Great Skies for Kites and Kayaks Everywhere
My Wandering Blog
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.
While Tailey is outside looking for food, a baby raccoon appears briefly in the den entrance.
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.
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.
Tailey leaves the den and stands on her hind feet, showing off her belly. It appears she may be nursing up to four baby raccoons.
A black cat wanders close to the den, unaware of the baby raccoons inside.
The cat pauses, looking between the sheds, the runs off. The blur chasing after it is Tailey, the mother raccoon.
A raccoon waits for a couple minutes in the entrance of the den, watching for the perfect moment to leave.
Widey enters the den three times in 17 minutes, but the camera doesn’t capture her leaving. Either she exits so slowly the camera doesn’t register it, or there is a second exit.
Target and Widey leave the den.
Target enters the tire tunnel as daylight fades to black (and white.)
Widey joins Target in the tunnel.
Target takes a position at the tunnel opening
After waiting about five minutes, Target leads way toward the side of the shed, and Widey follows.
Eight minutes later, the raccoons return (Widey with a leaf in its tail) and they groom on top of the tires.
After a couple minutes, Widey descends and stands alert on the ground.
Three minutes later, Target steals the cat dishes in the garage.
Baby raccoons are unbearably cute.
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.
