Did you notice the raccoon I posted yesterday had enlarged breasts? She was obviously nursing youngsters. I’m surprised the small fries weren’t tagging along with her. The next night, however, I encountered her again taking her four kits out to dinner. Mom crossed my path alone. A few seconds later, a tiny coon came out from the underbrush and joined her. Three more followed in secession joining mom on a beeline toward a trash barrel. I’m sure they’ve done this many times before in their short lives.
When mom noticed me, she shooed her brood up a tree to safety while she crossed the path to hide in the underbrush near shore. The kits watched me at eye level (right) and kept looking in mom’s direction for a couple of minutes. Then they returned to the ground and headed toward shore. I heard chirping in the weeds as the family reunited out of my sight.
This is a “new” raccoon this year. It isn’t the one I photographed several times last year unless her eye healed during the winter, highly unlikely. I’ve seen another raccoon closer to Main Street this year. I saw both raccoons individually on the same night a quarter mile apart. Maybe the other one is the father for this masked quartet.
I once saw a similar vision as your top photo — across the street on my neighbor’s tree. Three raccoons hanging off the side of the tree — two on one side, one on the other. It was truly a vision. How amazing that you captured something so similar on camera. (I was going to say ‘on film’, but that would not be accurate.
I guess you’d have to say “in pixels” to be correct. :-)
I’m sure I’ll see this bunch several times during evening walks this summer. The trash cans are a big draw. The ones you saw in your neighborhood are less attractive because they might be living in someone’s attic or garage. Raccoons are terrible housekeepers and will act like rock stars in hotel rooms sometimes. Further, you can’t sue them for repairs. They have no money because they have no pockets.
[...] sighting of the raccoon family near the north end of the millpond, I discovered I made an error in my original post about them. There are five kits instead of four. I spotted them along the path and assumed they were heading [...]