The holidays are here.

Well I finished at least one coonie Christmas design and you can see it here!

http://cards.cafepress.com/item/raccoon-christmas-cards-pk-of-10/100214205

It's been hard getting time to sit and work on them with a full house here for the season keeping me busy!

The new calendar is finally designed too with the kids from this past season. I've also got a raccoon ornament on there as well as some squirrel holiday items, so check it out!

http://www.cafepress.com/rascalrescue

Snack time.

Old and young alike love to come out for treats...despite the FREEZING temps around here lately! Fruits and nuts on the menu as the little kids learn to open whole nuts.

Outlaw trying to figure out how to open that nut, because he knows he smells something good in there somewhere!

Awww, very cute. Almost looks like mom and kit....but it's not, just one of the little kids learning from a recovering adult how to find the nut in the shell!


Outlaw, Button and Charger foraging around for treats and food in the pen.

Button looks like she's telling a pretty animated story! She's developing a dark patch of fur between her eyes....a beauty mark I guess!

Still trying to figure out how to open that nut.....

Charger searching for treats among the logs.

Outlaw wonders....hmmmmm, do I want pear or apple??

Ok, pear it is!

Strange sightings!

Here are some of the unusual sightings at the feeding station!

The scariest of all! The elusive "Freezing my ass off, why am I out here looking for coonies" creature. Ha ha!

Here we have a cat that has started to become a regular visitor lately. I think she's feral, along with a few others I have been seeing.


And one of the other regulars....Mr. Rat. He even comes out when the coonies are there. While they sit up on the tree platform and eat, watching him, he scurries around down below there.

It's finally getting cold enough for the activity at the feeders to slow down. The one's that do come out are chewin' and screwin'. No hanging around out in the cold for them.

Raw chicken wings....yummy!

The big boys out back got a treat of raw chicken wings today! They LOVE raw chicken wings! And they eat every last ounce....bones and all.

They all grab one and move to separate spots in the cage so they don't have to share!

Toto in one den box......

Stinky & Quinny were the only 2 who didn't actually hide inside a den box with their prize..

Stinky rips through it like butter!

His brother Nosey in a den box...


Stinky is so excited he can barely contain himself!

Quinny gets to work on his.

Toto finished in no time...now he's lookin' to me for more!

Rollo only appears after his is gone.

It did not take long for Stinky and his powerful jaws to reduce the chicken wing to bones....and it was only another few minutes before those bones were crunched into little pieces and gone too!

Meanwhile.....

....the little kids in the other pen are thoroughly enjoying all the climbing room them have in the big pen.

All the kits having fun.

The late kits out back are doing great and getting big! Mom's doing a great job with them!

Our resident late kits are growing like weeds also. They love their playtime in the large pen. It is so cute watching them run around and play.

Here Outlaw tries to figure out how to get those pretty colored balls out of there. I'll give him credit, he spent a long time spinning that thing.....he was determined to figure out how to get 'em!!

Roxy

Button...

Charger......

Outlaw...king of the hill!

Roxy wrestles with Outlaw.

...then razzberries for the camera....

...then playing in the hammock! No trouble getting around for this girl!

Button goes up while Outlaw goes down.

Then Charger follows the 2 of them.

Silly, Roxy & playtime in the big pen.

Finally ran into someone out back last night! Here is a very large and healthy Silly hanging out having a treat with mom. It is definitely safe to say she had packed on plenty of winter fat to get her through a rough winter!! Holy cow, she's HUGE!!

Roxy has done amazing after her surgery. I figured when I came home one night and she was in the tub chewing on my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles she was climbing well enough to try it in the outdoor pen for good.


So a couple days ago I brought Roxy out into the big pen and let the 3 little kids in as well to see how they did. I am amazed!! Roxy had no problem getting around the whole cage....up on the high shelves, into the den boxes, and between all 3 sections of the cage. And the little kids! Not a problem whatsoever with the high areas. Everyone got along wonderfully and they all had a blast!

For now they will all have the run of the entire pen while I am around to keep an eye out. At night Roxy and the 3 little kids will stay on the smaller side until there is no question Roxy has adjusted to getting around with total confidence now that her surgery is mostly healed. She is definitely thrilled to have playmates again and it is very adorable to see her playing with them!!

Hawk Creek Wildlife Center

Here are the pics from our trip to Hawk Creek Wildlife while at the NY wildlife conference. What an amazing place! Many interesting and unique animals!

You can check out their website here to learn about the various animals pictured: http://www.hawkcreek.org/

I was sitting on stage for this, as the bird flew right at me and landed on the handlers glove right above my head!