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!

Oh goody...... A pool!!

Diesel's group was thrilled with the addition of the pool in their pen! Dozer of course has to be in the middle of everything I try to do, so he helped me fill it!

Then Kodiak made his way over to help out too....

Meanwhile the rest of the little piggies made sure they inhaled dinner first!

Grizz chowing away. He's kind of a goofy, crosseyed looking boy!

Diesel watching the pool fill from above..

Razz also watching from above.

Cat after one psycho wrestle round in the pool, ran out and up and around the high parts of the cage, then back down into the pool for another round......

....and tried keeping Dozer from getting back in...

Then it was just a free for all in the pool!! And oh what fun it was to watch!

The little kids.

The little kids are enjoying their new digs also. Now in the cage vacated by Razz & Diesel's group they have more climbing room and they are loving it!

Peanut the the only boy...

His sister Cinnamon.

The ever adorable Raquel!

And Phoenix...all healed and grown from her fiery beginnings.....

Raquel playing hide and seek...

I'll be enjoying their company for the winter this year!

Waking up the gang.

River's group has adjusted very well to the big cage! The higher the better as far as they are concerned. They drape themselves everywhere to sleep in the heat.

Inside the papasan chair frame up at the very top of the cage....

Inside the den boxes of course.....

.....and in the hammocks.....

.....or just draped on the shelves.

Doesn't take long to shake it off once they realize there's food in da house!!

River's group.

A little fun for River's group on their last day in the small cage. I spent one very long, HOT day moving around 27 raccoons to give the babies more space to run, play and climb. River's group are in the 10ft high cage now and loving it immensely!!! Diesel's group were moved into the big release pen out back and the little kids Peanut, Cinnamon, Phoenix and Raquel are in the pen vacated by Diesel's group. A lot of juggling!!!

RJ

RJ and Willie

My sweetheart River and Baloo behind her.

They also discovered the joy of eggs!

Baloo the monster coon. She's still the biggest baby....over 10lbs now!

Einstein enjoying a new toy....he and his siblings Flipper and Willie are the smallest of the group at a little over 6lbs. Look at the difference between him and River in the same toy below him! She's huge too!

River enjoys some tummy tickles from mom.

Had a little visit from one of the skunks last night. He was roaming around near the big pen checking out the area and I'm VERY happy to say that when we startled each other, he was kind enough to hold off on the secret weapon and upon hearing me talk to him, lowered his tail and ambled off.

3 Skunks & 1 rat go free!

Well it didn't take long for the skunks to realize the bottom of their cage was gone and they could dig their way to China if they wanted!

After some stomping around and checking things out around the edges....

....one starts digging away and boom.....within 10 minutes is out like a flash!!

While he did some exploring in the area, number 2 followed right behind out the hole...

Meanwhile number one is thoroughly enjoying himself playing hide and seek in the ground cover!

No one will ever find me under here! LOL

The first 2 sort of rambled off in one direction. I felt bad for number 3 a little. Didn't come out for a while and ended up going in a different direction....I would have felt better seeing them all head out in the same direction-together.

So my stinky little friends are on their own now...good luck little fellas!

Spunky the rat was released the day before these guys. I took his little nest box and tucked it in a nice woodpile down by the pond where I found him. No cute goodbyes there....never even saw him leave because he wasn't going to come out of there while I was around!

4 down, 23 raccoons to go!