Ring-tailed Rascal

You know who the ring-tailed rascal is, right? That's what we call Raccoon sometimes.

But I was surprised to find another ring-tailed rascal -
the rare ring-tailed Squirrel!

Broken

This is what the bird feeder looked like this morning. It is supposed to be an indestructible feeder.
The company that made it will give you a new one if it breaks.
I'll bet they are sorry for that guarantee! I have already gotten three or four free new feeders just like this one.
They just didn't know our raccoons!

Bird feeder down

Look what I found smashed on the ground.

The whole feeder - the hook - even the entire limb of the tree it was hung on.

Who would have broken off the whole branch?

It must have been one big fat raccoon!

Raccoons

I forgot to take my camera out with me this morning.
Silly me! Of course there was something I wanted to show you.

My excuse is that I was thinking about catching pillbugs – but that’s another story.
I started to fill the first bird feeder and I heard a noise. Something was in the bush by the garage.
Something jumped out of the bush and hissed.
It was a BIG raccoon. She was looking at me as if I was a Big Problem.
Then I heard a squeaking. A baby raccoon staggered out of the bush. It was clearly a toddler, just learning to walk. Its head bobbled around. This little raccoon couldn’t run away from me. No wonder the big Raccoon was worried. No wonder I was a Big Problem!
Mother Raccoon straddled the baby and kept staring at me. I backed up so she wouldn’t think I was going to hurt the baby. Then she grabbed the little one by the back of its neck and picked it up.
I didn’t think she could get it off the ground – but she managed to lift it up. The baby hung limply and stopped crying. Mother Raccoon waddled off as fast as she could go carrying that little one.
And I didn’t have a camera! Oh, I wish I could have taken a picture to show you how cute that little Raccoon was!

Here's a picture I took the other day of the mother Raccoon. You will just have to imagine the little one.