Nor'easter damage.

A couple days ago we were hunkered down. While other states were being buried in snow, we were blasted with inches of torrential rain and strong winds. The aftermath was flooding, power outages and a lot of houses with trees on them. I'm happy to say I lucked out this time with only minor damage.

A couple trees uprooted and toppled, landing harmlessly in the woods.

A couple close calls where trees cracked and toppled, luckily heading away from the pens!! Whew..that was a close one!
Lost the roof of the small outdoor section of the raccoon pen. The pen is still intact, luckily it was just the top that my dad made so everyone is safe and secure inside. Hard to believe that whole thing had been nailed together and the plastic screwed on all the way around the frame then all nailed down and secured to the roof!
There were lots of smaller branches that landed all over all the pens, but nothing big enough to cause damage to them. Any tarps are pretty much useless now. On the up side....lots of new branches to put in the squirrel pen!

The tar paper roof didn't fare very well either...but again, not major. Luck was on our side this time!

The laughing possum??

Maybe I should change the name of the blog to the laughing possum!

....or the bratty possum might be more like it!! LOL

Usually they wait till dark to come out and eat....never when I'm in there putting their food out. I'm guessing the smell of the sardines and chicken livers was just too hard to resist. Yummy. One whiff with those incredible noses and there they were....
Hey, watcha got there mom!

Ohhhhh yummy....the smellier the better!

It was good to actually see them for a change. Whenever I open the den box to try to get a peek this is what I see! They have totally stuffed it with newspapers and straw. I'm not sticking my hand in there either! These girls are snappy!

At the risk of jinxing myself...they look awesome and are doing great. After the other 2 mysteriously died I've been nervous about what I'll find on my daily trips out there. Nothing but normal, healthy possums so far! Whew!!

An unfortunate soul.

Unfortunately it's not always happy raccoon stories.

While at work yesterday we got a call for a sick raccoon. One of our cops headed out there to check it out. He couldn't decide if it seemed sick or injured, so I took my lunch break and headed out there. Luckily I usually carry all the necessities for situations like this in my car!

He was definitely in rough shape....but still ok enough to snarl and warn me when I got too close for his liking! Definitely injured....I could smell the infection from 10 feet away and we were outside.....

I managed to corner him amidst lots of growling and threats....meanwhile behind me from the officer...."Uhhh.....should I have my gun out!?" LOL! I'm thinking....not while I'm between you and the raccoon!!! Given the option of a nice enclosed, safe and quiet carrier (similar to a den) or being out in the open and exposed to scary predators like us, he walked into the carrier on his own and I was able to close him in there without having to net, chase or otherwise stress him out anymore.

I met up with Laurie at her vet, and long story short...after getting enough tranquilizer to knock out an elephant he FINALLY went down after a couple hours maybe?? and we got enough of a look at the poor guy to decide to euthanize him. Looks like he was attacked by something....a while ago! He smelled like he died weeks ago. The infection was so bad, even if he had a chance it would have required IV antibiotics and that would have been impossible with this boy. At least he didn't have to suffer a slow death out there or a bullet to the head. He went quickly and quietly and is no longer suffering.

Our girl Dandy.

Our little snubbed nosed friend Dandy is still doing great out there! She's big and fat and very healthy!! It will be 2 years in March (St. Patty's day in fact...talk about luck of the Irish!! LOL)since her amazing surgery and recovery and I am thrilled with the results! (and forever grateful to Tom and Ann!!) This pic was appropriately on valentine's day.....she was out lookin' for love I'm sure as this is their normal breeding season in full swing!

Aside from another few inches of snow, nothing new or exciting with the gang. Boys and girls still separated and the boys are still NOT happy about it....especially Peanut.

A couple more silly pics to warm us up!

It would have looked great!

I'm slowly but surely decorating my great room in a rustic style. This 3 foot, hand carved raccoon piece would have been perfect in there! But as usual it was on ebay and I was outbid yet again....sigh...got a little too rich for my blood right now anyway. But this guy does incredible work!! How adorable is that!!

The carver is Clint Wickman and he's in Wisconsin. You can check out his website here.

Maybe once the room is done I can commission him to do something similar.

Raccoon survey-input needed.

The attached Survey is needed for critical regulation issues regarding the banning of rescue and the rehab of native raccoons. Please take a moment and complete this survey to assist in determining how many people have raised raccoons and under what circumstances. The way to reverse a ban is for us to show that they backfire, that compassion can not be legislated, that the very thing agencies fear is exactly what happens.....public contact with these animals as they care for them in secret for fear of them being killed due to regulations.

http://www.lawbreakersanonymous.com/raccoonsurvey.htm

You will remain anonymous, honest responses are needed.

Fisher's and red fox and coyte......oh my!

The Woburn release site is like Grand Central Station! Video from this past week showed a bunch of the gang....Cat, Grizz, Dozer, Goldie, Tank, Diesel that I'm pretty sure of. And a couple of the coonies already living in the area before all these annoying young'uns showed up!

Then we have our coyote friend.....if there is enough on the ground he's in luck and he cautiously gobbles it up while keeping a very close eye on that very scary white thing hanging there. He (or she....haven't gotten THAT close of a look!) basically does a chew and screw...never more than a couple minutes there.

A new customer and a little bit braver is the red fox. He or she spent about 20 minutes hanging out and grabbing any morsels left on the ground.

Mating season is my guess as to why these elusive creatures are suddenly appearing all over the coon cams lately. This is a much better shot than the ass end view we had of the one going into the coon den at my place! Very casually spent some time nibbling and on his way again.

A beautiful animal...good size and great shape and aside from humans, the only thing that could and would easily take on a healthy coonie and come out on the winning end of the battle! Luckily there are LOTS of other easier prey options for them around here like squirrels and rodents.....so with the exception of kits in the spring, there are not too many clashes with the adult coonies. The coonden visit is a perfect example.

A visitor at the den.

Well Daisy's Den has become a bachelor pad this year. It's still all the boys coming and going in there. And occasionally an unexpected visitor! Of them all, this one was the only one brave enough to actually venture in there....

Dogs, coyote, fox, squirrels, rats....all have been around the den but would not dare to enter. But the fisher.....well that's another story....he went right in there! I wish I could say what happened after that....but nothing else on the camera. The den does have multiple entry/exit holes so I'm sure it went out one of them. Didn't seem to bother the boys much....business as usual after the visit and no one looks like they were in a battle of any sort either. I'm guessing the fisher would prefer a helpless kit over a den full of boys with attitude anyway!!

Had to separate the overwinters. Boys in the big outside section and the girls on the other side. The girls are starting to go into heat and I would prefer to keep the numbers where they are instead of adding kits to the mix! The boys are NOT happy about it!

Buttoning down the hatches for another winter storm arriving tomorrow. Bummer....predicting a foot or more of snow dammit!

This year's WRAM conference.

Our annual wildlife association of Mass conference was Saturday at Tuft's wildlife center. It was an early morning for us...after a close call the night before.

I was on the night shift when I got a call from Laurie...she picked up a dead raccoon that her uncle found in the road across from his driveway. He lives right down the street from the release site where Dozer and the gang were released!

And the panic sets in........

So when I got out around 11pm I headed straight for Laurie's to attempt an ID.

Even more panic when I open the bag and it's the color of Dozer, Tank and Razz.....

It's pretty frozen and really smelly...but I was so panicked I just forced the back legs apart and started searching for all the things a boy should have.....to no avail!!! OH THANK GOD!!! Why? Because there were only 2 girls released there...Cat and Goldie.... Cat was really black while Goldie's name says it all, and it definitely wasn't them!! Whew...now I could get some sleep before the early morning rise to head to Tuft's.

It was a packed house at this year's conference...the biggest ever!

Laurie and Mary set up the silent auction.

The highlight was the raptor presentation by Wingmaster's

http://www.wingmasters.net/index.html

An American kestrel...

This red tail was rescued and had a band on it...by tracking the band it was discovered this bird is 32 years old! Amazing! And now enjoying a very cushy retirement.
A golden eagle.
And my new favorites because they are just the cutest damn things!...the eastern screech owl....

...and the northern saw-whet owl. Both very cute and very little owls!!

The ever beautiful great horned. I've got one of these guys living in my woods.

The barn owl....female...

...and male.

Had wayyyy to much fun driving home. Laurie hopped in Mary's car with her and Lisa and I rode together. When Mary's jeep passed us we just fell in behind her and followed. Finally at one point we decide, hey let's pull up next to them and say Hi! Well you can imagine our surprise when I look into the car and it's not them!!! HA!!! We had been following the wrong car! I can't even begin to tell you how hard we were laughing......ok maybe I can, lets just say we came very close to wetting our pants! LOL Good thing we figured it out before the jeep pulled off the highway because we would have been right behind it wondering where the hell Mary and Laurie were going! Too funny! Seems we always have some type of adventure after a WRAM conference!

An apple a day....

Thanks to my friend and co worker Julie (thanks Jules!!), we have a few boxes of apples to distribute to everyone! Sooooo...who wants apples? Oh!!! I do, I do!!

Everyone came out and started picking their apples then digging right in!

Peanut wasted no time.

Phoenix makes her choice, digs right in, then decides to take her prize away from the crowd.

It's not just good for you....it's fun!

Thanks! That was yummy!!