The Girls!

The girls (and Moose) are just on cuteness overload duty these days!! They are so very adorable and they know it! Of course Pip knows she's mom's number one cutie pie and wastes no time taking advantage of that! Kinky, Moose and May want to know what Pip is so excited about.
Merry and Dolci finally pop their heads out to see what all the fuss is about. Food? Is there more food coming?

Awww rats...it's just Mom!

Kinky came over to show off her newly injured hand. It happened the other night when Trouble #1 & Trouble #2 came by for one of their usual evening torments! It's bugging her enough not to use it, but it will heal up in time. Looks like she got it caught between something maybe?

May in all her cuteness!

And her sister Amy lounging comfortably nearby. I love it when they lounge with their legs sprawled over the edge of whatever they are sitting on!

Kinky joins Amy.

My lil' Pip! God she's the sweetest thing! (not that I'm partial or anything! hehe)

Here she joins her sister Merry who decided to come out and play despite the fact that I wasn't feeding them this time.

One beautiful smile from Merry (or maybe it's more like "Maaaaa...she won't leave me alone!)

Stormy and Moose preferred to stay holed up in the den box. No food, no fun! It was also a little cool and windy out too, so I can't say I blame them! They aren't really a mamma's boy and girl like the rest of them are anyway.

OK so I guess I'll say it one more time....are they not the cutest things ever!!

The grumpy gramps gang.

The pictures don't really show it as well as live and in person...but the 3 babies (May, Moose, Amy) have got this funky overgrown eyebrow thing going on....kinda like those grumpy old men with overgrown, really bushy eyebrows that need to be cut....you know what I mean? Oh my god they look so funny.....and angry! LOL It's making their eyes look so small and sunken in.

Regardless they are still the cutest things! This is one way to make sure no one else gets any of the food. Raccoon muffin!

May is not fond of the cold and usually clambers into my lap to warm her feet up....or when she is hungry and doesn't want to miss out, she just grabs some chow and crawls up onto me to

keep her feet out of the cold snow! It's quite a balancing act....impressive to say the least.They are getting big too! Of course Pip here isn't exactly big to begin with in comparison....but she sure is damn cute, don't ya think! Moose is the biggest of the babies and he's almost as big as her.

Not many of the others wanted to come out in the single digit temperatures. Vin came out for a few bites.....

Amy grabbed her dinner and brought it inside....

Scrappy spent a little time checking out his dining options before heading inside to the warmth of the pig pile in the den box.

Everyone is doing great including LB and the boys in the other pen.

One of the reds and a gray are still occasionally using the shed to hang out in. The little red has made quite a nest for himself out of the whole role of paper towels I had in there....little bugger! Not to mention sections of newspaper and plastic supermarket bags dragged all over the place in there. Someone is have a little too much fun in the squirrel shed I think!

Special thanks to Bedford PD! One of the officers on patrol came across an injured owl flopping around on the ground Monday night. He scooped it up then a late night call from Jeff got me off my nice warm, cozy spot on the couch.....sigh! Hehe..I'm teasing ya Jeff...didn't mind at all!! It's awesome to know there are great guys (and gals-can't forget Kristen of course, she does so much for the critters!) like your crew out there that actually care enough to help! Come midnight the barred owl was safely in the hands of Tufts Wildlife. When I checked in on it on Tuesday it was doing well. Initial x-rays showed a broken humerus but they were optimistic it was in a location that could be fixed and were just waiting for it to be stable enough to safely anesthetize it and get better x-rays and go from there.

One lucky owl!

One big (almost) happy family!

After a weekend of chaperoning meet and greets in the big pen, our 3 groups of coonies have become one! First the divider was removed and the little kids May, Moose and Amy were given access to the the big kids pen. Surprisingly the one's I expected trouble from were pretty good about the new guests and the quietest ones were wreaking havoc! Andy in particular.....wow what a brat he is being! May of course was the bravest and biggest pain....she started more trouble than she avoided! She went straight to the ground, searching out food ignoring all the rest until any of them dared to sniff, approach or otherwise look at her funny......then she became little Miss. Spitfire and all hell would break loose!
All 3 eventually ventured down but would retreat to higher ground...and one of the chaperons! LOL.....when things got sticky. Eventually they just opted to stick to the higher spots and wrestle among themselves until things quieted down.

Little did they know that was only the beginning of the excitement for the day! Once things settled down with the 3 babies it was time for Vin and Tash to try their luck! For Tash it would be a reunion with some. Pip, Merry, Kinky, Scrappy and Dolci were his step-siblings before he was taken to be released. Little Pip here was especially happy to have him back!

Tash got a lot of hugs and grooming from Pip......

...and was eagerly accepted back by the rest of the gang.

Easy going boy that he is, Vin had no personal issues with anyone in there, but a few gave him a hard time. (Yup-Andy had issues!) He took it all in stride though and basically turned the other cheek and kept a low profile...despite Stony's attempts to ruffle his feathers here!

I think Tash had a word with his siblings telling them Vin was a pretty good dude because they were more than happy to welcome him in like one of the family as Kinky did here.

So with the exception of a few disputes that are basically more noise than anything, everyone is getting along pretty well now or avoiding those they don't get along with. At this point Andy is still the primary trouble maker but no worries, May has already put him in his place! LOL

That leaves Vin's cage open for a new girl that came in last week and has been staying in Mary's pen until I could vacate one. She does not appear ill but that doesn't mean she isn't. She appears tame though so she'll be in quarantine for some time to rule out rabies. It's quite possible someone raised her then booted her out when she became too much trouble or when they thought she was old enough....not realizing they did more harm than good. Luckily she was picked up by an ACO that cared enough to give her a chance instead of just assuming the worst and killing her. Her appetite is great, she's a good weight and her coat is not unkempt so time will tell for this new girl.

The new baby!

Here's the new baby! OMG it is the cutest thing!!! Great big thanks go out to Kristy for this cutie pie....it was a wonderful surprise!!! If you haven't noticed her blog Mini Menagerie listed in the margin of this one, now is a good time to check it out. The most amazing and TINY little critters....I'm in awe and I don't know how she does it! This is so tiny even my camera couldn't focus on it...and my old eyes probably never will! LOL My picture does it no justice whatsoever...hers are much better and you can see them here.....
http://minimenagerie.blogspot.com/2010/11/another-pajama-baby-with-enormous-head.html
It reminds me so much of my little Pip....even the mask is the same...so Pip in PJ's it is!
Thanks so much Kristy!! Love it!

This years overwinters.

Laurie's 5 overwinters were brought over here a couple weeks ago to spend the winter with my crew as one big happy family! After a little getting used to each other (some better than others! LOL)...... .....everyone has become friends and gets along great!

One of Laurie's boys wasted no time getting comfortable on my shoulder!
Now they are all buddy-buddy with each other and cute as can be.

Of course my little Pip is the cutest ever! When she is in mom's lap the new kids are not allowed to share and she makes that very clear to whoever tries!

Kinky's pretty cute too!

Finally one of Laurie's gets the chance to get some attention without being chased out of my lap!

Then there is Vin! Poor, beat up Vin! He's doing great too. Eventually he will be able to join the gang, but not until he's healed up better. Not surprisingly he pulled out some of the stitches, but it still looks good and his appetite is back so all he needs is time now and he'll have plenty of that!