Butch was here

The weather has been nuts for us. It was nearly 20 C. one day, pouring rain thanks to a Colorado Low, then the temperatures dropped to -12 as a cold front rolled in. The poor critters.


I enjoy our raccoons. My philosophy is that they were here first, we took over their habitat. I know how to raccoon-proof the house, keep garbage secure, for example. I know, but sometimes forget!

The bird feeders are my luxury. We balance our desire to bird watch, with the bears and raccoons.

I loved them in Bala, we moved from there in September, 2010.



This is our original 'Butch.'  We named her Butch before we realized she was a lactating momma!

I love tracking them.

Happily, in the night, our raccoons. Their behaviour is really interesting.

 

As I said, I know what to do but sometimes forget. The deer food was attacked.



There is a cat door into our garage. I'd unlocked it in winter after the raccoons settled in. Our 4 raccoons are pretty roly poly and wouldn't fit in.
There were two of them. They are small. I heard them, and opened the garage door. The one ran outdoors, this one decided to shelter in place!

I had a heck of a time trying to get it to leave! It went down to the bottom of the stairs into the basement. Instinct, I guess.



This time there were 6 raccoons. Mar. 14 interlopers. It wasn't pretty!

 


This is really amazing. Two raccoons popped their heads up, looked around. The next video on the trailcam showed a coyote!



I'm still see this cat, from time-to-time. Only in the dark. I don't know if it is feral, or comes from the summer residents who have moved to cottages for the duration.




Barred Owl Tracking
As an aside, when the girls were here last week it was rather mild, and the fire they needed in the basement made the upstairs a balmy 22 C. I opened the bedroom door a tad, and in the wee hours I heard the barred owl! (Archive photo!)