Thursday, June 18, 2009

Close encounters of the wild kind...

Tale #1 - Rocky Raccoon

The other night, the motion detector floodlight on the deck activated so, of course, I went to see what it was...


Chip(s) and Sammy(s) must have left a few peanuts untouched because Rocky came up on the deck to investigate.


We've lived in our house for over 27 years now, and this is the first time I've ever seen a raccoon in our neighborhood, let alone in our yard or on our deck (although Amanda said she saw a raccooon one time last year in our backyard)...


I know raccoons live in the country, in towns, and in cities (and have adapted very well), so I guess I'm not too surprised that we finally had one visit our yard... But it's usually a wayward possum or skunk that sets off the motion detector.


Rocky and Spotty's staring contest. Spotty won.

Lesson learned: Sweep off the deck every evening before nightfall and pick up any peanuts that Chip(s) or Sammy(s) missed.


Tale #2 - Oh Dear, Deer

Tuesday morning I had to drive Amanda to work because I needed to get the car into the shop to have a tire repaired (I'd been driving on the small donut tire all weekend after getting a flat on Friday night)... Coming down a neighborhood hill, we came face to face with a deer heading up the middle of the road... Now this was at 9 a.m., long after the little deer should have been in bed!
By the time Amanda realized she had her camera in her purse (she's more organized than her mom), the deer had decided to take a detour off the road and through somebody's yard.

As an animal lover, my first reaction was excitement at being able to see this beautiful creature so close. We live in an overly developed town and it's very uncommon to see something as large as a deer running through a neighborhood. But my feeling of exhileration quickly turned to sadness because the unfortunate reality is, there are very few areas left for these beautiful creatures. Around these parts, the woods and open land have been developed non-stop for the past several decades, making it quite tough on the wildlife...


So as Ms. Deer went on her way, and as we went on ours, I worried about her and prayed that she would safely make it to a thicket where she could bed down for the day; and I prayed for the safety of any drivers that might encounter her as well. As I said, people aren't used to watching for deer in this area...
Lesson learned: Always expect the unexpected.


Donna

32 comments:

Claudia said...

Donna, I love the raccoon photos! What a curious little guy and the staring contest just makes me laugh! Up close and personal! I worry about the deer around us all the time - we have so many of them, and people drive much too fast. I love deer - they are so beautiful - and I wish people would slow down so that everyone is safe (man and deer).

Allidink said...

I have run into so much wildlife in the past few months which I guess is actually pretty troublesome because it means they aren't in "nature" probably because it's shrinking like you said :( I turned into my neighborhood at like midnight two days ago and as my headlights swept over the sidewalk there was a giant raccoon! I stopped and it just ran across the street feet from my car and I slowly started completing the turn thinking it had made it to the sidewalk and it darted in front of my car again because there was another giant raccoon on the side of the street waiting and the two kind of had like an air swatting battle. It was madness! I also had a squirrel run in front of me the other day which I had never seen a squirrel here before. And all kinds of stuff! Bunnies, coyotes, owls! Madness! Poor deer. Makes me sad :( How fascinating though.

All the best,
Allison

Kathi said...

How precious to see! Love that photo of Rocky with your kitty!

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh.. will gladly give you some of our deer. They are everywhere, but of course we live in the mountains so that has to be expected... but they eat EVERYTHING in the yard and it's discouraging.

Di
The Blue Ridge Gal

Anonymous said...

My parents have a possum who comes in their garage to eat cat food (they feed a homeless cat in our neighborhood). It even scratched at the door one night looking for his dinner.

We've seen rabbits, turtles, and unfortunately snakes in our neighborhood, but not deer - yet!

Thanks for sharing :)

Lisa

Diva Kreszl said...

Love the new photos and stories...thanks for sharing. We too live in an overly populated suburb (pop.95,000) and it's sad to see what all this overdevelopment has meant to the local wildlife. My son and I were walking home from my neighbors and witnessed three deer walking right down our street trying to get to a wooded area.Poor things have no where to go! We are fortunate to have a cabin in PA. where the deer are free to come & go and where they visit our acreage often (it's a no hunting zone).

Anonymous said...

Those are great pics. I like the one where the raccoon is looking in.

We have problems with possums and deer in our neighborhood.

Willow

Anonymous said...

Oh I would've been in heaven with these oppurtunities!! I love wildlife and am always on the look out when we take rides. I have spotted the elusive bunny that visits here.

Lucky you to have mother nature visit your home!

Unknown said...

My goodness, you certainly are having yourself a lot of critter visits. Although I live very close to downtown Houston, we have very big raccoons that live in the trees, but I haven't run across a deer. Thanks for sharing!

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Oh that staring contest was soooo cute, and the deer is so pretty! You are really living a wild life! Thanks for sharing it. laurie

Lisa & Alfie said...

Hopefully there are more people like you on the road Donna!
Lisa & Alfie

Nola said...

We had a racoon come in the cat door onto the porch, then take the metal lid off of the metal can I keep the cat food in. We heard the lid hit the floor, and when we looked out onto the porch, the racoon was hanging onto the rim of the can, with his body inside munching down on the dry cat food!

Jean Tuthill said...

Same thing here, Donna. Nowhere for the critters to go. I am surprised that they even survive. I see evidence over in the woods that there is at least one deer--it's eating my hostas over there. But it's OK, they have to do it to stay alive. I haven't seen any racoons lately, but I did see a beaver walking down my street one evening about a month ago. I ran to get the camera and took pics, but it was too dark for the pics to come out. He went into the woods and is probably in the pond over there by the woods. My motto is live and let live. Those animals are beautiful and we need to look after them.

Brenda Pruitt said...

For me, who has a bank going up right across the street in what was once a lot with trees, I certainly have to agree. They're over-building and making these wild animals homeless. It's terrible.
Brenda

train the trainer Courses said...

a one on one encounter with the wild cat..

Claudia said...

Hi Donn! Yes, that photo was taken just down the road from our cottage. Because we live in the country and there are no sidewalks, we walk the dogs there - its safer! Hope all is well with you my friend.

xo
Claudia

Mrs Peeks Farmhouse said...

I live in an urban area and we have lots of Racoons too. One night my head lights caught some shadows and I thought thats a really fat cat...it turned out to be a family of racoons. Where do the live during the day???
Cheers!
-Mrs Peeks Farmhouse

Photographer Sydney said...

I just wish my house could be as wild as your house.. wee!

abeachcottage said...

wow! too funny with the raccoon, cheeky fellow

I have never seen pics of deer like that, not sure how I'd feel about them in the yard!

Sarah

*Ulrike* said...

Come on down to Georgia! We have a lot of raccoons and definitely the deer especially in our back yard. The raccoons here we need to be careful with as they have said some may have rabies. Love the pictures, and I noticed the fuchia in the background!

{oc cottage} said...

I love raccoons! The babies are so cute...and naughty...they LOVE a hammock! ;)

m ^..^

Anonymous said...

Donna,

These pictures are precious. You have some amzing shots here. Something like this is always welcome on our local news.

I love the kitty staring him down. How cool is THAT!

You always have the nicest posts.
Mary Ellen

B. said...

Girl- you need to be careful!! Raccoons are mean little things and will jump you and bite you while you are just trying to take their picture.

Amy'svintagecottage said...

I really enjoyed finding your enchanted cottage. Love the adirondacks!
Amy

Crystal said...

Oh how cute! Rocky almost acts like he is your pet. Although I don't think Spotty on like that. I pray the deer made it home safely. We have deer here in our fields too and people drive way too fast.
Thanks for sharing!
Crystal

Sweet Cottage Dreams said...

Look at Mr. Racoon's long legs!!! It is wonderful to have surprise visitors every so often. Just as long as they don't hurt anything.

hugs,
becky

Cindy said...

Mr Racoon in our area is wrecking the bird feeders. He is going to get 'caught' in the trap and escorted to a new living area.
I have not been able to read your blog daily (Dad w/ cancer) but really enjoyed the wildlife.
Thanks for sharing
Cindy

Christine said...

Keep your camera handy. You never know what else you might see in your yard!

Way to go!

Joanne Kennedy said...

Hey kiddo, I miss you and am worried about you. Is everything ok? Have not seen you around for a few weeks.

I'm thinking of you. Please email me and let me know you are ok.
Hugs
Joanne

Joan@anythinggoeshere said...

After living in our house for over 20 years we had a raccoon break into the attic. It was not pretty and it was very costly. I like them from afar, but my up close experience was not fun.

Lori @ Katies Rose Cottage Designs said...

What a cute little racoon ! I know they can be little boogers but he is very cute ~

joyh82 said...

Wow you do have a lot of wildlife
visiting you all. I love the racoon pics. The one where he is looking in the door at the cat is great.