Anatomy of a raid, raccoon style!
 

[CENTER][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][I][B][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]1. Check to make sure there are no pesky hoomanz in the blind.

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2. Find the kids a snack...

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3. ...and once they're busy, park 'em somewhere nearby where you can watch 'em.

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"Now stay here and behave!"[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B][/I][/FONT][/CENTER]

[CENTER][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][I][B][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"][SIZE="4"]4. Shinny up the pole.

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5. (and this is the tricky part, so be careful!) Step onto the platform feeder.

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[CENTER][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"][I][B]*gasp* Whoa!

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Arrggghhhhh! Ooooooohhhh! *grunt*

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There! No worries! Easy peasy! [/B][/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER]

[CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][I][B][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]Finally, the best step: 6. [SIZE="5"]EAT![/SIZE]
"Mine! All mine!!!!!"

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"Uh-oh. I think I've been spotted!"

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Time to think about the last step of any raid: the escape!

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[CENTER][I][B][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]7. Make a clean escape!

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"C'mon, kits! Let's go!
B'bye for now!"

:D

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:laughing: Pretty soon they'll figure out how to tip the platform & just dump the seeds on the ground :D

My mum has a water dish out in her yard for the crows/little birds/squirrels and the raccoons or possibly the odd skunk coming at night have occasionally dumped the whole metal bowl upside down & right off the tree stump :laughing:

*L* sneaky little buggers, your pics are so nice and clear!!!

Oh Hazel,I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE them and the pics:thumbs up
Looking at those wonderful faces,how can anyone,like here in Ontario try to kill the babies with a shovel:(

love the picture of her shimming up the pole.
caught red handed :laughing::laughing:

Lovely set! Love the sharp eyes in most shots!

AWESOME thanks for sharing, I adore racoons :cloud9:

[QUOTE=growler~GateKeeper;1016514]:laughing: Pretty soon they'll figure out how to tip the platform & just dump the seeds on the ground :D

[COLOR="Purple"][I]It's not for lack of trying! :laughing: but even I have trouble dumping seed from these--they're pretty deep sides so you'd have to actually detach one hanger to get it to drop the seed. If they gnaw through the cord, though, I'm gonna be annoyed. :frustrated: But we have some sturdy gauge wire we could use instead if it happens. :thumbs up[/I][/COLOR]

My mum has a water dish out in her yard for the crows/little birds/squirrels and the raccoons or possibly the odd skunk coming at night have occasionally dumped the whole metal bowl upside down & right off the tree stump :laughing:[/QUOTE]

[COLOR="Purple"][I]I used to hang a platform feeder on a fallen popple tree. They used to bounce on it all the time and knock it off for easier pickin's. :D Finally, though, fat ol' Mom bounced too hard and broke off the hanging branch. :rolleyes: So now they have to shinny up the pole to those feeders, instead. [/I][/COLOR]

[QUOTE=Melinda;1016524]*L* sneaky little buggers, your pics are so nice and clear!!![/QUOTE]

[COLOR="Purple"][I]Yes, they are sneaky! But they don't see well. I was standing on a hemlock stump so that I was clear above our six-foot fence, totally in the open, and 50 feet away. They could evidently smell me, but even when they were looking straight at me, they couldn't see me :shrug: The closer you can get, the clearer the pics. :D[/I][/COLOR]

[QUOTE=chico2;1016527]Oh Hazel,I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE them and the pics:thumbs up
Looking at those wonderful faces,how can anyone,like here in Ontario try to kill the babies with a shovel:([/QUOTE]

I'm with you, chico.

[QUOTE=breeze;1016529]love the picture of her shimming up the pole.
caught red handed :laughing::laughing:[/QUOTE]

I'm hoping I can catch the kits at it when they've learned how to get up the pole! A couple of years ago I came home from a meeting about dusk and looked out to see 4 kits hanging off our big mesh feeder! :laughing: What a sight!!! Cracked me right up!

[QUOTE=marko;1016536]Lovely set! Love the sharp eyes in most shots![/QUOTE]

Thanks, Marko. Of the three raccoon threads, the pics in this one are the least clear (at least in their original form). The light was failing by the time it all played out.

[QUOTE=Golden Girls;1016553]AWESOME thanks for sharing, I adore racoons :cloud9:[/QUOTE]

You're welcome! They're so much fun to watch! I tried to catch them from the blind a couple days ago but with all the fireworks going on in the area, it seems to have put them off. Haven't seen them for two days now... :( Unfortunately, the area celebrations are just beginning--the big fireworks display is [I]next[/I] weekend (fireworks are cheaper [I]after[/I] the 4th of July :D) and there will be people shooting off their own stashes all week. :frustrated: (The dogs don't like that, either. :o)

Love the 2nd picture in post 3! :D

Crazy little critters. :crazy: Willing to do anything for food including smile! :D

Ya, she was a'wigglin' tryin' to make the transfer there. :D

Haven't seen hide nor hair of them for the third evening in a row now. :shrug: I hope they haven't left!

I'm smiling so much, my face hurts :D. Thank you so much for sharing these with us :grouphug:.

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1016557] Haven't seen them for two days now...[/QUOTE]

Have you seen them since :fingerscr ?

We've been hearing them chittering in the underbrush but something seems to have put the wind up their backs and they're not coming out before dark. We have fishers in the area--lots of them this year--so maybe there's one close by. Or maybe one of the wolf packs is roaming close. At any rate, the raccoons and porcupines are making themselves scarce the past week or so...

Glad you liked the threads. I sure did have fun watching these guys. :cloud9:

My mom has six coons she feeds, and one is affectionatly named "honey buns" cause she prefers HONEY BUNS to everything they throw out there for them. They throw em fresh fish..and honeybuns will pass it up for the honey bun. LOL
WONDERFUL PICS HAZEL. (and the way you tell your stories are just fantastic)

Thx, RR. :o

We try to discourage the raccoons from getting too close cuz they also run raids on our nectar feeders. They're not very good at stealing nectar, either--picture a sticky, wet raccoon on a sugar high and you'll see why we discourage them coming around! :laughing: Plus our sugar and sunflower bills are already pretty high. :o We finally solved the nectar problem by hanging the hummingbird feeders for morning [I]under[/I] our raised deck out of reach of the raccoons but easy for the hummers to find. And once the sweets were out of reach, the coons pretty much abandoned us for good stuff (like berries, I suppose) they can find out in the wild. :D

Superb pics.
We had a family of coons in our barn this summer and they happily shared the squirrel/bird feeders for several weeks.
Then my husband saw that a car had hit one of the babies on the road.
No sign of the coon family since then, I guess Momma moved them away.
It broke our hearts to know that one of her kits had died....

Love those coons...they always look like they are planning some kind of mischief!! Great series Hazel!:D:laughing::highfive:

Bina,they are such wonderful creatures,I am so sorry the little one was killed:( the rest of the family moved for sure,because they did not feel safe,not your doing though.

Thx, ladies.

Sorry to hear about your little kit, Bina. :( Breaks my heart when I see them along the road...

Yes, road kills are horrible. When we see smaller ones my husband always give them a decent burial.
Next year should bring more raccoon kits :) and in the meantime I will enjoy Hazel's pics.

Hazel,
Well it seems moms racoons come to "visit" even when they dont feed them anything, so they figured might as well feed them too.
They FISH alot, so there is always fish in the freezer , and other than honey buns...the coon family LOVES it (even like it frozen, fish popscicle anyone)...so they havent caused any problems thus far.
Mom has several humming feeders, and those bird block thing holders up, and they've so far (last two years) left em alone.
So..either they feed them TOO WELL and they are too fat and lazy to shimmy up poles, or they are just content with the honey buns, fresh fish and fruits, and the occasional dog treat thrown thier way. :)

Bina,
its always so sad to see the babys get hit. I once saw a mama and her other kit standing by the road, looking , looking , looking ...waiting for the other kit to come...but it wouldnt because it was dead in the middle of the road.
we started to move the baby to the side for her...but we were afraid it would spook her and make her run into the road and get her hit herself. No telling how long she sat "waiting" for her kit to come. I cried and cried that night.
We went by a few days later and the mama and alive kit were gone. The little dead fella was still there, and the buzzards had gotten to him. I guess they have to eat too...but it does make your heart just sick.
I told hubs, if we ever see something like that again...we are gonna take the chance and move the baby to the side, so mama can check him over and realise he's gone...and move on..and not sit there for god knows how long.
More than likely she'll run the opposite direction of the road if we come towards her anyways. (i hope).

Hazel,
mom said if you really want to see some coons have "fun" , freeze tuna into an ice cube block (just like you would fresh fruit for a punch bowl)...and see what they do.
She said she had the silliest antics over that frozen tuna iceblock..that it put the playful pups she has to shame.
The KITS went ape over them

We're trying to [I]discourage[/I] the lil darlin's, RR! :p Not open a diner! :laughing: I can totally imagine how they'd go crazy over the tuna...but most of it would likely end up in my birdbath as they tried to wash the fish free of ice. :D

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;1025551]We're trying to [I]discourage[/I] the lil darlin's, RR! :p Not open a diner! :laughing: I can totally imagine how they'd go crazy over the tuna...but most of it would likely end up in my birdbath as they tried to wash the fish free of ice. :D[/QUOTE]

:o, guess somewhere along the way I misunderstood. well you are right..more than likely you'd have tuna birdbath (im not sure the birds would appreciate that one)...
Well I guess if you ever decide to open a coon diner...I've got loads of ideas (that arent too over the top) to appease any striped tail :D