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Yesterday there was a strange, furry pile in the crook of the tree in the center of our driveway.
It was a heap of at least six (possibly seven) baby raccoons.
Although the last thing we need between the hen house and Goldie's new residence is a raccoon condo -- how cute! Ugh. Farm life is so tough.
This evening the little varmints had employed the buddy system. Two were lazing in the tree trunk (if you look closely, you'll see them both), which I presume is home base, since two years ago several babies appeared in this same tree. It's a perfect den for raccoons since it's got a nice, hollow trunk for running up and down in.
Rocky I started up the tree. Look at the amazing little toes and claws. You can easily see how they get into so much trouble with those dexterous hands.
Rocky II turned tail and headed into the bottom of the hollow, which is littered with empty walnut shells.
Meanwhile, Rocky III and IV were playing in the yard. 
They made for cover when they spotted me.
Rocky V and VI were over by the garden. Rocky V lay flat and froze in the grass, while VI attempted to scare me away by looking as big and fierce as possible.
While Rocky V maintained that If-I-Stay-Very-Still-It-Will-Surely-Go-Away, Rocky VI panicked and ran, mewling all the time to Rocky V with desperation and urgency: "Run away, my friend! Run away!"
Rocky V did not run away, but contended that Flatten-and-Freeze was indeed the best strategy.
Rocky VI scrambled to the nearest tree. The babies are about kitten-sized and don't climb too well yet, especially in a panic. I felt badly for Rocky VI, but the photo opportunity was just too priceless to miss.
It finally appeared that poor Rocky VI was hanging on for dear life, so I abandoned post.
Pepper (not yet aware that she has new stripe-tailed neighbors) is 7 1/2 months old now. Big big big!
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18 comments:
ok.. that settles it. I'm packing myself up and mailing myself to your house for a week. Expect a large Knotty Mouse shaped package in 5-7 business days.
The baby raccoons are adorable.. even though I know that soon enough they will be getting into your trash and throwing wild parties every night.
Too adorable for words. And how unfortunate that they chose that particular spot to hang out.
Batten down the chickens.
My husband wants to know if the mother is around? He and his family once adopted some babies after the mother had been run over. Theirs were much smaller at the time of adoption, however.
What dear little faces...we don't have raccoons here, not sure what Oscar would make of them.
Isn't Pepper just beautiful! Beautiful girl she is.
Oh, the mischief! it is all over them. I love the one laying flat in the grass, how funny. Your running comentary of what was going on was priceless. I'm with Mouse, I'm coming for a visit.
Wow those pictures are great. I love Pepper by the way!
Too cool!! I'm not sure I've ever seen baby racoons before.
You took GREAT pictures. Hope the raccoon family leaves your chicks alone.
Pepper is beautiful.
We have a raccoon tree and it appears our backyard is The Road To Mecca garbage can-wise and sometimes there are tragic births in the winter in our shed so I am not so enamoured with the little darlings anymore. Babies are always cute, though and you got some great shots. I love the whole lot of them like honey bears in the tree.
I think you got some amazing shots here. We had raccoons when I had outside cats with cat food out by my back porch that the raccoons could raid. I got a pretty cute picture or two of the big babies, but mother raccoon made warning noises toward them (and me?) so I backed way off.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog today!
The baby raccoons are precious. I am no farm girl but beware if mommy comes back. I hear raccoons can be very mean if they fear danger. I sure hope the chicks will be ok. Tell you little cats to say indoors while the raccoons are visiting.
Boy oh Boy---I can't believe how different your life is living on the farm.
aww cute!!! you got some great pics :)
How adorable!! I suppose they are not too great to have near chickens though.
My mother once had a family of six raccoons living under her jacuzzi tub. They got into the crawl space under her house and somehow found an opening up under the tub.
It was quite funny. She kept hearing loud scratchings and warblings behind her wall. We thought she was imagining it, but one day we took off the tub access panel to find cute little raccoon faces peering back at us!
She had to get someone to come with live traps to catch and release them all someplace else.
Fantastic Post & Pictures! Well done, Cheers!
Squishy squishy love!! My Mommy loves raccoons, I am so emailing her a link. :) I love the flatten-and-freeze technique. What a cutie pie!
It's wonderful that you could take these pictures, the racoon babies indeed are very cute and what a nice picture of (my) little Pepper !
Oh my gosh, what critters you have here. Too much!
Thanks for flying the Peace Globe banner. It is incredible to see so many participating. See you on June 6th. If you need help with your globe, please dont' hesitate to ask.
Peace to you and yours,
Mimi Lenox
So Lovely! Just like you!
i never did see the mother--and now haven't seen the youngsters for a couple days. hopefully, they've moved on to someplace new, preferably somewhere far away from chickens and eggs!
there are 300 acres of woods across the road from us, which i think would make a simply splendid raccoon habitat, right? =)
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