The other day I noticed Sikkim standing in front of the porch door, staring intently at, I couldn’t guess what.
So I went to the little window and saw a baby raccoon on the doormat.
We knew they were around and had been waiting for them to appear, so I went to call Grant.
By the time we got back to the window, mother raccoon had hustled her babies off round the corner of the house and they were nowhere to be seen.
In the middle of the next night I saw three babies playing on the grass by themselves.
But then last night, after supper, there they were…
The whole family. Mama and 5 babies.
One is very small and stays close to mama.
She wasn’t too sure about orange slices…
Nor was her litter-mate.
But then something else caught all their attention…
It was Mrs Plod, the possum.
I call her that because of the way she walks.
“Hello! Who are you?”
The babies pretended to be fierce…
But they were happy to give up the oranges.
Which Mrs Plod likes.
And soon everyone was getting on just fine
“You a funny-looking raccoon.”
Poor Mrs Plod comes by every evening.
She is looking better, I think, not quite as bony and her fur seems to be growing in just a little.
But she is almost totally blind and navigates by scent and touch.
It seems a lonely existence for the poor old creature.
But I did see another old possum outside in the small hours, so maybe she does have company.
After dinner, we all had to get clean…
I was wandering about around 4 am, and happened to look out a window:
Then I had to find the camera.
It’s a Buck Moon. Jupiter and Saturn also visible.
Grant isn’t impressed with the photography but I didn’t see him up at 0430 with a camera…
Or focusing it in the pitch dark.
We also had two more strange squirrel encounters:
“Stiffy” can’t seem to sit down like most squirrels, as if the back knees don’t bend, so she eats in that funny squatting position. The dove apparently keeps an eye on her.
We assume that Gimpy has now passed on and hopefully he received a better body for his next existence. Maybe he’s even back with us already among this little lot. Hope so.
Our other oddity:
Did you ever see a squirrel with a tail like this?
Wonderful photos and another lovely, heartwarming post! Thank you for helping them all, but especially Mrs Plod!
OMG so nice post! You are lucky to have so many animals in your yard. I feel pitty for that old possum. I am glad that you are feeding her. And the squirrel, I have never seen so long tail. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos!
Nice pictures of your wildlife visitors and I like the moonshots. I have never heard of a Buck Moon.
Me either. It was on the Internet.