Raccoon Journal 4 - In the Bee Garden

Sep 22, 201529 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Sep 22, 2015

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This journal is for June 13th, 2015. It proved to be an eventful week. Our fawn population grew to five and a pair of baby gray foxes arrived. I became the bird whisperer (more on that below) . I cleaned out the gutters on the barn and sliced open my thumb; we also got in a crow, and I got to go pick greens. It's not all good news, though. We lost two robins, one of them blinded, and a wood duck, and the mosquitoes reached epic levels.

We're starting out on a different tact than usual, with pictures from the bee and butterfly gardens that have been planted.

Colors of the Bee Garden 10a by Windthin

Colors of the Bee Garden 12a by Windthin

This is the week I became the bird whisperer. After clearing out the big aviary the week before and helping prepare the kindergarten aviary the week before that, this week I was asked to help move some birds from the kindergarten to the main aviary. I quickly surprised people by displaying my ability to catch the birds with my hands rather than a net, and with far less fuss, flapping, and running into windows. I'd always told the folks at the center I am a bird person, but after this I became the one to move the birds every Saturday.

We have a bunch of young mallards at this point.

And a young crow who eventually wound up going to a crow farm, since he could not fly properly.

Here are video and pictures of our injured young ruby-throated hummingbird, who made a full recovery and was eventually released; I'd often see it hanging about the bee gardens after.

Video: Injured Young Hummingbird

Injured Young Hummingbird 1a by Windthin

Injured Young Hummingbird 4a by Windthin

Here is another visit with everybody's favorite ham of a turkey vulture, Vinnie!

Here is a brief glimpse of the baby red-tailed hawks in their new enclosure.

Baby Red-Tailed Hawks in Nest 1 by Windthin

Baby Red-Tailed Hawks in Nest 2 by Windthin

And here are the three young great horned owls.

Three Young Great Horned Owls 1 by Windthin

Three Young Great Horned Owls 1a by Windthin

And now it's time for raccoon antics!

Here are a few brief glimpses of the fawns. By this point we were up to five of them.

And here is momma possum. She actually passed away a few weeks after these were taken, sadly; she was blind and deaf from a car accident and believed to be fairly old despite delivering a litter the year before.

Take a peek at this squirrel doing the same to me.

And here is a visit with the two arctic foxes that have permanent residents. These were likely escaped fur foxes before they were found roaming feral in Chicago.