In the beginning, I held the Buffet at the back of the yard near the forest. Back then I was always afraid they might damage my house and try to get into the attic, etc. The last several years as my disabilities grew worse and I lost my outside flood light, I started feeding them on the back patio. Heidi would sit with her face right up against the glass patio door so that I could see her out there in the dark. She never bothered anything, just sat there patiently waiting for me with her kits at her feet.

Since Heidi's passing, my relationship with the raccoons has never been quite the same, but the last year or so 1 or 2 raccoons still show up to sit at the patio door patiently waiting for me to see them. Whenever I see them out there, I always give them something. With Heidi and the gang, I used to go out there around the same time each night, and they learned to be there at the appointed time, although I've never understood how they do that. These days its more a matter of whether I happen to go to the kitchen at night and see on of them out there waiting for me. That only happens every few months or so. These days I also can't afford to buy food for them like I used to, but I have learned to use my pressure cooker to process chicken carcasses and other bones and then mix with cornmeal to bake into raccoon kibble for them (and treats for my dog).

I have nothing but fond memories of my days or rather nights with the raccoons.

Enjoyed your accounting very much.
I see no reason you can't post the old stories because for many they would be new!
How long do racoons live? Perhaps Heidi was very old.
It sounds like you were as important a part of their life's enriching experiences as they were yours.

Sorry we cross posted above, MissingRosie,

But no matter. Like I said, I kind of like having multiple topics going at once, much like what tends to happen in a large group. Oh, and that was too funny (and true) about how Kim K would have to swallow the camera for us to see anything new.

I was wondering about maybe telling the stories over again. This time I could take the time to word things better, clean it up, etc. 1st time around I was in such a hurry to record my experiences while they were fresh and rarely had any time left for editing.

Raccoons can live up to 16yrs in captivity, but the average lifespan of a wild raccoon is only 2-3 yrs. Heidi was quite old for a wild raccoon. She had been visiting my yard (even in the day time) for some 3yrs before we became friends. Then she came to the Buffet for 8yrs, so she had to be at least 11yrs old when she died. Heidi was incredibly wise. Even the other raccoons looked to her for guidance (and accepted me because she did).

I figure Heidi's wisdom accounted for some of her longevity in the wild. I figure I also helped a lot in keeping her alive that long by providing a consistent, healthy diet which also kept her from having to travel for miles, cross highways, brave dogs, etc to find food for herself and her babies. I used to feed her dry cat/dog food plus a variety of other things like raw eggs, raw peanuts, grapes, watermelon, plus some treats like marshmallows, cupcakes, and cookies. She loved frosting, so some nights I even sat out there with a can of strawberry (her fav) frosting and a loaf of cheap bread and made 'tea' sandwiches.

When Heidi was around she kept the others in line so that they behaved in a most gentile manner. BION, they would actually sort of queue up to come to me to get their treats one at a time in a mannerly fashion. But when Heidi was away birthing kits, they group would get very rowdy. She made a huge difference.

Wild raccoons normally have to walk up to 5mi per night to find enough food for themselves and their young, and while doing so they risk being eaten by predators, struck by cars, attacked by dogs, shot by people, etc. Once Heidi and I became friends, in a sense she became sort of like a hybrid between wild and pet. She ate a diet more consistent with a pet raccoon, never went hungry or with poor nutrition and didn't have to take a lot of risks to obtain food like wild raccoons normally do.

I love watermelon and back then I ate 1-2 per week, so they got a lot of watermelon. Heidi LOVED watermelon and she always got to eat from the melon 1st. She liked to drink the juice, too, so I used to slice the melons in half lengthwise, scoop the inside out for me and leave the juice and outer 2-3in for them. When I got a 'bad' watermelon (bad texture, overripe, etc), I would slice it in half and give them the whole melon. They had a blast with that. They never cared about texture, ripeness. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure I did help to extend Heidi's lifespan by feeding her so well, but she also enriched my life tremendously, and I will never forget her.

I have to go get some work done but will be back eventually to tell you a little bit about my adventures with the wild bird that Sharon mentioned. He was a tiny tufted titmouse with a HUGE personality who earned the moniker Mr T.

I have long thought there must surely be a sign in the forest somewhere with an arrow pointing [all creatures] to my house. One night last week, I open the back door and called my cat, "Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, " and an opossum walked up to the door and looked at me as if he thought he lived here. We seem to have a strain of near white opossums in the area. Years ago there was a white one that would visit the Raccoon Buffet and even eat side by side with the raccoons. I named her Snowball. I don't know how long they live or if the one I saw might have even been Snowball, but she was also pretty comfortable around me.

It's as if all creatures seem to recognize me as harmless.

Well, I really do look forward to your raccoon --and all things of the wild -- adventures. I am bookmarking this to read to sophia my granddaughter...She will LOVE these and I will let her read to me. If Sharon remembers fondly, then I know the tales must be wonderful.

Editing....what's that! 😆

Sharon said:Me too, Zuzu. Never missed a single post about the Heidi tales or the raccoon universe. I also remember one of the bird tales, the one about gathering hair for a nest.

So glad you're here, Dream!

Very nice to see you here! I followed the story of Heidi to over there too. Remember the copperhead that lived in your backyard. I was nanny_56 over there but when I came here I just decided to be me...... Claudia.

Edited to add I remember Snowball & Mr. T also!

Mr T!!! I've tried all afternoon to remember his name. That was in the beginning, I think, of your Magical Backyard Adventures. And as you mentioned them by name, I can still see them right there beside you; can also see them running for the tree, peeking around the fence when the neighbors even sneezed.

Hi, Claudia!

OMG! Yes, I remember you, too. You had the adorable 'pet' squirrel that used to hop in your lap and such. Great to see you again, & thanks for the big welcome. Having so many familiar faces and old friends come to greet me is really making this transition so much easier than I ever dreamed it could be. Seems like I know more people here than over there, so in a strange way it's almost like coming home.

I think you'll find that you are coming home, Dream. We've been missing you.

I agree with Sharon. Welcome home, DreamofSpring.

Sharon,

Yes. My goodness you do have a sharp memory. Whatever supplements you are taking, please send me some. YOU are helping ME remember the story.

My backyard is fenced, 6ft privacy fence, and backs up to a forest. In the early years, not quite the absolute beginning but after Heidi and her grown kids had learned to expect me out there each evening, I used to sit at the very back of the yard facing the fence and forest, just sit there in the darkness waiting for the raccoons to show up, which didn't usually take very long. Except for the floodlight from the house, it was totally dark back there, and me there sitting all alone staring at the forest. I used to think, if my neighbors ever saw me out there they must surely think I was nuts.

These are some of my most precious memories from the raccoon years, because as I would sit there watching the forest I would suddenly become aware of the top 1/2 of a raccoon face, just 2 ears and 2 eyes peeking over the top of the fence. It was a bit like one of those pictures in a kids book that asked, "Can you find the whatever?" (raccoon in this case) I could never actually see the head as it came up over the fence. One moment there was just a blank fence and dark forest, and the next moment a set of eyes looking at me over the fence top. That adorable little face peeking over the fence always brought a huge smile to my face.

Once I saw the eyes peering over the fence top, I would say, "Come on. It's ok." And just like that the rest of the raccoon would appear atop the fence and then climb down and come toward me to eat. In those days I used to set a 'table' for all the expected guests. I put some old plates, only needed a few that 1st & 2nd year, around in a semi-circle on the ground in front of me with a little kibble in each. I set things up this way when I 1st got out there and before the raccoons arrived. That way when they came down the fence to eat, I didn't have to move from my seat. It would be another year or so before I could begin to move around w/o scaring them. Once the 1st raccoon arrived, it wasn't long before the whole gang was there. They always seemed to arrive almost in unison.

While they were in the yard eating, if a door slammed next door or a neighbor spoke in the darkness or even if someone walking by on the sidewalk out front said something, the raccoons would all make a dash for the fence, scale it at half gallop, and disappear in unison into the forest. Then I would sit there alone in the darkness for a short while before I could coax them back down again. The 1st year or so they wouldn't even show up at all any time I had workers over earlier in the day, especially if the workers were in the back yard. Guess they could still detect the scent of strangers hours later. The raccoons came to trust me quite a bit, but they never extended that trust to include other humans.

Thank you, zuzu!

Oh, my this is so wonderful, just like the old days again!

I've always loved raccoons, mainly because they're the only animal as cute in person as they are in cartoons.

I need to go find some of my old photos to illustrate some of these stories. The Mr T story began on Saturday morning. I was upstairs in my office on the front of the house doing some things on my computer when I heard this "rat a tat tat" sound coming from the back of the house. I ignored it for a while, but it continued endlessly. Thinking the flicker woodpecker was out there drumming on the roof, I headed downstairs to scare him away.

I arrived downstairs to find a tiny, little titmouse on the bottom section of one of a number of combined windows on the back of my house. He was just hammering away at my window screen. I tried several times to run him off, but he simply refused to leave. Whatever this project was that he was working on, it was of the utmost importance. I went outside and yelled and failed my hands around. He just flew over to another nearby tree and then returned to his project as soon as I was back inside. I even went over to the window where he was working and smacked it pretty hard 1st with my hand and later with my jacket. The titmouse just sat on a limb outside the window and glared at me angrily. (I will try to find the photo for this as it's too much.)

Every time I went back upstairs to work thinking I had gotten rid of the bird, I would hear "rat a tat tat" again and have to run back down the stairs to try to chase him away once more. This went on not just all day but for days on end, every day, all day long from sun up to sundown, "rat a tat tat, rat a tat tat, " that little bird sat out there clinging to the lower part of the window and pecking away at the screen. He actually cut the screen away from the frame much like a can opener opening a can. (I have photos of this, too.)

That was my 1st story thread, and it began as a cry for help, asking for advice on how to get rid of the bird that was destroying my [then] new house. Over the coarse of the next few weeks I tried all manner of ideas that people came up with but all to no avail. Every single day that crazy titmouse could still be seen (and heard) out there drumming on that same back window. The drumming began every morning without fail shortly after sunrise and continued until sundown.

Edited to fix a typo so I wouldn't look completely illiterate.

zuzu,

Oh, I know! You are so right. Raccoons are not only visually adorable, but there antics are positively precious and just downright hilarious. After a year or so of spending time out there with the raccoons in my yard, I developed a huge, almost insurmountable yearning for a pet raccoon. I found it heartbreaking there for a while once I learned that raccoons really don't make good pets and, due to the threat of rabies, captive raccoons are illegal in my state anyhow.

One woman who had a pet raccoon cautioned viewers of her videos. She explained the downsides by saying you really can't have any upholstered furniture with a raccoon in the house, because the raccoon will shred the stuffing while you are away, even the mattresses on beds. Also, while they are very cute when young, they quickly become intractable once they reach puberty, and while spaying/neutering helps to calm them down it also shortens their lifespan considerably and thus is not recommended.

Perhaps the one story that made the biggest impression on me though was that of Raccoon Willie. If anyone is yet unfamiliar with Raccoon Willie, you really should watch some of his videos on youtube. This guy in the UK raised an orphaned raccoon kit which he named Willie. Things went pretty well until Willie grew up. Then he set Willie free to return to the wild, which Willie did, except that Willie kept returning to his childhood home from time to time. If the owner wasn't home, Willie would just break in. He would scale the facade to enter upstairs windows, break in through the attic, etc.

Baby Willie was very sweet, but adult Willie got into all manner of trouble. There is one [must see] video where Willie has climbed up into the overhead kitchen cabinets, chewed large holes through the cabinet doors, and thrown all of the cabinet contents onto the kitchen floor below - through the newly made holes. The owner is standing in the middle of the room fussing while Willie is continuing to toss things from the cabinet and hanging out of one of the holes in a cabinet door.

Willie is absolutely adorable and yet, if it were your house you know you would want to 'kill' him. That guy really handled things well though. He just kept repairing the house and tolerating Willie's destructive visits. That one video said there was some $3-4k damage to the kitchen on that one occasion alone. So while I would still love to have a baby raccoon, I've come to understand it's not a good idea. Some things are just better left in the wild, but, yes, they are totally adorable.

Somewhere you also have a photo of the little bird trying to pull a hair from the top of your head.

No supplements, just great memories of all the scenes you described so well. They made me look outside pretty often at night, just to see if there were any raccoons waiting for me.

Dream, your 'Heidi' thread was very helpful to me when I was learning to cope with my own raccoon visitors. (See my blog post 'Dances with Raccoons', dated August 5, 2013).

Hi Dream!
I was so close to mailing you to ask who you were. I knew your name, but could not place it. Now I know, lol!

Big apology to those who posted during the 1st few days after I created this thread. I started writing one post with all the individual replies together as a group but eventually abandoned that idea when the post grew too long. I meant to post those replies separately (still have them on another screen) but then somehow I got carried away with memories of my past adventures with raccoons, birds, etc. Before I get off on another tangent, I would like to go ahead and post copies of those replies now. I'm going to group some of the shorter ones here and then add the others as individual posts. Once again, I appreciate all the warm welcomes. Hoping you guys are still around and it's not too late...

DutchLady1: I remember you your many excellent articles.

JuneOntario: June, I remember Mother of 6 and your raccoon photos, especially 1 adorable photo of all of her kits on a platform of some kind with 1 tenacious little fella hanging off the end, just dangling by one arm. I always loved that photo.

ecnalg: That you wish you had made the switch sooner speaks volumes.

lovemyhouse: Your byline is so true, and something many of us don't learn anywhere near soon enough.

pirl: I've missed you and all of your gorgeous photos.


Again, big thanks to all of you for coming here to welcome me aboard!!!

Cheryl

As expressed in my prior post, these are replies to some of your welcome posts from the 1st few days after I started this thread. Regrettably I'm a bit late in posting these. I was compiling one large posts with all of the together (in another window), but then I got carried away on dreams of yesterday and all my past animal adventures. Anyhow, please know that I very much appreciate that each of you came here to welcome me on board. I think I can get a few of my longer replies together here...

AnnaZ:

If they had shot the techs, they would never have gotten out of the Paleolithic time warp and made it back to the year 2016. (It was like a scifi flick over there for a while.) I, too, am shocked. I'm shocked that a company, a reasonably successful company at that, would buy a very good product and then pay people to screw it up so badly. It does leave one scratching ones head in bewilderment. It also smacks of pure arrogance to take something as successful as DG was and make radical changes believing you know how to make it better. It takes even more arrogance, verging on insanity, to continue on the same demented path even after finding that your initial changes have made the product worse.

I must confess that I spent some time over there over the weekend just watching the drama play out. I couldn't help it. The situation is so completely messed up now and they are down to so few remaining members that it's like watching a train wreck play out in very slow motion but without all of the blood and gore. You don't want to watch but you just can't seem to turn away. I no longer feel any investment in that system, sadly, and thus no longer care what they do, but it's still interesting to stop in and watch now and then. Kind of like a soap opra now.

MissingRosie:

I like that you 'got' my screen name. Yes, I am continually dreaming of spring with all its new life and abundant energy, with all the little critters playing 'chase' and with the plethora of blooms set amidst an endless sea of verdant green. Most people seem to think erroneously that I'm somehow labeling myself a dream. Not. I just dropped the 'ing' in an effort to shrink the name a bit. On that note, I should add (to all) that I'm very comfortable with abbreviations like Dos, Dream, Dreams, etc anything that saves you keystrokes.

Incidentally, I'm enjoying reading the comments and quotes people have associated with themselves. I love your 'odometer' line. Oh, and I liked the crowd here from the moment I signed on. They look very familiar, very much like the group I was part of once before.

stillwood:

Good to see you. Yes, Cocoa is right. You must have a fabulous memory (like Sharon) to keep up with all of their names that way. The pets and I have been somewhat on the 'outs' of late. For most of February I was on an ever decreasing dose of HRT, trying to stretch the stuff until I could get more. As a result, I spent last month in pain and feeling very lethargic. When you don't feel like moving a muscle, the demands of 3 pets can get to be a bit much. Widget, my little Maltese, is 11 now and has his problems from chronic eye infections to periodic seizures and moments of incontinence, all of which add to my work load.

The weather has been quite lovely here for months now, so I finally decided to put the cats outside for a while. They don't exactly love this new plan, but it has made things easier on me, and with such lovely, warm weather there isn't any reason they can't stay outside for a while. Ms Kitty, who had been staying indoors pretty much 24/7 had become very bad about trying to rearrange things to her liking. The 1st year or so she slept quietly on a chair or chaise lounge and never seemed to bother anything, but lately she had started 'redecorating'. It started pretty innocently with the same decorative pillows being tossed onto the floor every time I put them back on their respective chairs/sofa. Then 1 day she actually removed a spindle from the upstairs banister and tossed it down into the great room below. I was in the kitchen cooking when the spindle came sailing down to the great room floor. I saw it with amazement. After that she just kept climbing, knocking things over, and pulling things down. So I sent her outside...

I finally got more HRT and am beginning to feel better and better each day now, but I think I'm going to leave the cats out as long as the weather remains so lovely. I still let Cocoa in occasionally only because he sits in my lap for a while, doesn't climb or break things, and then goes back out again.


Big thanks to all of you for your welcoming posts!