When I saw these clouds, I thought, “ah, relief”.
But it didn’t happen. Oh, we had “Extreme weather” warnings, but did it come?
It did not. Not a drop.
And none in the foreseeable future, apparently 🙁
These past 2 days, the hills have turned BROWN.
Except the hill opposite They must be watering the corn.
I can just about manage to water a hand full of plants!
…..
…and a raccoon!
This poor creature turned up two nights ago.
Maybe she was just feeling warm in her furry coat.
But she was doing weird things.
I mean, is it normal for a wild animal to just lie down and go to sleep, out in the open? We watched her for a long time. At one point, she was sitting perched on her back side and she suddenly leaned back and looked up at the sky. Then she lay, looking like a corpse, panting. Presumably, she was feeling the heat. Though it wasn’t so hot, that night. She shifted a few times, dragging herself back to lie in the water bowl and then collapsing again.
Naturally, I worried about her. She had been eating, earlier. She didn’t really seem ill. When Grant had been outside, she had run away, so her instincts were good.
Still, I kept coming back to the window to check on her.
Finally, she got up and began looking back and forth, as if to make sure she was safe, although while she was collapsed by the water bowl she hadn’t seemed bothered.
But maybe….
Behold.
A friend?
Had she been waiting ?
That’s silly.
Another raccoon approached from behind the house.
I watched to see if they would interact.
(I expected her to tap her watch and say “where you been?”)
I thought one might run off, or that one might challenge the other, but it was just as if the original raccoon had been waiting for her friend to turn up. They stayed grazing on the dry grass together, for at least an hour.
Then, at about 11pm, one had disappeared. The other was still grazing. I was glad I didn’t have a sick raccoon on my hands. Not sure what that would entail in Covid times.
What we do have, though not on our hands, exactly, is a population explosion, of birds:
These guys all have babies and it’s hard to work out who’s who. The babies themselves are confused, demanding food from any nearby adult, regardless of species. They chase the adults around screeching “Feed me! Feed me!” and the senior birds seem to say “You’re fledged! Buzz off!”
Hummingbird nectar, inevitably attracts wasps and other flying creatures. Hummingbirds are awfully polite. I see them hovering sometimes, waiting their turn! Some of the other birds use the nectar feeder as a perch, while they wait for a turn at the seed feeder.
It’s like a traffic jam out there.
You would think this chap should take control.
I suppose they have babies too….
That was rather strange behavior in the raccoon. Maybe she was hoping he was watching and some flirting was going on? I hope they come back.
She has a foreshortened tail and I think she’s the one that comes by most nights. We also have a mama that came desperate for food so somewhere there are babies. Baby raccoons are the sweetest!
So nice photos in you post and the raccoon is so cute. I hope you get some rain soon. It is warm also in Finland, but I assume not as warm as you have.
No rain in the forecast. I think when it comes it will be fierce!
I like the routine of that raccoon 🦝 it has such an interesting life!