❧ Silke
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Garden Wildlife
Daniel and I have a fairly small garden, and yet we have a lot of animals visiting every day. Maybe because we have eight large trees in our backyard alone.
A couple of weeks ago, we discovered that a raccoon had made her nest in one of the trees in our neighbor's yard. I'm sitting outside as I type this and I can see her looking out just like in the photo below.
Before we discovered the nest, we found one of her babies (a newborn) at the foot of the tree. After waiting for some time to see if he'd get picked up, we took him in (it was fairly cold outside) and contacted a wildlife rehabber in our area who took him in. He was the cutest little thing and quite wiggly.
Here's a different raccoon trying to get comfy for a daily snooze.
We also get a lot of bird visitors and the woodpeckers are always a favorite of mine! The red bellied woodpeckers come to our feeders all the time and aren't shy at all. We love when they start bringing the babies around in the spring. Hopefully I'll get some good photos!
The pileated woodpecker is one we hear often enough but rarely see. Usually they are high up in the tall trees. They are large and striking looking and when one comes close enough, I run for the camera!
Ok, so this isn't really wildlife, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of Ramses and Louie, the flat cats! It was a sunny afternoon and they both loved the warmth!
Winslow, of course, is the overseer of the garden and makes sure that everyone gets along.
I'm looking forward to the baby raccoons being old enough to peek out of the nest so I can snap a photo for you.
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Baby raccoons! Exciting! But keep your garbage well covered, lol!
ReplyDeleteLuckily, we've never had an issue with the raccoons, even though they visit our yard almost every night. :)
DeleteWhat a privilege to see such wonderful wildlife..Including the ones who are not so wild!
ReplyDeleteWhy did the mama not take the baby back in, I wonder...?
Glad to see you are still enjoying your creativity and colors and life!
We think that she didn't make it up the tree before giving birth to the first baby. And the nest is high enough in the tree that we couldn't get it up there (plus, we hadn't found it yet by then). At first, we didn't even know what it was, but looking at the little "hands" we figured it must be a raccoon baby. :)
DeleteYou are so lucky to see the pileated woodpecker! I have seen them and heard them in the state parks close to our home! We have all the other wildlife too and I am glad you were able to get the wildlife center to care for the raccoon baby. x
ReplyDeleteWe usually see them in the spring if at all. I figure they must be busier trying to find food to feed the young ones and so are more visible. One time a pair visited with their almost grown fledgling - that was a special treat!
Deletelovely post
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people don't care about raccoons and consider them rather a nuisance, but I think they are great! (I wonder whether I'd still think that if I had them around the house here...)
ReplyDeleteYour cats look so relaxed on the decking, I want to stretch out next to them!
I really like them, too! They are so human in many ways, which is also why they can cause a lot of problems. We've lived with them here for 11 years and have never had an issue. We see them almost nightly. One time we even had an albino raccoon visit - it was completely white.
DeleteI love this post!! Those photos are precious!! Animals know good environments to settle safely!! Love Raccoons from afar but I worry about them with cats and small dogs. I have heard they can be a real threat. So glad you saved the baby though.
ReplyDeleteHugs Giggles
You know, Giggles, we have them all around in the neighborhood and we have two outdoor kitties (feral cats who adopted us) who sleep on the back porch and they've never had any problems with the cats or our dog and raccoons. They all live peacefully together...
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