Tag: wildlife

Bullet Point Updates

the Tall Girl # # #

I’ve been in a bit of a foul mood since returning from vacation. It relaxed and recharged me, but also made all the lousy stuff that I’d been learning to ignore stand out in stark relief again. So I’m not exactly a happy camper right now, and not in the mood to blog, despite having things to report. So I’m compromising and giving you the quickie version of the last few weeks.

  • Limpet likes hamburger — what raccoon wouldn’t? — but refuses to eat my take-out leftovers straight from the box. Something about the styrofoam scares him; he’d get close but wouldn’t take the food out of it. I finally had to go out on the porch (which caused him to run off), put the food on the ground, and wait for him to come back. (That’s him below, too. In case you can’t tell, that’s a bite of hamburger that he’s clutching in his little paws.)

    Sadly, Limpet has been MIA for a couple of days now, which worries me. I hope he hasn’t been hit by a car or gotten sick. (As someone was quick to point out today, raccoons do get rabies. I know; don’t remind me. This is my pet we’re talking about — and your dog can get that too, buddy.)
  • The raccoon twins are taking up the void Limpet has left. They and their mom have been actively scouting the porch for several days now. One toddler is swifter than the other, who seems a bit clueless about sniffing out food on his own. They also like to tote their prizes around the yard during the process of eating it — presumably to keep anyone else from trying to get a piece. (See the smart one above, hovering over a stale biscuit he’d claimed for his own.)
  • The creative writing retreat was amazing and I had a wonderful time. I organized all my hand-written notes about my novel, transferred most of the ones that were still relevant into Word docs, and edited various scenes (pretty much jumping wherever my notes and/or whims took me). It was productive and helpful but made me realize that I have a lot of work left to do.
  • Oddly, most of the folks I think of as regulars were not at the retreat. But I had my roommate Diane, who was great company, and enough other familiar folks that I didn’t feel lost the way I was afraid I might. So all was good in the end.
  • Since returning from my trip, a number of things are annoying me to no end — so much so that this morning I found myself looking at apartments online. I probably won’t do anything before our lease is up but I’m keeping the option in reserve if I get really desperate.

Hmm. Well, I think that’s life in a nutshell at this point. Consider yourself updated. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Undermining Darwin

the Tall Girl #

In theory, I’m all for survival of the fittest. But in practice, well, it’s a bit harder.

We have two injured animals that frequent our deck. One is a squirrel, the other a raccoon. Both are disadvantaged when it comes to getting around.

Our squirrel, who I call Lefty, has damage to his right front leg. It looks normal enough, but he doesn’t use it when he walks — only when he has to climb or to run from danger. He tries to use it when he’s eating and wants to hold food in his paws, but it doesn’t work very well; it trembles a lot and seems to be hard to manage. We suspect it was broken at some point and didn’t set properly. When I see him on the deck, sometimes I’ll throw him something special, like an oatmeal cookie. I used to worry about him getting enough food, but I’ve since decided that he does fairly well on his own.

My raccoon friend is another matter. I totally look out for him. He might do okay without my intervention — I hope he can, in fact, because one day I’ll move away and he’ll have to — but I worry for him, and so as long as I’m here, I’m giving him special treatment. I’ve dubbed him Limpet, because he has a pronounced limp that helps me tell him apart from the others. He looks incredibly lopsided when he walks, with his whole back half swaying side to side with every step. He looks positively spastic when he runs. I don’t know how he manages it without falling. Sometimes the leg gives out on him and he ends up sitting down momentarily, but then he just gets back up and keeps on walking.

It’s not easy to feed a single raccoon — partly because it’s unusual to see only one raccoon. They tend to congregate where food can be found, and somehow, they all know where the food is. (I think they follow anyone who looks well-fed.) And it doesn’t work to tell all the other raccoons to go away. (I tried, but if I make enough ruckus to really scare them off, Limpet will run too. Sigh.)

But lately, Limpet and I have stumbled on a strategy that works fairly well. In the late afternoon or early evening, when most of his brethren are still asleep, Limpet comes scrounging around the yard, picking leftover squirrel food (corn and seeds) off the deck. He usually backs off when I open the door, but he doesn’t go far; either he trusts me and knows I’m not going to hurt him, or he realizes that he’s got to take chances if he’s going to stay fed. I’ve gotten good at throwing slices of bread like frisbees, so I can get it fairly close to him. He also likes baked potato skins. Those are pretty hard to throw, but he’ll come after them wherever they land.

I must have a bit of Mom in me, because I really enjoy feeding my Limpet. He’s a bit skinny now, but I’ll fatten him up. Let’s just hope I don’t turn him into a carb addict.

News from the Yard

the Tall Girl #

I was afraid to speak too soon, but it definitely looks like the hawk has moved on for the time being. It’s been at least a week since any of us saw him, and the squirrels are once again frolicking in the yard unmolested. They aren’t out in the same numbers as before, but at least some of them are back.

And there are two new fuzzballs in the yard! Apparently new raccoons were born in the last month or two, because Monday we saw a new pair of plump raccoon toddlers following their mama around the yard. They were adorable. (You’ll have to take my word for it since I didn’t get pictures.) I hope we see them again soon. (I’ll try to get photos next time.)

Killer Hawk Continues Reign of Terror

the Tall Girl #

hawk2

The giant feathered death machine is still culling the squirrels from our backyard. We managed to save three squirrels from a brush with death this morning (or possibly one squirrel three times… they aren’t terribly smart). I’m beginning to fear it’s a losing battle. There’s only so much you can do when the half-blind squirrels keep running right to the waiting predator.

Nature is terribly unfair sometimes.