Great Skies for Kites and Kayaks Everywhere

27 February 202327 February 2023

2023-02-25 Digging Out the Den, and Evicting Kits

A snow storm has left the den buried.

A raccoon, probably one of Tailey’s kits, comes to the den, but leaves after finding it inaccessible.

Tailey comes and digs out the entrance to the den.

As Tailey finishes, a raccoon crosses the fence from the field. It pauses, then runs off as Tailey chases it.

Three minutes later, a raccoon enters the den. After ten seconds, it tries to flee but Tailey seems to have a grip on its tail. After breaking free, the raccoon exits around the side of the larger shed.

17 minutes later, a raccoon is pushed out the entrance by Tailey, who backs out of the den tail-first. With both raccoons out of the den, Tailey puts her back to the other raccoon and walks backwards, driving the raccoon away. The evicted raccoon climbs the tires and exits to the field.

After returning to the den entrance, Tailey watches for six minutes, sometimes standing on her hind legs to look in the distance, before entering the den and staying put until nighttime.

26 February 2023

2023-02-23 Wounded Raccoon

A snowstorm left over a foot of snow on the ground, burying the entrance to the raccoon den.

A raccoon enters, probably from the field.

The raccoon goes to the den, but finds the entrance buried.

As the raccoon goes to the tire tunnel, it doesn’t use its front left foot. Its tail is also bent, possibly indicating it has been in fights with other raccoons.

The raccoon probably returned over the fence to the field.

13 February 202313 February 2023

2023-02-11 Stray Cat

A stray cat checks out the house I built for the raccoons, but seems to find it similarly inadequate.

The cat then approaches the garage, but is sent away by Pippen (our resident stray cat.)

The cat checks out the tires and large shed.

The cat pokes its head under the smaller shed, but mat least one raccoon is in the den.

The cat explores the tire tunnel.

One last check of the raccoon den . . .

Finally giving up, the cat passes into the field. This is the first cat I’ve seen actually climb the fence, rather than jumping.

12 February 202312 February 2023

2024-02-11 Rocky Returns Late

Rocky returns after sunrise, and goes under the larger shed.

After coming out from the larger shed, Rocky checks the den under the other shed.

Rocky then crosses back into the field, probably staying in some other den for the day.

11 February 202311 February 2023

2023-02-09 Corn Dog

Tailey retrieves an unwanted corn dog from a house I built for the raccoons, but they don’t use.

While Tailey eats the corn dog on top of the tires, Rocket comes to investigate.

Rocky hunts for the source of the corn dog, hoping to find one.

After Tailey leaves, Rocky and a third raccoon fight over the stick.

18 July 202218 July 2022

Watermelon

We had some less than great watermelon no one wanted. Tailey ate most of our, but left some prices behind.

8 June 20228 June 2022

Old Bread by Daylight

Tailey is out early looking for food while her kits are still asleep in the den. I left four slices of old bread for her by the fence.

After grabbing the first slice, she takes it into the field. This requires a bit of parkour as she tries to go under the fence and over a log someone put on the other side to block the opening.

For the next slice of bread, she stays on this side of the fence.

7 June 2022

Baby Raccoon in Den Entrance

While Tailey is outside looking for food, a baby raccoon appears briefly in the den entrance.

7 June 2022

Baby Raccoons Outside the Den

Tailey leaves the den.

13 minutes later, two baby raccoons are fully out of the den. Tailey stands up, possibly to look for dangers. After a third kit appears, Tailey finally grabs one and drags it back into the den.