Saturday 25 June 2016

Raccoons and Barred owls

We've had a lovely visit from our friend, Yam.  Yam was attending the Blogville Awesome Retreat, and has done a North American tour afterwards.
I have miles and miles of photos of our car trips around the region, soon to follow! Not quite ready to organize those, we were sitting, having taken Yam to the train station in the early afternoon, and I heard my owl! (More below!)

Not long after this, having checked to see if the garage door was closed, I heard a sound. Sure enough, Butch and Sundance (momma raccoon and offspring) were in the garage. She has figured out the cat door into the garage, taught her 4 babies, and they were into the garbage and the winter bird seed. SIGH. Cat door is now locked. We primarily used it for Buster in the dead of winter to get warm.

I laughed so hard, watching her squeeze out of the cat door! I didn't laugh this morning when I saw one of them left me a deposit beside the Hops vine!

June 24th

I threw on some jeans and t-shirt (that wasn't enough!) and took camera and videocam to see if I could grab a photo of momma and chicks. I could hear the chicks  just off to Momma barred owl's left. Two chicks have survived. I simply could not spot them! I could hear them on separate trees, but the mosquitoes were so bad, and dusk was approaching.



 I managed to capture her doing a full hoot, as well as Robins bothering her.
Momma owl hoots from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I haven't seen momma and chicks, she's still feeding them. First, she is calling, then the robin family started harassing her. Robins must have brood #2 nearby.

11 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello, great critter post. I love the owl photos and the video. The raccoons are a problem around here and do not seem shy. Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

How amazing to see the owl! I'm always on the lookout but can never spot them. Enjoy your weekend!

Anvilcloud said...

This is the second raccoon post that I have read this morning. Both in Canada. The other had them under their house and were trapping them to move them.

Ohmydearests said...

we do not have raccoons in South Africa... so it is exciting to see your photos! I have always been fascinated by them!

William Kendall said...

What a lovely call that owl makes!

Raccoons are smart critters. I remember one evening at my parents' place, coming to the kitchen window where a hummingbird feeder was stationed close by. There, hanging on a support beam, was a raccoon, reaching over with one paw to the feeder, turning it over enough that the liquid drained out onto the sidewalk. He or she saw me, and just looked at me as if thinking, "What?"

Nancy J said...

Love that video, and the robins, very defensive to make sure their babies stayed safe. Maybe Mumma owl was doing the same.

Naquillity said...

what a beautiful owl. i simply loved the video. sorry about the prize left behind by the raccoons. and all that seed, oh... hope all is well. have a great day~

Cloudia said...

Always a soulful pleasure to be with you here, Jenn

Red said...

I'm glad we don't have racoons here but they're coming. They've been seen nearby.

Out To Pasture said...

I also have to do a walk around in the evening and make sure things are raccoon proofed. Excellent video of the female barred owl calling out. How lucky you are to have those owls so close by.

Knatolee said...

Love your owl pics! And raccoons are so naughty! But cute. I love them.