Some of the neighbors.

All my woodland neighbors have been coming by for a visit lately! There are 2 pair of geese that are regular visitors and hang out together with their babies...this pair with their 3 kids and often another pair with a single kid. Looks like some of my little stinkers are still hanging around....I was happy to see this one passing through.


I'm really hoping to see pups following these guys one of these days! That would be awesome!

A lot of the coonie kids are out and about now with their moms....showing up everywhere pretty much!

And another pleasant surprise....perhaps one of my girls released in the spring?? There was quite a bit of possie activity here the last couple nights.


I thought this was Popeye at first.....the face is unmistakable...but upon further review of the accompanying video to this picture, it isn't. There is one other however, with the same face as Popeye.....his sister Foxy! Sure enough this is definitely a mom and with that face I am very confident it's our elusive Foxy girl! A very pleasant surprise indeed!

I've got another baby coming next week that a fellow rehabber has been caring for until it was weaned and out of quarantine. Hopefully I'll have Phil's necropsy results back by then so I can hopefully put it in with his gang if all is clear as far as contagious diseases go! At least if I don't have it back, I have the pens in the shed it can go into....only the babies that are cleared and out of quarantine graduate to the shed....I can't risk loosing that hazmat-free zone by putting anything out there unless it's been cleared!

I have 2 new kits that I couldn't say no to either, despite not having a quarantine free zone really. So I just put them in the guest bedroom for now! They were found at Dracut Quarry. The guys were working in the morning scooping from a pile of ground asphalt with a loader. When they dumped a load into another container, these 2 kits tumbled out. Alive and uninjured by some miracle, they were placed into a box and put aside for mom to find. A while later another bucket dumped into the container revealed the body of the mother. They had apparently been around the pile when part of it had collapsed onto them and buried them.....smothering the mom. The guys said the pile holds the heat and when they take bucket loads out of it small pockets are formed. Mom must have decided to rest with the babies in there and for one reason or another, the pile slid, burying them.

How could I say no to those poor babies! Luckily they are a little bit older....6-8weeks....and eagerly eat out of a bowl, making it much easier for me. Not all too friendly at first, but we had a breakthrough yesterday morning when the little girl decided to come over to me and start climbing onto my arm. Next thing you know she's jumping around playing with me! Little brother followed suit soon after and I have officially been accepted as the new mom now! I'll be holding my breath until their quarantine is over now! I can't handle another tragedy like Bramble and her siblings!

5 baby skunks heading this way Sunday also....looks like I'm back to a full house!

Vetrans & Rookies hanging out back

I just came in from a visit out back to check on the gang. I couldn't believe I ran into Brownie! Wow...I haven't seen her in a while! She is Ringer and Belle's sister from my first gang. She was more than happy to get some treats and a good back scratch from mom again! It was good to hear her bark too! Yup....she actually barks at any of the other coonies that come near her. It is a very distinctive bark and I would recognize it anywhere. And why was she barking do you say?? Because she had 4 little ones in tow now! She's the most protective mom I have out there, keeping everyone at bay when she has kits and it's good to see that hasn't changed. They were at a different feeding station than the "kit daycare tree" and everyone else was more than happy to give them their space.

Next in was Ringer, Lexi and their crew. They and their kits get along very well together. It was very cute watching the kits greet each other and say hi!

Daisy came in next, followed by Popeye. He's walking around fine on his foot again. On my way out I ran into Screech, also walking well on his foot. The newly released gang seems to finally be settling in to their new domain. I think Foxy was out there too, there was a pair of eyes with Daisy, but a little too shy to come in to say hi. Last time I saw Daisy the same thing happened but I managed to get a peek at the body behind the eyes and it was Foxy so I think this is the same situation.

Lots more racket going on in the woods, but the massive swarm of mosquito's got the better of me....even in my goofy looking mosquito netting clothes!

Graduation, cheerios & playtime.

The 8 older kids have graduated to staying out in the big boys cage full time now! Plus they have the added indoor room open to them now. Belle and the girls never returned to it so the kids now have more room to run, climb and play!

Seeker still hasn't grown into his ears!

Growler enjoys an animal cracker.

Buster is just too cute for words...a VERY relaxed eater!

Tugger enjoying lunch and making sure I get a good close up!

Growler and Buster rough housing in the hammock.

Clover relaxing (very briefly!) in the hammock.

Buster enjoys a cheerio in his usual relaxed manner.

Seeker also enjoys Cheerios in the hammock, until a wrestling Teddy & Clover drive him out.


Teddy poses for his closeup!

Seeker wants up in mommy's lap!

Growler enjoys a tummy tickle in mommy's lap.

Teddy helps mom give Tugger some tickles.

Seeker poses for his closeup.

Clover plays with mom.

Growler and Buster are the first to explore the new room.

I was out briefly on Wednesday night around midnight and no one was at the feeding station. I did run into Popeye with his sister Foxy this time at one of the other raised feeders. It was great to see them still hanging out together and they were both looking great!

The Un-Released gang!

Popeye and Daisy have been re-joined by Foxy and Screech now. I found Foxy curled up under the tarp on top of the release cage. When I opened the door later in the evening she ran down and went straight for the open door and into the cage. I found Screech up in the squirrel pen! God knows how he got in there. I let him out and when I saw him take a limping step, got closer to look. He's got a wound on his foot too...and he begged me to pick him up, climbing up the front of me to hold him. So I brought him back down to nurse his wounds as well.

The girls are uninjured for the most part. It's the boys getting the crap beat out of them! I have a feeling that baby season has a lot to do with it. We'll let them heal up and plan to re-release them later in the summer when all the babies should be old enough to create less conflict between the resident mothers and our gang. No sign of Buddy or Whitey. Whitey was timid to begin with so I am guessing he was avoiding the local natives with all his might and not running into any problems.