Crazy weather & crazy coons!

After blizzard upon blizzard, suddenly we have a stretch of a couple weeks with no precipitation! Yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Then the freezing temps give way to a few warm days. I mean, it was down right balmy! In the 60's even! It was beautiful.

I should have known there would be a price to pay.

Enter Friday night.....a MAJOR thunderstorm blew through here with high, gusty winds and torrential rain. By the next morning it looked like the pine trees had puked all over my yard, it was freezing again, and the gusty winds were sticking around.

Saturday was not a comfortable day! Luckily none of the pens were damaged. All the falling branches, trees and debris fell away from them, but the winds were still pretty bad.

First up LB and the boys. They were hesitant to come out to begin with because of the cold, (in fact LB didn't even bother!) but Mom was here.....and she's bringing food! So a big stretch, and lets check it out! Then ......screw this! The freezing wind sent Gibby and Ringo right back into the warm den box.

Andy bravely descended to eat some dinner, but it didn't last long! Notice how he's holding his back legs? He was trying to keep them warm by pulling them up against his body, and when that didn't work too well, off he went into the warm cozy den box. Enough was enough!
On to the rest of the gang. At first it was business as usual....everyone saw Mom, which equals food, so out they charged. Then a big gust of wind blew something down and there was a loud crash! A tremendous stampede ensued & they all ran back inside to the indoor den box. Well almost everyone! One of the babies thought it best to hide here! (I laughed so hard I don't even remember which one it was!)
Frozen still, not twitching a muscle! Remember, if they can't see you, then you can't see them.....same goes for whatever scares them!

When the rest of the gang heard me laughing my ass off, they figured it was safe to come out again, and unlike the boys, the freezing wind was not going to keep them from food! So veggies and omnivore diet was enjoyed by all....as well as some new fun! Some of the pine tree branches collected off the ground!
Pip, May and Amy

Kinky, Moose and Scrappy

Merry and one of the babies.

The babies have grown quite a bit! This is actually Pip (left) and Amy. Can you believe it! Amy already looks bigger than our little Pip! Moose is bigger still and little May is about the same size. Pip is so tiny, and is probably going to remain a pretty small raccoon. After seeing what this winter was like, I'm glad she spent the winter here.....probably would not have fared well out there. At least she'll have this coming season to mature and hopefully pack on enough size to get her through her future winters in the wild if they should end up being this bad again.

I'm not coming down there....Tash wants his dinner served up on the observation deck!

May loves her tummy tickles!

Amy knows where the treats are kept.....right in this pocket! It's a big pocket and I usually end up having to drag them out of there by their tail after they dive head first into it! It's pretty amusing to be walking around with nothing but a big furry butt and tail hanging out of your pocket! :)

And here we have Mr. Innocent himself....NOT! Vin is driving everyone crazy! Through no fault of his own of course....he's just being a raccoon. He's an older baby, more mature and feeling his oats so to speak.....he's acting like he's supposed to be, but that doesn't mean the gang and I have to like it!

After the first attempt at separating him (with Scrappy to keep him company) failed when he ripped apart the removable window, Dad came by and measured for a new one....hopefully a stronger one.

In the meantime, when I saw Vin and Scrappy hanging out in the section I wanted to separate them into, I couldn't let an easy opportunity pass. There is a built in plexi glass window that can be opened and closed to seal off that section as well. I had not wanted to use that because I still wanted them to be able to interact with the crew through a wire window, but the annoyance level among the girls has reached a peak. To avoid future injuries and future babies (in case anyone ends up going into heat!) I played my trump card.....and I'm going to hope he doesn't manage to dig his way in there again!