Raccoons 8: The Fat and the Furriest

I won't be doing many more of these raccoon journals this year; the volunteer season ends soon.  I hope to return next year, though, and I may be doing some volunteer work at the local animal shelter.

As usual, there's good news and bad.  The tiny birds I mentioned last week sadly passed away, as did both of the lone possums.  Also, the young screech owl escaped, but has been in the area hunting, and there's a trap set in the hopes of re-capturing it.

There's a lot less to do now; most of the raccoons are outside in enclosures now, and only a handful need feeding any longer.  I still do have plenty of picures, though, and some video as well:

Raccoons Socializing 1    Raccoons Socializing 2
Like Water for Raccoons 1    Like Water for Raccoons 2
Curiosity of Coons 1    Curiosity of Coons 2    Curiosity of Coons 3
Curiosity of Coons 4    Curiosity of Coons 5    Curiosity of Coons 6
Curiosity of Coons 7    Curiosity of Coons 8    Curiosity of Coons 8a
Curiosity of Coons 9    Curiosity of Coons 10    Curiosity of Coons 11
Curiosity of Coons 12    Curiosity of Coons 13    Curiosity of Coons 14
Curiosity of Coons 15    Curiosity of Coons 16    Curiosity of Coons 17
Curiosity of Coons 18    Curiosity of Coons 19    Curiosity of Coons 20
Curiosity of Coons 21    Curiosity of Coons 22    Curiosity of Coons 23
Curiosity of Coons 24    Curiosity of Coons 25
Raccoon Layer Cake    If Snoopy Was a Raccoon
New Toy! 1    New Toy! 2    New Toy! 3

Zorro is still my pal.  I've dubbed his girlfriend Zeta:

El Zorro 1    El Zorro 2    El Zorro 3
El Zorro 3a    El Zorro 4    El Zorro 5
El Zorro 6    El Zorro 7    El Zorro 8
El Zorro 9    Zorro and Zeta 1    Zorro and Zeta 2

We have a fifth fawn now.  It's pretty tiny, so isn't in with the others yet:

The Fifth Fawn 1    The Fifth Fawn 2    The Fifth Fawn 3
The Fifth Fawn 4    The Fifth Fawn 5    The Fifth Fawn 6
The Fifth Fawn 7    The Fifth Fawn 8

The other four are doing well themselves, all gathered now in the big meadow enclosure:

Hungry Fawns
Resting Fawns 1    Resting Fawns 2    Resting Fawn Closeup
Fawn's Eye Closeup Avatar 1    Fawn's Eye Closeup Avatar 2
Curious Fawn    Curious Fawn Closeup
Curious Fawns 1    Curious Fawns 2
Miracle Fawn and Friend 1    Miracle Fawn and Friend 2    Miracle Fawn and Friend 3
Miracle Fawn and Friend 4    Hiding Fawn

I also got lucky and got some good pictures of some of the litter of twelve possums we have:

Sleeping Possum
Sleepy Possom 1    Sleepy Possom 2    Sleepy Possom 3
Sleepy Possom 4    Sleepy Possom 5    Sleepy Possom 6
Waking Possum 1    Waking Possum 2
Waking Possum 3    Waking Possum 4
Sleeping Possums 1    Sleeping Possums 2    Sleeping Possums 3

A brief glimpse of our coyotes.  We got another batch of six in that day, but this is from one of our two current groups:

Peeking Coyote Pup Video    Peeking Coyote Pup


We also picked up an interesting visitor: a homing pigeon from Milwaukee.  It's easily two to three times the size of the rock doves it is descended from, and we're hoping the bands on its legs can help us return it to its owner.  Also below is a bit of video of the aviary room, which is less populated than it's been since I started, with most of the birds either in the outdoor aviary, released, or, sadly, passed away:

Aviary Room    Homing Pigeon

I have no pictures of the wood ducks or pheasant this time, but plenty of our gosling quartet and many mallards:

Four Goslings Video
Four Goslings 1    Four Goslings 2    Four Goslings 3
Two Out of Four Goslings 1    Two Out of Four Goslings 2    Two Out of Four Goslings 3
Young Ducks
Young Mallards 1    Young Mallard    Young Mallards 2

We now have two red-tailed hawks.  I believe the fluffier one is the newer one:

Rescued Red-Tailed Hawks
Red-Tailed Hawk 1    Red-Tailed Hawk 2    Red-Tailed Hawk 3
Red-Tailed Hawk 4    Red-Tailed Hawk 5
Red-Tailed Hawks 1    Red-Tailed Hawks 2
Red-Tailed Hawks 3    Red-Tailed Hawks 4


I found yet another mother spider and her egg case. Also spotted a few centipedes, though they were too quick for me, and a small millipede:

Mama Spider 1    Mama Spider 2
Mama Spider 3    Mama Spider 4
Little Red Millipede 1    Little Red Millipede 2

Some last pictures of flora.  There's a wide variety of plants, including grape vines, blackberry patches, and a walnut tree.

Blackberry Starscape
Blackberry Cluster 1    Blackberry Cluster 2    Blackberry Cluster 3
Blackberry Cluster 4    Blackberry Cluster 5    Walnut Fruit

That's all the pictures I have this week.  The losses can be hard, but the success stories outnumber them, and getting to work with these animals really is a special treat, even the ones I only get a glimpse of.  The fox pup, for instance, I jokingly call "no fox," since I've never seen it in its current enclosure, only when it was still in a carrier being nursed back to health.  Until next week, all!