Sadly, they grow up and start to fight.  I’ve seen one or possibly two raccoons whom I named “Stu,” for its short stubby tail.  At first I thought it must be a birth defect, but apparently they lose their tails in fights with other raccoons.  In the following videos we see two raccoons coming back to the lair with damaged tails.

The first comes across the fence from the field, with a tail suspiciously bent at a right angle.  The damaged portion of the tail seems to dangle lifelessly.  The raccoon considers entering the den, then returns and enters the tunnel of tires.  From here it disappears, possibly returning to the field.

Another raccoon arrives a half hour later.  The black tip of its tail appears to be nearly detached, dangling helplessly.  The raccoon enters the den multiple times, but appears unable to rest.  As it paces outside, the raccoon keeps shaking, as if to free itself of the damaged tip of its tail.

After staying in the end for over an hour, the raccoon comes back outside.

That evening, a raccoon with a short tail climbs the fence.  It starts to step onto the tree that will take it down to the field, then clumsily turns around on top of the fence like it’s having trouble keeping its balance.  After greeting another racoon, it climbs down the tree into the field.  I’m not sure if this is Stu 1, Stu 2, or Stu 3.

The following afternoon, I found tufts of white and black hair scattered across the lawn, not too far from the raccoon den.

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 . . .)

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

Stu was a nursing mother in the spring, so Widey must be one of her kits.

In black and white, Cal looks a lot like our cat, Rosie, who was in the garage 15 minutes earlier.

Widey crosses from the field eight minutes after Cal leaves, passing a raccoon from the shed at the top of the fence.