My daytime raccoon was back yesterday. I accidentally spilled some seeds while refilling the bird feeder and within 5 minutes she showed up. She was quite cute as she sort of gathered the seeds together with her paws and then ate them up. She spent a few minutes trying to search out all of the spilled seeds and, as she was moving around, I did get a look at her underside and can confirm that she seems to be a nursing mom, so that probably accounts for her increased need for calories and her willingness to venture out in daylight hours.
Glad to hear she's not rabid, just ravenous. I wonder how soon the babies will show up. I like the detail you were able to capture in this picture as she gathered up the seeds.
@cdcook48 I'm a bit conflicted myself. A couple of years ago one or more raccoons decided to use my side garden as their latrine. By the time I realized what was going on, they had left quite a few little presents and after I cleaned it up and tried various things to dissuade them they still kept returning. Raccoons can carry a lot of the same parasites as dogs do but, while dogs tend to get wormed periodically, raccoons go their whole lives just building up a bigger and bigger parasite load and just cleaning up their droppings, if you aren't careful, can lead to the possibility of having something transferred to you. Thankfully they have found another location to use, the last couple of years, but it left me not too keen on seeing them around however, seeing this mom looking so desperately for seeds did make me feel for her and her need to just be a good mother.
Love the photo and story. We had two pet raccoons when my kids were growing up. They would always feel the food with their paws. One would take candy out of my husband's shirt pocket.
A great close-up! Love the texture of her fur! Interesting to read your narrative and the comments here. I think I would tend to feel as you, Joanne, in this situation.
May 30th, 2023
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