

[ivinsfan]

Apparently you can get "chip enabled" dog or cat doors now, your pet wears the chip on it's collar and nothing else can enter. You won't find any regular dog or cat doors out in the country either!

[daylatedollarshort]

Great pics! Thanks for posting. We had baby foxes in our yard this year and it was a real treat.

[cantlogin]

Nice story.
Thanks for the pictures.

[6miths]

It has been Wild Kingdom at our house recently. Other night dog was very upset when a racoon tried to make off with her bone which was out thawing on the patio table. Red squirrel in the house, sprawled out on the top of the flat screen TV, bat flying around the family room, family of red-tailed hawks screeching up a storm in the backyard - looking for the rabbits which are plentiful this year. This is on top of the usual plethora of birds, deer, skunks, chipmunks, squirrels, mice and other unmentionables out there. Apparently there are a few coyotes in the area but not nearly enough it seems! We are very lucky to have them all!

[Lsbcal]

It does sound very wild around the 6miths' homestead.

We have plenty of deer activity. The Mom's and fauns hang out in our front yard and look longingly at our see-through fenced backyard. I find lots of inverted rounded areas where they have bedded down for the night in our bark areas. On cool nights they might like the gravel areas. There are not too many choices for garden plants in the front because of the deer and the dry weather. Great for oaks though.

Then there are the wild turkeys, lizards, skinks, and skunks. The squirrels haven't been evident yet, but I'm guessing they are waiting for an acorn crop in the fall. Occasionally we see a fox. Some neighborhood cats seem to have eluded the foxes over the years.

One feral black and white female cat appeared a couple year's ago. Our neighbors had it fixed and they feed it. It might be keeping our rodent population in check. Hope the lizards are OK with it.