I found some hidden gems!

Thanks to updated computers and software and technology in general....I got these hidden gems off my old cell phone that broke ages ago! Thanks to blue tooth technology I was able to get some of the videos that were stored in it! So lucky you guys....you get to see what it's like when I happen to run into an old friend......and her adorable new family!

It ain't professional by any means, just crappy cell phone quality.....but enjoyable all the same! This is Red with her darling family last June 2010 when I ran into them checking the main feeding station.

Then of course there was Little Monkey, one of the reds released here that year that decided to make me his little play gym. I would show up and and he would immediately start demanding some kind of treat, then proceed to strip search me if there were none produced forthwith!

Sometimes he brought one of his siblings and god forbid I put the raccoon formula and food down for a minute......they would just start helping themselves! After all, I was there to cater to them, was I not?!

Never a dull moment when heading out to take care of the rehabs!!

Dandy & the extended family.

Well it has been far too long since updating you on my extended family sharing the woods with me!

Lets begin with one of my favorite success stories...Dandy! If not for Dr. Bruce and Dr. McGrath, she would not be out there today bringing her adorable new family in for a visit! THIS is why we do what we do!

Then we have the bachelors. All the older males....you know those loners who don't socialize and kill kits whenever they get the chance. HA! These guys have been hanging out for a couple years together, and they made sure Dandy and her kits were long gone before chancing a meal!

Then we have Dandy, Quinny and Scrappy all eating peacefully together. All from different releases....none knew each other prior, Dandy a new protective mom, Quinny a seasoned adult male now and Scrappy the new kid on the block.

Having recently had conversations on the Raccoon Network regarding the so called "experts" who decided what the social lives of raccoons were like....I'm always curious as to how the hell they came up with their info. Because to be honest with you, it's all a load of crap! After years of observing them out there...in person and on video....it's obvious one of them probably saw one lone raccoon one evening and spun the tale of the elusive procyon lotor, with something less than an intelligent imagination! LOL

Red fox kits rescued.

OK...be prepared for the ultimate cuteness!

Laurie got a call from an alpaca farm in our area that found a litter of fox pups in the barn. They had seen the mom laying in the field one day. But 2 days later when she was still there, they knew something was wrong. On closer inspection she looked perfectly normal like she was just laying there, however when they turned her over she was torn apart. Poor thing had fallen victim to some type of predator....possibly a coyote or fisher?

It wasn't hard to find a litter of hungry, crying kits in the barn. A litter of 11! Yup.....11! Holy cow!! That is unusually large for a fox litter. (or any litter for that matter...hehehe).

So the kind woman brought them to Laurie at work and she and Lisa began the re hydration process....while we tried to figure out what the heck we were going to do with them all.

So I met up with them after work and we divided and conquered. I took 4, Lisa took 4 and Laurie took 3.

Now...prepare for the cuteness! Here is my gang in all their glory!

2 boys and 2 girls and I loved every moment with them....even the late night hours! They were quite vocal and full of personality....even at 2-3wks old. It's amazing how much quicker they mature than our domestic dogs! These guys were already wrestling, dominating each other and had even eaten some soaked puppy chow! One of the females had some serious attitude....she would attack the bottle, growl and shake the nipple into submission, making sure she had properly subdued the beast before finally deciding it was OK to actually drink the formula from it and fill her belly.

As soon as the bellies were full, into their "den" for some serious nap time.

Once again I contacted Dawn out in Western Mass. and she agreed to take the whole gang of them! She's a wonderful rehabber and specializes in coyote and fox. In fact she's the one that took my coyote pups last year.

And once again we lucked out with the transport all the way out there. Thanks again to Jim (and his very polite and accommodating sidekick Samantha!) who let them hitch a ride.

So Lisa collected the other 7 together and brought them over here to be reunited as one big happy litter of 11 again. Then I packed them up and off they went....sniff, sniff....

Oh it was so hard parting with them! But it's best for them so.....

One last pic before I left.....an adorable pile of 11 sleeping fox kits tucked away all snug and safe!

So thanks to a combined effort from a lot of people...these little guys are in good hands! Can't thank you enough Dawn!

Mom and the little kit visit again.

I went out back last night to pay a visit to Red if she was around and I was pleasantly surprised by these two! Momma is a shy girl so I stayed back about 30 feet to watch them. Unfortunately that meant this type of picture of them from my crappy camera! I kept talking to her and she let me edge forward closer to them! I'm not sure who it is, she's skittish but tolerant of me so she's definitely got to be one of my gang.

Trusting enough to let me get this close finally! Awesome! The little one followed mom's lead....as long as she was ok with me, so was the baby. Of course mom was still keeping a very close eye on me as well....one wrong move and she was ready to get her baby outta there.

They both enjoyed dinner....I was pretty surprised such a little kit was even munching on the dog chow. This one seems mature beyond it's age luckily!

They're not staying in the den box. Eventually mom signalled for the little one to follow her and off they went into the woods. It was a relief to see they are doing well! Hopefully I'll get some good video of them on the cooncam!

The little kit

Got some cute video of the tiny kit at the feeding platform. I don't think they are still there. It appears they left the night I found them there. Something may have happened to the original den and mom just needed a place to stop and regroup with the one kit she had. It's unusual for one so young to be out traveling with mom yet so I hope they are safe. It will be a lot easier for mom to keep an eye on and protect just one kit though so hopefully things will go well for them.

These kits are the proper size to be out traveling with mom now. You can see the difference between the little guy and this crew! As you can see it's quite a busy station which is why most don't use the den box up there....it's just a place to hang out while visiting each night, however it is good for emergency situations as may have been the case here.

No sign of mom or kit after this so hopefully she got the little one some place safe...although I have to say, it was pretty good at getting around! Mom wasn't carrying it up and down the tree....he(or she) was doing it all by itself!

Good luck little one....I'll be keeping my eyes out for ya to see how you do!

The late kits out back.

Well I'm not the only one taking care of kits late in the season! I had been seeing a coonie make regular visits during the day.....and now I know why! Here she is bringing her new gang out to hang with the rest of the crew out there. I think there are 4 of them so she's got her hands full! I was never quite sure who she was....but if I had to venture a guess, it would be Whitey....Ringer & Belle's sister. I haven't seen her in a while but she looks very similar and although she wouldn't let me get too close, she tolerated my presence without going into a total panic and taking off....so she knows me.

The fact that she's started bringing them out also explains why I haven't seen her during the day any more in a while. Very cute! It also explains all the noise last night when I went out to visit. I kept hearing a lot of chattering like little kits calling mom but thought there had to be another reason....all the kits are older! Well here's the explanation in black & white! It WAS the chattering of little kits calling mom!

Ran into Red, Silly, Brownie, Popeye, Fuzz and various other older kits willing to come just close enough to grab a few treats thrown to them.

The girls out back.

Went out back after work last night and ran into a few of the girls. Red was very happy to see mom as usual! Had to hold and cuddle and play with her for a while. Daisy was out there with her too. I think they are hanging out together because whenever one comes out, the other is there. Although Red is a little bitchy about sharing mom and gives Daisy the growling, huffing treatment when she comes up to me while Red is with me. But she's all bark and Daisy kind of ignores her, giving her some space while still coming over to me for her lovin! Red's just gonna have to share!
There were a couple shy older kits out there...but not shy enough to run away when I brought treats over to them. They stayed just out of reach, but waited for the treats then went to work on them.

Brownie showed up after the 2 kits had had enough and scooped up the rest.

Ringer has 4!

Ok, just came in from out back. Not too much activity around 10pm. After a couple minutes of talking out loud, Ringer came in to the coondo. Followed by 2 kits.....then another......so I was so wrong about her kit count! She took some fig newtons and scratches from me, but wouldn't settle.

Then I heard someone calling from the bushes. Sure enough she went out there, then came back and kept pacing, then running up to me for scratches, then pacing again. I decided someone was too shy to come in....so I moved away. Ringer followed, with 2 of her kits on her tail. A couple minutes later, I looked back at the coondo and there were 2 kits up there. One more good back scratch from me, then she ran back to the coondo ( with 2 very cute rolly polly butts waddling behind her) collected the 2 there, everyone met in the middle, then she marched back to me. She's got 4...boy was I wrong all right.

I can't believe it but all 4 followed her right up to me as she asked me for one last scratch! I didn't move to try to pet them or anything....I knew they wouldn't let me.....but they all came up to my feet for a curious sniff. Then Ringer took off into the bushes by the water and one call from her and they were quick to follow.

It was so comical to watch them. They are HUGE....almost as big as her already, and beautiful! What a wonderful mom she is....and a wonderful feeling to know she is doing so well out there and willing to let me remain a part of her life.

Tosser, Mo & Roxy join the big kids.

Last night was Tosser, Mo and Roxy's first full night out in the big boys pen! They have been having "play times" together to get used to each other. Everyone did so well yesterday....all day....that we tried the sleepover. Everyone loves the little boys......who couldn't, they're so damn cute!....and aside from a few tiffs between the girls.... Roxy, Growler & Tugger (leave it to the girls!) they are doing great together.

Mo enjoys the hammock!

Tosser the cutie!

Mo enjoys a snack & Tosser again.

The rest of the gang finds out about the snack!

Clover smiles for the camera.

Tugger finds the hidden snack.

Tosser and Mo wrestle in the hammock....what a blast they were having!

Roxy enjoying the treat before the invasion.

Group wrestle in the hammock!!

Enough with the pictures mom! (I only took about a million pics of them sitting up there!)

Roxy reclines in the hammock.

Teddy enjoys a a good chin scratching.

Ok mom....one last picture....and can I finishing eating now!

Last night ran into Screech and Popeye out back. They both look great and no new injuries thank god!! The night before Daisy popped up for a visit by the kids pen. She didn't stay long, but after I fed I went out back and ran into her again out there. Ringer was also there with 6 or more kits hanging in the tree. They weren't all hers....but it's amazing how great they are with kits regardless of who they belong to!

I think Ringer actually has at least 2 kits now. I originally thought only one, but last night when I went out, I ended up between Ringer and company on the feeding platform and a kit in a tree behind me. When it started churring anxiously because it was afraid to come to the platform with me there, Ringer went right over to it and she had one of the kits from the platform right on her heels!

Again, I didn't stay long because the MASSIVE swarm of mosquitoes drove me in!

Here they come!

Here is the gang starting early last night. Mom's and kits all over the place! Everyone is getting along pretty well for the most part also.

When I showed up the kits all ran up the trees while the mom's came running to say Hi to me....and get the treats they know I brought them too!! This is Lexi & Silly.

Eventually the kits realized if their mom's thought I was OK, then I must be! Silly's were the bravest as you can see here. They even gave my hands a little sniff or two before putting a little distance between us.

Finally the rest of the gang started coming back down the trees and hanging out while the big, scary stranger was there!

There were kits hanging everywhere! Here you can see 5 of the crowd of many. All the kits have a blast playing with each other....it's like a big kit daycare tree hangout. All the kids get to play with each other while the mom's visit and chat over lunch! ha ha It's definitely a safe place for them to eat....up high on a raised platform with very easy access to trees makes for safety from any possible predators for the kits.

Mom's and kits

Here they are! Finally a sighting of Belle, Bella and Macy! They hung out for quite a while down here and at one point there were a few mom's and their kits all hanging out.

It's hard to see in this picture, but both kits are at the bucket on the platform.

Here we have Ringer and her kit. I think she only has the one. I was out at 1am yesterday and found her at the platform along with a pair of eyes up in the tree. A little one too shy to come down. Seeing these pictures now I'm pretty sure she's just got this one.

And the lovely Daisy is still hanging around. I have been finding her hanging in the den boxes in the release pen during the days. No sign of the rest of the gang when I do get a chance to get out there. Daisy must have been grabbing a small snack before heading in for the day.... while there were no other mom's or adults around to hassle her!!

A Tragic Day for Belle

It is with a VERY heavy heart that I tell you that once again, Belle's babies were attacked and killed. I discovered it yesterday afternoon. This time all 3 kits were killed and Belle is pretty beat up. She obviously put up a good fight, but she's such a little girl and whatever it was got the better of her. I had to bring her in to keep an eye on her. Her eye is a little swollen, she's not using her right front leg and she's pretty scratched up. Nothing life threatening, but in no condition to be out there defenseless right now with her limited mobility.

I'm guessing a rogue male coon. The bodies were mutilated and left there. A fisher would take them with it. Although if Belle battled with it, maybe it didn't have a chance to take them. Who knows, either way I'm miserable! I'll never put a den box back up there...it's obviously not safe for moms to have their kits in and I don't want to invite future moms to use it. It's not right at the feeding station, but it's apparently close enough to attract unsavory company.

We also discovered Popeye with a nose injury. Looks like someone gave him a good bite and ripped the front of his nose apart. Poor guy. It looked awful, but he was brought to the vet and he stitched him up like new! It looks great and he should heal up well.

These are some pics of his ordeal. He was such a good boy at the vet also. He let everyone do their thing without a hassle.

We got to wondering if maybe whatever got Belle's babies may have paid a visit to the release cage and managed to get him through the cage. The release cage is chain link....easy enough for a nose to poke through and something to grab it. For now, the poor guy has his own suite at Hotel Raccoon and he seems to be enjoying his privacy! All the treats and attention don't seem to bother him either! haha