Great Skies for Kites and Kayaks Everywhere https://gskke.com My WordPress Blog Tue, 28 Feb 2023 03:45:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 193536033 2023-02-25 Digging Out the Den, and Evicting Kits https://gskke.com/2023/02/27/2023-02-25-digging-out-the-den-and-evicting-kits/ https://gskke.com/2023/02/27/2023-02-25-digging-out-the-den-and-evicting-kits/#respond Tue, 28 Feb 2023 03:31:56 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=505 Continue reading 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.

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2023-02-23 Wounded Raccoon https://gskke.com/2023/02/26/2023-02-23-wounded-raccoon/ https://gskke.com/2023/02/26/2023-02-23-wounded-raccoon/#respond Mon, 27 Feb 2023 01:58:58 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=488 Continue reading 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.

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2023-02-11 Stray Cat https://gskke.com/2023/02/13/2023-02-11-stray-cat/ https://gskke.com/2023/02/13/2023-02-11-stray-cat/#respond Mon, 13 Feb 2023 20:11:19 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=478 Continue reading 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.

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2024-02-11 Rocky Returns Late https://gskke.com/2023/02/12/2024-02-11-rocky-returns-late/ https://gskke.com/2023/02/12/2024-02-11-rocky-returns-late/#respond Mon, 13 Feb 2023 01:56:14 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=465 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.

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2023-02-09 Corn Dog https://gskke.com/2023/02/11/2023-02-09-corn-dog/ https://gskke.com/2023/02/11/2023-02-09-corn-dog/#respond Sun, 12 Feb 2023 00:40:13 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=458 Continue reading 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.

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Watermelon https://gskke.com/2022/07/18/watermelon/ https://gskke.com/2022/07/18/watermelon/#respond Mon, 18 Jul 2022 17:24:38 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=450 We had some less than great watermelon no one wanted. Tailey ate most of our, but left some prices behind.

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Old Bread by Daylight https://gskke.com/2022/06/08/old-bread-by-daylight/ https://gskke.com/2022/06/08/old-bread-by-daylight/#respond Wed, 08 Jun 2022 17:29:07 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=445 Continue reading 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.

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Baby Raccoon in Den Entrance https://gskke.com/2022/06/07/baby-raccoon-in-den-entrance/ https://gskke.com/2022/06/07/baby-raccoon-in-den-entrance/#respond Wed, 08 Jun 2022 01:13:50 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=438 While Tailey is outside looking for food, a baby raccoon appears briefly in the den entrance.

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Baby Raccoons Outside the Den https://gskke.com/2022/06/07/baby-raccoons-outside-the-den/ https://gskke.com/2022/06/07/baby-raccoons-outside-the-den/#respond Wed, 08 Jun 2022 01:10:53 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=435 Continue reading 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.

Seconds later, three kits are outside the den and Tailey drags another back in.

35 minutes later, Tailey seems to have her house under control and slips out to find more food.

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Two Baby Raccoons https://gskke.com/2022/06/07/first-good-sighting-of-baby-raccoons/ https://gskke.com/2022/06/07/first-good-sighting-of-baby-raccoons/#respond Wed, 08 Jun 2022 00:56:59 +0000 https://gskke.com/?p=429 After Tailey leaves, passing between the two sheds, a baby raccoon appears in the entrance of the den.

The baby raccoon pokes its head outside of the den.

For a moment, two kits appear side by side in the den entrance.

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