Miscelaneous meanderings.

Been busy getting animals squared away everywhere these days. I moved the 12 squirrels out to the release pen.

A couple checks to the island release site and on one day we found Sis and Doc in a den box. The next night we were met by Doc out in a nearby tree and there were 2 up in a giant pine that were less than thrilled to see me. I'm guessing 2 of Laurie's shy gang.

We've been getting updates on the crew at the second release site. Various sightings of 6 or so there. I'm hoping we'll get a chance soon to pop down there and check it out.

On one of our trips to the island we came across a dead coonie in the road not to far from my house. The first thing Laurie and I both thought was Gibby! It was too hard to tell for sure as the head was a little crushed. I took him home and buried him....miserable! I spent the night looking for him out in the woods praying for a visit with no luck.....more miserable!! After a day long conference the following day on fluid therapy in NH, I headed back into the woods. As usual River and her little piggies were anxiously awaiting my arrival!

Nile was the lookout above....

....while River then Amazon came in from below.

Amazon is River's #1...she's the dominant one of the kids. She's sporting a new slash on her poor nose now. Nothing major though and it's already improving. I am also amazed at how much nicer they are with me now that they've been released! River wanted to kill me and the 4 kids avoided me at all costs. Since being released, not only have they stuck around, but they have begun trusting me enough to take food right from my hand! Amazon is the most trusting and doesn't hesitate.

Nile is getting braver every day and barely hesitates now. Tigris and Howell are much shyer...Howell will not approach me or let me approach him. He just tolerates my presence. Tigris will start to approach but not take anything from my hand. She prefers to hang back with Howell.

Regardless, all of them are big, fat, healthy, beautiful raccoons that have me wrapped around their little fingers!

Then the amazing happened!! Gibby appeared among Rivers gang! I can not even begin to describe the relief!!!! And the next thing I knew there was quite a crowd around me! Ringer and Belle were there with their kits, and suddenly Quinny showed up, actually grabbed a nut out of my hand, and scurried off! Haven't seen him in person in ages!There was also a little male that definitely knew me enough to take a nut from my hand.... not shy like one of the usual wild kits. Laurie and I are thinking it may have been Andy. He's changed a lot, but the face was somewhat similar....
Further out in the woods, other familiar kits from the wild gang were hanging around waiting to see if I might be leaving dinner out for them this particular evening.....they were not disappointed. :) 

On the nights I don't leave dinner out for every raccoon in the woods, my squirrel/bird feeders are regularly raided. It's not uncommon for me to pull up after a night shift and see some big round furry butts hightailing it across my back lawn in the headlights! When I get in the house I head to the back door to let the dogs out and have to do the coonie check. It never fails...there is usually one, who while trying to figure out why the heck everyone else ran off, gets that deer in headlights "oh shit!" look when the back light goes on and I poke my head out the door. Bagged! Then it freezes and does the whole "if I don't move while hiding behind this tiny branch no one can see me" routine. LOL  I had to make this little fella understand that Yes, I do see you and you have to move along now so I can let the dogs out.

Last night I saw 3 of the biggest butts ever running across the lawn! My coonie check revealed River still in the tree. I should have known! She didn't freeze though. She just acted like she owned the place and wanted to know why I was disturbing her dinner out with the kids. I had to bribe her with a little snack out in the woods to get her out of there so I could let the dogs out. Like I said....wrapped around their little fingers!

Wouldn't have it any other way! :)

Friends, foes & moving day for the girls.

Still no visit from Vin yet, but Scrappy here is still making regular visits. He especially likes to show up when I'm out feeding everyone else. Hmmmmmm, wonder why that is??? LOL

After running into Scrappy I had the extreme pleasure of running into my Ringer girl! I had just thrown a little treat to Hissy out back and as I went to walk by the main feeding platform she came running down to see me. So I gave her some dinner and we hung out while she ate. She looks great and, as usual, despite not seeing each other for months, she was quite happy to see me and was more than accepting of a few scratches under the chin and behind the ears! How wonderful it is to see how well she has done since her release in 2006!!

Yesterday Laurie and I got the girls moved to the release site! After a frustrating, sometimes humorous (not all coonies turn around to bite you when you grab their tails to prevent them from getting up a tree after escaping!), sometimes painful (unfortunately for Laurie....some do when you're not the mamma and you're trying to grab them!) we FINALLY got them all packed in crates and shipped to the release site.

So in a couple weeks, Pip, Merry, Dolci, Stony, May, Amy, Moose and Kinky will be free at last! Maybe they can say Hi to Baloo, Cinn, Peanut and the gang if they run into them since it's the same release site.

My little red friends don't seem to be stalking the squirrel feeder as much....but I do occasionally have to chase one or the other off. I came downstairs the other day to find this one laying on the ground right in front of the deck. On top of the railing was a big fat (obviously very smart) squirrel....just sitting up watching it! OK....maybe it was actually taunting it! That squirrel knew to stay calm and sit tight....the fox wasn't getting it up there. LOL

I opened the kitchen window to "suggest" to the fox it might want to move along. As it took off across the yard, foiled once again, it turned and I got one last dirty look before it ran into the woods.

Instead of sauntering off into the woods as usual, I think it decided to test our intelligence a little. A grateful squirrel was not fooled in the least and opted to trot right past me into the woods while I stood guard.
Sorry little fella....I love you guys, but this is not the fox feeding station! (But it sure is nice to get such a close up look at such a beauty!)

An unwelcome reunion!

On my way home from work today I decided to swing by the release site and check it out. I had filled the feeders a few days before Christmas and haven't been back since. The food was barely touched.....typical this time of year and after all the snow we got just after Christmas.

Checked the den boxes in the pen and empty as usual. When I tried to move the one on top of the pen it seemed a little heavy though! So I grabbed a ladder and opened up the back and Surprise!!!!

Forgive the crappy quality of the pics....only had my cell with me!

They were less than thrilled about seeing me and the only look I got of the browner one's face was the first pic. Spent the rest of the time trying to become one with the back wall. Squished up as close to it as possible, facing it the rest of the time and not moving a muscle...because as you may not know, it's a well documented fact among coonies that if ya do that, the strange, scary creature can't see you! You are now magically invisible to all! LOL I took advantage of the "become one with the wall" move to cop a little feel (hehe) of the other ones backside! I was rewarded with this less than pleased look! But it was enough to know it's got plenty of body fat and at a healthy weight.

Considering they were cornered in there, I was lucky enough to see what I did without any war wounds! There is really no way to get a better look and give them a thorough exam for injuries. Both were BAR (bright, alert, responsive) and good body weight so no illness. If injured, it's not keeping them away from food or preventing them from climbing. I'm guessing these guys are smart enough to hole up close to the food in this horrible cold weather so they don't have to freeze their paws off for too long to get a meal! LOL
I wish I could say for sure who they were. I don't think I'd recognize any of Laurie's anyway, and they change a lot.... it's hard to tell when not seeing them regularly. I know who they definitely aren't.....any of the Attitudes (Vin's brothers), the Beach boys (Tash's brothers), Michelle or Pansy. I think the dark one is possibly Drake or Quarry.....both were dark like this and the total fear would fit Drake perfectly, where I would think his sister might have at least shown a hint of "hey I remember you I think!" Drake was one of the skittish ones that wouldn't come near me but his sister loved the mama! Of course I can guess till the cows come home and I'll never be sure! I'm happy enough to have had the brief visit and know they are doing alright!

*SIGH*- Vin has company.

I jinxed myself! The injured beach boy I talked about at the release site is back! I had spread Phillip's ashes out there with the gang so he could be free with them....silly I know but I hoped he would keep an eye on them with a little divine assistance maybe? No such luck...LOL. (or maybe just the luck Tash needed it would turn out!)

I set up the coon cam out there and there is plenty of activity. The gang is still hanging out together and until now Tashmoo was keeping up despite the fact that he is obviously still not using his back leg. If it was as simple as the bite wound he should not be limping around like this anymore!

He was injured over 3 weeks ago and at the very least should be bearing weight a little! Luckily with the camera I am able to see he is still getting along great, eating well and in good body condition. He's there with the gang every night so that's good. There is no way we'd be able to trap him with all those guys running around out there! Concerned but not terribly worried.....hes adapting and doing well.

Then Laurie checks the site Friday. He scared the crap out of her when she opened the den box and he's in there huffing away at her! (LOL...see I'm not the only one getting the crap scared outta me!)

Soooooo.....I head over after work and as I expected it was Tash. He still loves mom luckily so I was able to get him into a carrier and bring him home.

Vin was so excited when I arrived......until he realized I brought company and not a treat that is! LOL

They are both familiar with each other so they are able to be together. Vin was perfectly fine coming right down to say Hi....Tash a little less welcoming but tolerant just the same. They won't exactly be cuddling in the same den box together, but have no problem hanging out in the same pen together.

Tash was very happy to be safe and comfortable back home and definitely in need of some help from mom.

Until we are able to get an x-ray and a good look, I can't even begin to speculate, but the leg is very swollen and painful to the touch and although he can move it somewhat, he's not using it at all. He did manage to get into the hammock and make himself comfortable though!

Right now he's eating well and BAR (bright, alert, responsive) which is a very good sign. Whatever is wrong it's not making him sick at this point, just impairing his ability to function properly like climbing and escaping danger! A sitting duck on borrowed time if left out there on his own.

May, Amy and Moose are doing great....the 3 little pigs are eating all their food and growing like weeds.

As for the rest of the gang at the release site.....one is a little gimpy out there but not to the extent of Tashmoo. The gang is still hanging out together and doing well. Here is my sweetie Michelle (far left) looking great! She's the easiest to tell with that little snub nose of hers! Reminds me of my Dandy girl!

Checking the release site.

We've been keeping an eye on the release site of course and so far so good. A couple have been back with injuries, but nothing that warranted us bringing them in.

One day Camy, one of Laurie's from Vin's original group was holed up in a den box with a bite wound to a rear leg. But the wound looked good and clean, wasn't bleeding anymore, and he was using the leg without a problem so we left him there.

The next time I went out I opened the box Camy was gone and one of the beach boys popped his head out! He was very happy to see mom....

....and upon realizing I had some tasty marshmallows as a treat he was more than eager to come out so I could check him out for injuries.

He also had a bite wound on a rear leg. Unlike Camy though, he wouldn't use the leg to walk on. However after watching him for a while, he did use the leg to try to scratch his ears....so he can use it, he is just choosing not to, probably because it is very sore. The wound is easily accessible to him to clean and chew at so I have no doubt he'll keep it clean and if it does abscess he will be able to keep it draining and it should heal fine on it's own. He was gone the next day also.

I'm sure if either of them get as bad as Vin did they will be back....they obviously know they have a safe place to stay when they need it. These are wounds they get out in the wild all the time and most times they just hole up until they are healed enough to get back out there. Our gang will have the added advantage of getting help if it does get worse instead of better like Vin's did.

And then there is Vin! I ran into him in one of the den boxes Wednesday. He appeared fine and walked out of the den box but he was not about to let me get a closer look at his ass! LOL He kept it tucked out of sight and out of reach into the back corner of the den box every time I tried to look. Laurie headed over the next day to check on him and while I'm at work I get the call...."I think he needs to come in." She forced him to get out of the den box and walk around and he wasn't walking right. Soooooooooo....I meet her over there after I got out and we take him in.

*Sigh*....Vin, Vin, Vin....what the heck is going on out there with you!

Well he's got new wounds, re-wounding the original ass wound and both hocks are very swollen and sore. It was a late night working on him until about 10pm so sorry, not time to stop and take pics....we just wanted to fix him up and get outta there! We took an x-ray of his hips just to be sure nothing was broken because of the way he was walking, (whew! nothing is!) then Dr. Grange ( who was kind enough to stay that late to help him...thank you so much!) decided to try and just close the wound up. She did an awesome job....now we are just hoping he decides to leave the sutures in! But I'm not holding my breath! It's worth a try though, and worst case if he pulls them out we just continue to treat it like an open wound like last time.

Once again he is being an awesome patient! He will be easy to treat thank god and it's safe to say now he is officially one of the overwinters...so there will be plenty of pics to come.

The rest of the gang are emptying the feeders regularly out there...so this gang is sticking around more so than the first, although Vin and Camy coming in to utilize the safety of the den boxes shows the first gang hasn't totally forgotten!

Qbert, Snarf and Snuffles

Finally here is little Qbert ..(so named by the people that rescued him) is in with my first 2 babies Snarf and Snuffles. He was very happy to have playmates....
.....and they were more than happy to welcome a new friend!

They are doing great and already eating solids.

Awwwww...and they are just so cute together!

These guys have since moved into a bigger indoor cage and 2 younger greys and the single red are in this cage now. For lack of another red to put him with, he's in with the grey squirrels until we get one. Better to have some company than keep him alone for now.

Michelle and the rest of the little ones have finally been moved into the big pen vacated by the gang that was moved to the release site. More room to stretch their paws and run around like maniacs! They are loving it!!

We're still on track for a Wednesday release for Gerry and the gang....looks like the weather will be nice and Laurie and I are both off to send them on their way. It will be great for them but tough for us.....

At the release site.

OK....finally! The release site! It's perfect for them!

The very secluded path begins near the house.......and winds all through the woods. (That was fun lugging it all in there!)

It's like fern gully!

Into a clearing and there it is.
All set up and decorated a la raccoon.

Then it's time to add the coonies! Here they are.....The Attituds and NCIS all packed up and ready to go. (and not very happy about it either!)

Once my gang and Lauries are all loaded into the pen the crates are opened and the fun begins!

New territory and new surroundings makes for a lot of fun.....and that means no major squabbles among strangers! Even if there were problems, the cage is plenty big enough for them to avoid each other and plenty of den boxes to separate into.

They're all doing great out there and we are aiming for Wednesday for a possible release....weather permitting. They are going to love it out there!

The gang in Framingham.

I've been keeping tabs on the gang in Framingham and I'm happy to say Cinnamon, Peanut, Phoenix, Willie, Raquel, Ellie,Chicken, Piggy, Fozzy and Gonzo are doing great! I finally got a chance to go through the pics on the camera.

They start to trickle in early and check out the new gadget that just appeared!I stop by occasionally after work and this night had a nice little visit with some of them! Raquel was the first to come say Hi to mom. Eventually Ellie and Chicken graced me with their presence too. The humidity and killer mosquitoes drove me out before I could wait for more to come in...not to mention I had to work bright and early the next morning!

It's safe to say they feel pretty relaxed out there now.....

And looks like they are sticking together also! There are 2 other feeders out there...why they all have to eat right on top of each other is beyond me, but it does show me pretty much the whole gang at once. Seeing them separate makes it hard to get an accurate head count....

...but the family portrait makes it pretty easy!

There are a couple mom's out there also...one is pretty large, possibly Baloo? The other looks like Rosie maybe.....? Either way, everyone is getting along pretty well out there. Maybe Willie was helpful mediating between the two groups since the original group were his siblings after all. Luckily Willie fared much better the second time around!

Updates on the release sites.

I'm very happy to report that all appears well at all the release sites. Baloo's gang is still hanging together. That's RJ facing us on the left and as you can see they still like to huddle around the feeder together as a group! Cooniebear the tail-less coon and his friend are still regulars as well as the big fat possie.

I was crazy enough to head to Dozer's release site last night..probably the coldest night of the year! I hadn't been in a while so I needed to check the bucket and maybe run into someone since they were occasionally there between 7 and 8 on the last round of pics from the coon cam, but I wasn't hopeful.

Well cold doesn't even begin to describe it. It was the kind of cold that makes the snot freeze in your nose when you breathe in! LOL How's that for descriptive! I'm glad I went though because the feeders were totally empty. So I filled them and ran the flashlight over the surrounding trees hoping someone was around. Just as I'm packing it in I catch sight of a pair of glowing eyes staring from a treetop. I start calling to them.....and ever so slowly I notice the glowing eyes going down the tree. Once they hit the ground I figure the coonie is either going to book it out of there the other way or hopefully head my way for a visit! Well he booked it all right....straight over to me! My baby Dozer was more than happy to see mom again! That was all Tank needed to see from his spot up another tree and down he came too, very happy to see me. Luckily I had my cell phone for pics again!

Tank
Dozer

Both of them insisted on climbing into my arms and cuddling with me.... and doing a wonderful job of grooming my hair as well! (I wasn't wearing my nice warm fleece hoodie because Tank freaked out! He was sitting right next to me when I put it on and when he saw me...suddenly I wasn't mom anymore! LOL)

I could have stayed with them forever...but again, it was FREEZING! So I said my goodbye's and threw some treats down to keep them occupied while I snuck outta there to warm up my frostbitten face! But seeing them made it all worthwhile!