Sneaky, sneaky...

[hazelrunpack]

The prize:

[hazelrunpack]

The perpetrator:

[hazelrunpack]

Sneaky, sneaky!

[hazelrunpack]

"Hey, you!! Get away from those nectar feeders!!!!"

Because there is nothing good about a wet, sticky raccoon on a sugar high.
Trust me on that one.

[Dee-O-Gee]

Little rascals!

How often do they get up on the feeders and how on earth do they sit on them?

[Goldfields]

Super cute little devils. Time wasters I'd call them, I'd want to sit and watch them.

[hazelrunpack]

They're mainly nocturnal, GF, so you'd need night-vision goggles to see them at their most entertaining!

DOG, they use the shepherd hook. They either drop down from the tree, or climb up from the ground, get themselves situated, then either step onto a feeder (a dangerous strategy since sometimes the bottoms fall out of the big ones, spilling the critters into the lilies and dousing them with nectar ) or just pull the feeder over and suck out the nectar. Because of the angle, to be successful at the latter strategy, they need to position their heads under the far ports because when the feeder swings, those ports end up lower than the ones closest to the raccoon. And that means that there is at least one, maybe two additional ports dripping nectar adjacent to the port being used to drink from. Hence all the wet sticky raccoons wandering around!

But I think we've solved the problem--we added hooks under the raised deck just a few feet away from the hummingbird garden. We've been hanging some nectar feeders there at night so they're available for early morning hummingbirds. Since the hooks are on the underside of the decking and far enough away from the edge to prevent a raccoon from reaching the hook, any feeders hanging there are safe. Well...safe until the raccoons start carrying ladders or wearing those Mission Impossible hang-from-the-ceiling harnesses, anyway. They're smart little buggers!

[Melinda]

oh man they must really get sticky *L*

[hazelrunpack]

They leave sticky hair all over the pine and on the fence around the garden.

[marko]

Nice set HRP!

[hazelrunpack]

Thx, Marko. Most of the pics are just short of focus because of the low light, but the little sneaks are so much fun to watch I had to share.

[Dog Dancer]

Too cute! I think I'd prefer raccoons to skunks raiding my yard though.

[hazelrunpack]

Honestly, I think I do, too! Are they still coming around, DD?

[Dee-O-Gee]

I'm with DD and would prefer to see raccoons rather than skunks!

Mollie chased a skunk away last evening from the back yard. Thank dawg it wasn't in her reach but she sure did bark at the little critter.

Does your camera have a movie mode Hazel? I would sure love to see these little guys play out their stratagies by way of motion pictures.

[hazelrunpack]

It does, but I'd need a much larger camera card. These guys sneak along pretty slowly so it would be upwards of 10 minutes of video to catch this type of raid.