Great shots, Gordon. Can't miss those eyes! Sometimes when I shine a light into the woods behind us after dark, I catch a pair or two of those large glowing eyes.

What time of night were those taken? Somehow I don't think of New York City and raccoons together.

yes..Tee... bright eyes.. and these were BIG ..coons... one looked bigger around than my waist.. although I'm longer at 6' tall.. they were likely a mated pair.. this sighting was at about 9:30...9:45 PM... still alot of foot traffic about.. it was amazing to see them out so casually.. it was only after running about trying to get a photo of them that they each went up a different tree.. to await my leaving.. so they could later resume their garbage foraging... rather than trying to actually escape away from me...
wildlife here is always a pleasure to see.. there's a bounty of it ..running.. flying.. crawling and swimming about.. I heard they had beavers return to some of the citys rivers uptown.. the beaver trade was one of the first businesses in the new world.. and the annual bird count in the wet lands out by Kennedy air port.. and up in the Bronx are some of the highest in the country.. the count last Christmas 2011 found a west coast humming bird... A Rufous hummingbird, which usually sticks to the West Coast .. red headed wood peckers were stil about this year.. along with 132 different species of birds.. in Brooklyn alone... 170 city wide counted last Christmas.. and these are christmas count numbers.. you'd think most would have flown south by then..

I have been educated and I'm so glad to hear all that. What a wonderful bounty of wildlife you have there!

We just tend to equate NYC=big city=very little wildlife. But that doesn't appear to be the case. Red-headed woodpeckers and hummers are among my favorite birds. Lucky you!

Wow, interesting wildlife encounter!

here's our Brooklyn babys captured breaking in..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oUWCvk4WOo

They are very clever, smart, agile, strong, and can outwit us on many occasions. I suppose they'd have to be to survive in NYC.

well.. if they can make it here.. they can make it anywhere... isn't that the way the song goes...
oh it's another second ammendment issue.. once you're not allowed the means to defend yourself.. you'll forever be the victem of the maurading hords.. at their discretion.. I can just see this 40 lb raccoon.. allowed to live so close and be so much of a nuisance up on rocky top... not only are guns illegal here.. but any knife with a thumb stud.. or a locking blade.. or one with both edges sharpened.. or one carried on the outside of a pocket.. or over so big.. or one that opens with one hand... [ the custom knife show is no longer held in the city.. but across the river in NJ..] a sling shot with a wrist support is also illegal.. .. any invaders of your personal space .. arriving here.. can be met with resistance from a population with sharpened sticks but you're not allowed a bow.. or.. arrows.. and I think once you throw your sharpened stick.. that makes it illegal also.. no spears or metal tips.. no wonder we're at their mercy..
see.. I did warn everyone I'd get a chance to state my personal thoughts in this election year.. aside my new avatar
oh.. the christmas bird count I mentioned.. came about to stop an annual christmas bird shoot.. where groups would go out right after Christmas.. and competively see how many birds they could bag. I'm way in favor of counting birds over killing them... starlings excluded.. and perhaps doves , quail , ducks, geese and turkeys also.. MMM I left out the phesants

I see your point. I suppose they think when people live in more close proximity they are more of a threat to each other. Too many weapons spoil the broth?? Or something like that.

It's darn near impossible to take guns and other weapons away from folks down in this part of the country. Maybe AK-47s and assault rifles excepted ... and they should be.

Yes, I'm in favor of counting rather than killing. Especially just for the "sport" of it. Some sport.

oh.. a joke... guess that's got to be OT... but I'm usually pretty good...
A woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled: 'Stop! Acts 2:38!'

(Repent and be Baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, so that yoursins may be forgiven.)

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.
As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: 'Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.'
'Scripture?' replied the burglar. 'She said she had an Ax and Two 38s!'

And illegal in NYC, huh?

How many raccoons would you say live in NYC?

oh..many 10's of thousands... maybe 100's. a few years ago there was a rabid coon epidemic.. they caught and found 130 had rabies.. estimates are 300- 400 in central park alone.. that's just the central one in manhatan.. and their estimates.... there's plenty of other biger parks there also.. not to forget all of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island... all more wooded and remote than Manhattan...




OH>> the big one I saw .. looked about as big as the five in the first photo here...yes.. it looked as big as these 5 if one put them together into one animal

That many!

Oh my gosh, great photos. Masked bandits on the prowl.

I saw something on a nature show about raccoons in the cities and it actually showed that the raccoons they tracked did not usually head toward parks or any heavily wooded areas much. Many were living in structures...like one family of mother and little ones were living in a shed, after they left the nearby tree they were in originally.

Linda, I watched that same show and was actually thinking about the city racoons when I saw the above pictures.

The little 35 gallon ponds are all cleaned out all refilled from all the leaves and gunk that falls in during the winter. I have nice clean water now but still to early (too cold) to add the feeder goldfish. This pond and the other is a favorite of the racoons come summer as they love to wade in them and catch fish during summer nights.

Looks great! I can just imagine the families of raccoons playing in this pond!

Wow, I don't know what was going on with the racoons here in my garden about 2PM last night but there was a major rucus that sounded like it was right under my bedroom window. Woke me up! So much screatching and chattering and for a long time. They really must have been pissed at each other.

I thought it was odd that they were even out and about last night as it was a nasty night. The rain was really pouring down and it was windy. So who knows what they were doing out there.

This little raccoon often shows up even before night falls lately.

Something about those glowing critter eyes in the evening!

Looks like it is finding something tasty in the mulch pile.

Their cute critters, but I am glad we don't have any around here.