Month: January 2022

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Target Waiting in Tires

Widey tried to steal food from Target in the garage, then both raccoons returned to the den.  Five minutes later, Widey somehow sneaked out of the den and is back in the garage looking for leftovers.

Meanwhile, Target leaves the den.

And goes into a row of tires stacked against the fence.

Target returns the entrance of the tire tunnel . . . and waits.  From this vantage point, Target can watch the windows along the back of our house and for vehicles entering or leaving the garage.  Target is probably waiting for the perfect moment to go check the garage.

Meanwhile, Widey is still in the garage looking for food.

Target watches from the tires while Widey returns to the den.

Target then climbs on top of the tires, perhaps for a better vantage point.

And comes back down again.

Target finally leaves the tires and goes around the side of the shed.

Target enters the garage through the cat door.

And looks for leftovers on the garage stairs, except Widey has probably eaten anything.

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Widey vs Target and Pippen

I often see racoons traveling in pairs, but that doesn’t mean they’re working cooperatively.  Sometimes one raccoon follows another in hopes of getting some of the leftovers.

Widey carefully comes up the garage steps, where Pippen, a 15-pound stray cat who adopted us, is eating a handful of cat food in a metal dish.  Pippen objects to the raccoon’s presence, so Widey hastily retreats.

Widey pauses before exiting the garage, then decides instead to lurk in the shadows.

Widey ventures back up the stairs.  Pippen has finished eating, but is nearby, so Widey retreats again.  Moments later, Target rushes to the top of the stairs and starts eating cat food.  While Target is hogging the food, Widey sneaks up and tries to check an empty dish on the stairs.  Target responds by trying to steal the dish, but instead knocks everything over.  Hearing a loud noise, I come in and remove the dishes.  (Sadly, there’s no sound.  The dishes hit the railing, which was very loud.)

Target returns less than a minute later and starts cleaning up the bit of cat food spilled on the stairs.  Widey looks for any food that spilled onto the garage floor, then climbs through the railing as Target leaves and looks for leftovers on the stairs.

Target returns the neighbor’s shed.

Followed shortly by Widey.

Both racoons return to the den as if they weren’t just fighting over food.

(To Be Continued . . .)

 

 

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Licking Ice

It’s been cold, so the water I put in a dish by the fence has mostly frozen.  We’ll call the raccoon in this video Target, because of the nicely even rings at the end of its tail, but I’m not positive this is the only raccoon with that design on its tail.  Anyway, Target starts by drinking a small pool of water on the low end of the dish.

 

Using its paws, Target removes the block of ice from the dish and drinks the bit of water trapped underneath.

Once the water is gone, Target picks up the block of ice with both paws for a moment and licks it.

Then Target wanders off.

 

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Widey and Lasagna

We had a frozen lasagna from Costco for dinner.  Since the pan it came is is too wide for the cat door in the garage, I decided to see what the raccoons would do with it.

After spying the lasagna pan, Widey checks the surroundings outside three times before venturing into the garage.

Unfortunately we don’t have sound, but we can assume the initial failure to get the pan through the small door was fairly loud.  Widey returns several times over the next 20 minutes to lick the pan clean while only coming partway through the door.

Rosie, our cat, even gives the lasagna a try, but it doesn’t seem to be to her liking.

With the pan finally moved away from the door, Widey re-enters the garage and tries to away from the opening.  The nearby car, however, doesn’t co-operate.

Widey finally decides on a brute force attack.

Never underestimate a determined raccoon!

Five minutes later, Widey was behind the neighbor’s shed, without the lasagna pan.

 

 

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Digging for Bugs

A raccoon comes under the fence from the field and digs for bugs in the dirt. Standing on hind legs, it views something in the distance, then two other raccoons come and pass under the fence into the field.

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Where Did All the Water Go?

Now that most of the snow has melted and temperatures are above freezing, I put some water behind our playhouse, where the raccoons like to pass under the fence.

After washing its hands, one raccoon tries to steal the dish, then wonders what happened to all the water.