Tree coons.

As predicted....the boys have had to find other accommodations with the new flooding. Both these trees.... in the exact same spot in the branches.....were popular last year so I was not surprised to find an occupant in each this afternoon. The rain has FINALLY stopped, the weather is warm and the branches form an excellent nook to ride out the day...out like a light!
The summer homes are officially opened and occupied!

I know I am certainly feeling water logged...as I'm sure all the critters out there are...and it was quite a relief to see the deluge end today...hopefully for a while! I'm so sick of being wet!!! Ugghhhh! I can live without the record breaking rain fall, thank you!

The storm that ended the meltdown.

Well, so much for nice sunny weather! This is what the overwinters are looking like now...frosted!

A lot of trees are not thrilled either....mostly the weaker birches. They are literally bent right down to the ground!

The bat house is the only thing standing straight among this group of trees! They're not small trees either...that bat house is 16-20 feet high!

Here we have the only living thing enjoying this weather....Boo would sit out there all day in this if I let him!

Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice....I'm going to have to bring a tool out there to chip my way into the pens again!

Oh Goody......A tree! (sort of)

Dad did a little landscaping around here the other day and yanked this big tree/bush thing out of the ground. Complete with huge clump of dirt still around the roots, it went into the pen with River's group. All I'll say is....endless hours of crazy fun!

A little break for some chow.....Rosie a little more eager than others feels the need to sit IN the feeder.

RJ scrounges up a morsel from inside the tire.

And the rest of them dig around in the logs and dirt for theirs!

I have no idea how the very plump River managed to climb down this thing....it's a very bendy type of tree, not really a sturdy climbing tree......

Willie thought he could copy River but it didn't quite work out as planned......A little help here!

Scootch, RJ and River

Rosie

Baloo, Einstein and River

RJ

River looking up...OK mom! Enough with the pictures already!

The saga continues....

I'm out yesterday afternoon doing the rounds and once again, I find a coonie sleeping in a tree. Don't ask me how I happen to notice these guys!! Here's a little perspective for you....I'm out looking around in the treetops....from a distance I notice a blob that looks like fur....yes a tiny dot at the end of the arrow!

Zooming in a little closer with the camera.....again at the end of the arrow....This is pretty much what it looked like to my naked eye standing across the way from the tree. (How the hell did I notice that??)

And finally zoomed in on it with the camera......

What in the world is it that makes me happen to look up in the right tree (among TONS in the woods) at the right time and actually think....hmmmmmm, that looks like a coonie, let me get my binoculars!!??

Well I did, and I am happy to say that while watching with the binoculars, it did move around...did the little doggie turn in circles to get comfy and settled in again. I did not notice any visible or horrible wounds and it was moving normally....no sign of the shakes or neurologic issues.

The tree is right on one of the major "highways" of travel to one of the feeders. So I set up the coon cam hoping to get a look if it came down. There were only about 5 short clips showing coonie's, and none showed neurologic signs. All appeared to be acting/moving/looking normal as they headed to the feeder. I cannot be sure one was this new tree coon, but it gives me hope! Also, when I checked the tree today....no sign of it up there! So far, this tree tale has ended better than the first one!

The coon cam is set up at the den site tonight to try to get an idea how everyone is doing over there. Fingers crossed!!

Introducing Bella.

The first baby of the season has arrived. Bella is a sweet little girl. She was brought to me last night after being found at the base of a tree next to her dead sibling. She was hypothermic and thin when found but the woman that took her in did a wonderful job warming her up and getting her rehydrated until she could get her to me.

She was a tiny 96 grams and about a week old. She is very bright and alert and ADORABLE!

Tonight she weighed in at 97 grams and is eating great. Everything is coming out the other end the way it should be and things look good. She eats, poops and pees and goes right to sleep until the next feeding!

I'm always tense for the first couple of weeks. They are in quarantine and at this age things can change quickly if there is something wrong that is not initially apparent. But she's off to a great start and I'll be happy in 2 weeks when I can breath a little easier.

Worried sick!

Got this picture on the 6th and have been wondering about this one since. It is not the angle, the face is "pushed in" like a boston terrier or something.

I was out last night and finally ran in to this raccoon, and now I am worried sick about her. It is definitely an injury. I think it is Dandy, but I couldn't tell because of the way her face is pushed in. It's like her snout got pushed in then up and to the side a little. I failed at 2 attempts to catch her! Once she was on to me and knew I was trying to get her it was all over. Up the tree she went and wouldn't come down again.

She appears to be coping with it...she's not starving and I think the actual jaw/mouth structure is intact. She just looks awful and sounds like a kid with a stuffy nose when she breaths. And she certainly had no problem evading me!

I waited for 3 hours for her to come down out of a tree, even though I should know better than anyone that you cannot out wait a coon in a tree. All I can do is keep trying and hope for the best.

While I was out there fretting over Dandy (?), Red and Paleface popped over to say Hi! Lots of others looking on from up in the trees, wondering what the hell I was doing but no one came down to visit. They probably though I would try catching them too!