Fauna and other natural things

[paultuttle]

My husband captured video of three deer leaping across a bike/walking/jogging path yesterday at the local Revolutionary War battleground park.

[Parasaurolophus]

The hatchling and I just went for our daily walk through the woods, and our paths crossed a great horned owl.

9h, and one banana slug.

[nebo113]

A somewhat confused chipmunk climbed up and down a screen.  I'm not sure whether it wanted in the house or just didn't like the birds feeding at the feeders on the porch.

[mamselle]

The hatchling and I just went for our daily walk through the woods, and our paths crossed a great horned owl.

9h, and one banana slug.

What's 9h?

9 herons, or....?

M.

[nebo113]

Dog barking madly on porch as I am removing bird feeders a bit after dark.  Finally realize the raccoon which I know loves bird seed and will empty feeders is on porch rail with little paws clasped around post.  Dog will not come in with R on porch.  I get flashlight (porch light burned out).  R still won't move.  I get looooong stick and poke.  R hisses, dog continues to bark madly.  R won't move.  I decide photo is in order, and when I get back out with phone, turns out there are TWO raccoons, Big Mamma R and Little R.  Photo taken and posted to FB.  Finally, after lots of persuasion, canine induced to come inside.  I'm barefooted and my feet are freezing.

Quiet ensues.

Moral of this story is that I must remember to bring in bird feeders before dark.

[Morden]

Raccoons are scary.

[mamselle]

Raccoons are scary.

Especially when procreation at 2 AM in the willow tree in your back yard.

Right outside your bedroom window.

And clearly at least one took the mantra from the days of sexual liberation, "Make noise!" to heart.

Probably both.

Just get it over and go to sleep, guys.

So I can.

M.

[Puget]

I was out for a jog in the dark the other evening (because everything after work is now in the dark), when into the beam of my running light trotted a small skunk. Luckily it was unperturbed and kept right on trotting across the path and into the trees on the other side.

[mamselle]

I think I posted this on the old forum:

When I went to my students' homes, I would walk to one of them from the bus stop, a block away. They lived near a playground and woods that had critters (including, at the other end, the woods near where I lived where the abovementioned raccoons cavorted).

In that block there was a very friendly black-and-white cat, named Sam.

Sam liked to sit on one of the gatepost tops and get people to pet him. He would also wrap himself around your ankles if you happened to cross 'his' driveway. There were signs all over the neighborhood reminding people it was fine to pet Sam, he was very friendly, but please don't feed him because he had some dietary issues, was getting to be an older kitty, etc.

So one afternoon, it was starting to get dark, and I was walking along the sidewalk near Sam's house and a black-and white furry creature came into view.

I had nearly bent down to pet it when I realized it wasn't Sam...and kept going.

M.

[Langue_doc]

Speaking of raccoons...

About ten years or so ago, I was coming home from my usual walk when I saw people on both sides of the road, staring at the second floor of a house. I heard someone say "his eyes are red", so I stopped to see who the red eyes belonged to. There was a raccoon peeping out of a hole in the faux-stone siding; a few minutes later, another raccoon joined the first one. Soon after, the siding was replaced, and the house seems to have changed hands several times subsequently. I still refer to this house as "the raccoon house".

[mamselle]

They have such cute little faces, don't they?

M.

[hmaria1609]

A raccoon got into someone's house in Stafford Co., VA over the weekend:
https://wtop.com/stafford-county/2021/11/masked-intruder-raccoon-apprehended-by-stafford-co-deputies/
Posted on WTOP online 11/14/21

[nebo113]

A raccoon got into someone's house in Stafford Co., VA over the weekend:
https://wtop.com/stafford-county/2021/11/masked-intruder-raccoon-apprehended-by-stafford-co-deputies/
Posted on WTOP online 11/14/21

Humor for my day!

[Langue_doc]

Raccoons are the latest fare-beaters in NYC.

Raccoon Spotted Trying To Enter LIC Subway Station, Video Shows

Here is the picture of the raccoon entering the station; I couldn't find the video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWYYza2glZI/

Here is the article:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/raccoon-spotted-trying-to-enter-lic-subway-station-video-shows/ar-AAQPaeO?cvid=f5cf9fc95d1f4e8e9a114a960d0357c4&ocid=winp1taskbar

[Parasaurolophus]

I offered a buck a kale leaf this morning, which it ate. It did not like it.