Ater the Nap

New CDS (Cracker Delivery System)

Sunday - July 12th

Nobody comes. :o(

Time to get a Head....

Sweetie

Snapper

Cracker Man's Turn

Cracker Man wanted a turn at handing out the goodies - and got to see first hand how you better not be empty-handed when a hungry Snapper comes to the door! (and how sweet and gentle his sisters are)

Snapper and the Nice Two

Amazing and More Amazing....

Here's the thing. It's so rare to get a real glimpse into wildlife, without a film or book, but to really see it for yourself. Cracker Man and I have been very fortunate to get a glimpse into the raccoon world, and today we got to see more than ever before. Something very rare. The night started off pretty early with Stubby and her six pack taking the early crack at the buffet. After awhile, they started just playing in the yard, ravaging the bird feeder like they always do. Then Stubby laid down and a few kits were crawling over and they started to nurse. Four of them were with her, and two remained on the table, having a snack. I went outside to get a closer look - I HAD to get a picture of this pile of coonness. Not only was Stubby ok with me coming very close to her, I was able to get extremely close to the two babies on the table and even give one of them a little pet on the ear. She didn't even flinch!




As if that wasn't amazing enough, about 20 minutes later I saw some babies having a snack and thought "oh, a few got off the pile to have another bite..." but no! It was Sweetie and her 3 kits. Would there be a frakus? Would it be ok? Then Snapper wanders over to the yard to investigate this pile. They stir a little bit, he watchs just fascinated, then comes back to the food. Sweetie's crew left, and at least for another hour, probably longer (but we had to get some sleep) there was a pile of raccoons sleeping in our yard. And all was right with the world.

ZOMBIE RACCOONS ATTACK

No, wait... not zombies, it's another six pack! Not since the summer of 2007 has the yard been rocked by a sixers mixer! Last night we were surprised to see our oldest and sweetest friend Stubby, with six little kits. The Cracker Man woke me up at 4:15 saying that there was a new family of raccoons downstairs. Even through my sleep haze, I identified the mom as our sweet Stubby. The large, partially blind coon that I thought was a dude for years before she came with a baby a few years ago. This was the first time we have seen Stubby and her brood this summer - since they were there at 4:30am perhaps we have just had not known that they are on the super late shift. Stubby seems to be a great mom. All the babies stick very close to her, and they were all very brave and sweet even on the first meeting. Making such sweet noises to each other, and peeking in to meet me and the Cracker Man.

More pics and one last tribute

Snapper is a little distraught, acting out agressively and can't quite seem to let go of his grief...




And the Cracker Wars continue:

Is anybody out there??

Just wondering if anyone actually reads this blog, er, looks at these pictures.... if you're out there, please let me know. Maybe I will make it more interesting, even for an audience of one.

No Fear

Momma taught them too well....

When the babies were fresh and new, Sweetie seemed to be a reluctant mother. The babies kind of irratated her and when they picked up a cracker, she promptly stole it from them, and pushed them out of the way. Well, the babies are getting a little bigger, and Sweetie is getting reaping what she sewed. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER