Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Raccoon Portraits


There's not too much I can say by way of a story about this Raccoon; except that it came and stayed and stayed and stayed, for about three hours. And it ate and ate and ate! It must have been quite hungry, and relived too; to have found such a good food supply of sunflower seeds at my feeders.

Food must be very hard to find in the wild right now for there is still quite a deep covering of snow here and it is hard surfaced too. I can even walk upon the top of it in some places without breaking through. This is a result of ice pellets and freezing rain that fell during our last winter storm. The Raccoon was very attentive to its feeding but when hearing traffic sounds on the street nearby it would look up warily and check out its surroundings before going back to its feeding. It would also stop and take notice of the Chickadees flying about in our feeder area.

And then as Raccoons will do, upon finding a small puddle of melted snow, it dipped its hands into it the water and rubbed them together as if washing.

13 comments:

Mary said...

What wonderful pictures! I love the handwashing one. I never see them do that. My raccoons aways come at night when it is hard to photograph them. That is a really pretty one and you captured it beautifully. The rest of us are so busy cheering the arrival of spring, that it is hard to believe you still have so much snow! Wow.

bobbie said...

Really beautiful pictures of this animal. Raccoons are such interesting animals to watch.

DeVona said...

Exquisite photos! I'm amazed at the variety of wildlife you manage to capture so beautifully in your own backyard. Thank you for sharing!

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

Oh wow!!!! These are fantastic pictures!! You must be thrilled to pieces with them!! Look at the details on his paws. Which ones will you print and frame?! They are all worthy shots. Beautiful.

Texas Travelers said...

Great photographs as usual and a nice story. Yes, food is hard to find now. The pantry is just about exhausted until spring and summer restock it.

Strong storms, wind and cold rain delayed Spring here for a few more days.

Troy, in windy Ft. Worth

;o said...

Great images of the raccoon. I also enjoyed your butterflies and moths. And your birds! I'd love to see a Pine Grosbeak or a Common Redpoll round my feeder someday. A chance visit, even.

me ann my camera said...

mary:
Once the snow starts to go it will go fast. This is an exceptional year with still having so much snow around. Actually I don't often see raccoons in the daytime either but now that it is spring (almost), they are probably hungry and are out searching for food.

bobbie:
I agree with you that raccoons are fascinating to watch, and I love their black masks, but as the season progresses they will become absolute nuisances when they begin raiding our feeders each night. Then I don`t think they are so cute anymore.

devona:
You might think that we would be living out in the wilds sometimes for as you wrote: "I'm amazed at the variety of wildlife you manage to capture so beautifully in your own backyard", but actually we live in the middle of a small village. Our property size is only about an acre and we have close neighbours on both sides of us and behind us also, as well there are several just across the street.

Sandpiper:
Well this one stayed around for so long that it was pretty easy to take about a million pictures and then just pick a few of the better ones. Thank you for your kind comments.

texas travelers:
We will be welcoming spring here in eastern Canada tomorrow with a forecast of ice pellets and freezing rain. Certainly not the sort of spring hospitality that we would prefer, and not one that has prepared a celebration feast for the many wild creatures hunting for food.

durand:
I love butterflies and am anxious for them to return. We have enjoyed seeing a lot of Pine Grosbeaks this year; the most I have ever seen as some years there are very few. Last year I had not seen any Common Redpoll; this year they are definitely `common`, as there are so many of them.

Thank you all for your comments as they are very much appreciated.

Peggy said...

Hi, I came here by way of Sandpiper's blog and I love the raccoon photos! I always enjoy seeing them.

My husband and I lived in St. Stephen (New Brunswick), near the Maine border, for a couple of years.

Jane Hards Photography said...

That racoon is just too cute. Really amazing pics you have here. Closest i'll get to see a racoon in the flesh is the wildlife park, and they won't be as cute as this. glad i stumbled by.

RuthieJ said...

Great Pictures! Aren't raccoons fun to watch? I think their little hands are so amazing.

me ann my camera said...

peggy:
Small world! We go to St. Stephen a few times each year and often cross over to the States from there. Its a nice old town. Glad you dropped by.

babooshka:
Happy to be able to show you up close what these little masked creatues look like. Thanks for stumbling by.

ruthiej:
They're pretty cute and as annoyed I get with their too many nightime raids on our feeders as the season progress, I still run for my camera whenever I see one.

island rambles:
Our feeder area is quite close to our windows and this provides a really up close photo opportunity for me.

Thanks to all for dropping by with your comments. They are much appreciated.

Unknown said...

I've enjoyed visiting your blog! Great work. Raccoons are very interesting, intelligent, and cute animals. Great photos. I imagine you'll each be glad as soon as it warms up, brr, that raccoon sure looked cold. :)

me ann my camera said...

daniel:
Raccoons are cute but quickly become nuisances at our feeders. As the season progress they will most likely visit only at night but at this time of year they are seaching for food and yesterday, in the late afternoon we had three arrive all at the same time. The smaller, probably younger one, stayed on and ate and ate and ate. The other two were more wary and left as soon as they saw us. Which one was the smarter?