Crazy weather & crazy coons!

After blizzard upon blizzard, suddenly we have a stretch of a couple weeks with no precipitation! Yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Then the freezing temps give way to a few warm days. I mean, it was down right balmy! In the 60's even! It was beautiful.

I should have known there would be a price to pay.

Enter Friday night.....a MAJOR thunderstorm blew through here with high, gusty winds and torrential rain. By the next morning it looked like the pine trees had puked all over my yard, it was freezing again, and the gusty winds were sticking around.

Saturday was not a comfortable day! Luckily none of the pens were damaged. All the falling branches, trees and debris fell away from them, but the winds were still pretty bad.

First up LB and the boys. They were hesitant to come out to begin with because of the cold, (in fact LB didn't even bother!) but Mom was here.....and she's bringing food! So a big stretch, and lets check it out! Then ......screw this! The freezing wind sent Gibby and Ringo right back into the warm den box.

Andy bravely descended to eat some dinner, but it didn't last long! Notice how he's holding his back legs? He was trying to keep them warm by pulling them up against his body, and when that didn't work too well, off he went into the warm cozy den box. Enough was enough!
On to the rest of the gang. At first it was business as usual....everyone saw Mom, which equals food, so out they charged. Then a big gust of wind blew something down and there was a loud crash! A tremendous stampede ensued & they all ran back inside to the indoor den box. Well almost everyone! One of the babies thought it best to hide here! (I laughed so hard I don't even remember which one it was!)
Frozen still, not twitching a muscle! Remember, if they can't see you, then you can't see them.....same goes for whatever scares them!

When the rest of the gang heard me laughing my ass off, they figured it was safe to come out again, and unlike the boys, the freezing wind was not going to keep them from food! So veggies and omnivore diet was enjoyed by all....as well as some new fun! Some of the pine tree branches collected off the ground!
Pip, May and Amy

Kinky, Moose and Scrappy

Merry and one of the babies.

The babies have grown quite a bit! This is actually Pip (left) and Amy. Can you believe it! Amy already looks bigger than our little Pip! Moose is bigger still and little May is about the same size. Pip is so tiny, and is probably going to remain a pretty small raccoon. After seeing what this winter was like, I'm glad she spent the winter here.....probably would not have fared well out there. At least she'll have this coming season to mature and hopefully pack on enough size to get her through her future winters in the wild if they should end up being this bad again.

I'm not coming down there....Tash wants his dinner served up on the observation deck!

May loves her tummy tickles!

Amy knows where the treats are kept.....right in this pocket! It's a big pocket and I usually end up having to drag them out of there by their tail after they dive head first into it! It's pretty amusing to be walking around with nothing but a big furry butt and tail hanging out of your pocket! :)

And here we have Mr. Innocent himself....NOT! Vin is driving everyone crazy! Through no fault of his own of course....he's just being a raccoon. He's an older baby, more mature and feeling his oats so to speak.....he's acting like he's supposed to be, but that doesn't mean the gang and I have to like it!

After the first attempt at separating him (with Scrappy to keep him company) failed when he ripped apart the removable window, Dad came by and measured for a new one....hopefully a stronger one.

In the meantime, when I saw Vin and Scrappy hanging out in the section I wanted to separate them into, I couldn't let an easy opportunity pass. There is a built in plexi glass window that can be opened and closed to seal off that section as well. I had not wanted to use that because I still wanted them to be able to interact with the crew through a wire window, but the annoyance level among the girls has reached a peak. To avoid future injuries and future babies (in case anyone ends up going into heat!) I played my trump card.....and I'm going to hope he doesn't manage to dig his way in there again!

LB and the boys.

LB, Andy, Gibby and Ringo are doing great in their own private suite at the inn. LB is finished with his antibiotics and all is still well with him. Whew! No more problems over the course of the winter should indicate it is not going to be a chronic problem and he should be set to go with the rest of the gang.

We had a doozy of a blizzard just after Christmas where most of the gang....including myself, holed up in their den boxes for a couple days. After the wind finally died down it was back to business as usual for them.

Andy, Ringo, Gibby and LB....always eager to come out for dinner!

The rest of the gang in the big pen are great also, and with some of the boys separated the conflicts have ceased where Vin is concerned.

The girl that came in around mid November that was staying in Mary's pen until I had room....well she's still there! The cage wasn't vacant long after Vin and Tash moved out and since she's doing great and has settled in well over at Mary's, we'll just let her stay there. She's not ill and acting more like a raccoon should be, running and hiding when Mary checks on her. Come springtime we'll just open the door to the pen and she'll be free to go right from Mary's.....barring any other raccoon shuffling we may have to do!

Update on LB

Everyone must have crossed their fingers because so far so good with LB. He managed to leave the catheter in a little over 24 hours.....a miracle in itself! He stayed at Laurie's Monday and Tuesday so she could keep a close eye on him. By Tuesday night he was still peeing on his own, eating and drinking normally and tearing the crate apart trying to get out! Time to come home.

So Wednesday morning he came back here and we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone.....we put him in the small pen and moved Andy, Gibby and Ringo in with him .....so no more fights between Vin and Andy and LB has some company again!

He's still feeling great.....he thoroughly enjoyed biting me last night when I gave him his antibiotics! It was worth it though because he was mad enough at me to pee when I grabbed him so the plumbing is still working! LOL

He's not out of the woods yet, but the glass is half full again....

Sunday we are all going to try to get together and move a large 20 x20 kennel Laurie has stored at her house over here in the hopes of getting it set up eventually so we can move the boys out of the small pen. It's OK for now, but they are going to need more room than that for the winter.

LB's emergency!

This past weekend didn't go so well! Early Saturday evening I went out to take care of the gang and noticed something was very wrong with LB (Little Boy). He was vomiting and straining very hard and not comfortable at all! There are very few vets willing to even see coonies, and on a Saturday evening to boot......our usual vets just weren't available!

I separated him from the rest and kept a panicked vigil over him until Laurie returned from NH to evaluate him with me. Our thoughts were he was either blocked or obstructed.....neither of which he would survive through the night. There was no question, something had to be done now!! At 10pm Laurie made a desperate call to Dr. Schless who owns the practice Laurie works at.....Woburn Animal Hospital. She went above and beyond and dropped everything to meet Laurie and help our little guy. (while I had to head into work for a late shift a total wreck!)

Turns out he was blocked.....she saved his life, he never would have survived the night!! They managed to get a catheter in and empty and flush a very infected and puss filled bladder and Laurie set him up at her house to treat and watch over him.....keeping our fingers crossed because he was not out of the woods yet and Dr. Schless was going away first thing Sunday morning and wouldn't be around to help again.

Sunday Laurie and I took a break from our annual Christmas brunch at Mary's to go check on him and give him fluids. He was OK, but still no interest in eating and he still seemed a little uncomfortable. I did not have a good feeling about him....but he was stable and much better than the night before!

So back to Mary's we head for desert and gifts! As usual it was a wonderful day with wonderful friends (and AWESOME food! Mary you rock!!)
Mary and Laurie

Sue

Lisa admires her new rack! LOL

Sue made this AMAZING coat rack for Lisa with inlayed wood and squirrel hooks!

JoAnn is contemplating how she can steal the absolutely adorable coonie kit figurines Mary got me! Can't say I blame her....look how freaking cute they are!!

Unfortunately things just kind of went down hill from there. I proceeded to get a migraine and had to head home and became incapacitated. But I have the best friends in the world!! Laurie came over and took care of the crew outside for me and even lugged my garbage down my football field length driveway....while I lay on my couch drooling incoherently and unable to function.

When I finally came out of my stupor this morning I called to see how LB was doing. Turns out he took a turn for the worse again Sunday night. I don't know how she did it but Laurie managed to find a very nice vet willing to see him about 45 minutes away! They once again managed to unblock him, and though we're not hopeful he will leave the catheter in for the necessary amount of time....he stitched in there. This morning Laurie said he was feeling MUCH better and even began eating again....and so far, (fingers crossed!!) he has left the catheter in!!

So a major tragedy averted for now......he's by no means out of the woods yet. In cats this usually becomes a chronic problem. Should this end up being the case with LB, we may have to euthanize him. He can't be released into the wild like that....he would die a horrifically painful death. Luckily he's wintering over anyway so for now we have the luxury of keeping a very close eye on him and giving him a chance to see if this was just the result of a bad UTI and can be cleared up for good....or not.

To Dr. Schless and the other vet.....WE CAN NEVER THANK YOU ENOUGH! You are most kind and compassionate and spared a very sweet living creature from a very painful death with no regard for the inconvenience to yourselves. I am eternally grateful......................