Monday, March 16, 2009

Nom, nom, nom ...


It seems everyone loves black-oiled sunflower seeds -- birds, squirrels, bears, and even raccoons! This little guy kept us up most of the night. I saw him come up on the deck about 4 times, but every time I tried to get a picture or turn on the light, he took off. Rick came to bed around midnight and I saw the raccoon coming back up, so I figured I'd turn on the light so he could see him. This time he didn't run away. He just sat there looking in at us and at our cat, Belle. He figured we weren't any threat, so he plopped his furry behind down on the deck railing and continued his midnight snack. Rick managed to get this picture of him -- too cute!

Raccoons are adorable critters. We had a lot of them at our house in California. I always saw their little footprints on the side of our pool. We even had an entire family drinking from our water fountain. After living in Montana for almost two and a half years, this is the first raccoon I've seen. Well, alive, I mean. I will have to be putting my feeders in soon because the bears will be coming out of hibernation. We've had a lot of snow this year and I imagine food has been hard to find. Our yard is still completely covered in snow, but up on the hill we're just starting to see little patches of dirt around the tree trunks. The news said we might get more snow tonight. He sure is cute. What should I name him? Rocky? Bandit? Belle's Boyfriend?

13 comments:

  1. Cute! They can be nasty little critters too, be careful! If it's a boy I like Rocky. If it's a girl, how about Rena?!! snicker

    Nancy

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  2. Rena Raccoon? Bahahaha! Yeah, I'm pretty sure this was a boy. We were inside and the picture was taken from behind the window. He was really interested in Belle, who was all snuffing & spitting at him. He just sat there looking at her while chewing his seeds.

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  3. He's so cute! He looks like a Ringo to me.

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  4. He's adorable! You have such an amazing array of wildlife there!

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  5. I am certainly jealous that you are surrounded by excellent reference to wildlife, but not jealous of the snow!!!

    I always wanted a pet raccoon... I know how mean they can get though...

    I love he is smiling like he is saying "CHEESE"

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  6. Busted! That's cool you guys were able to get a pic of him, though.

    Gale

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  7. He's cute and he's smiling! I like Adrienne's suggestion : Ringo!

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  8. Cute picture Rena... and I vote for Ringo too! lol

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  9. Racoons are adorable but they can be very feisty too.

    Great photo

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  10. great shot of the little guy. Ringo does seem appropriate.

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  11. Awwww man, that is so cute!!!!

    I vote for Ringo - girl or boy!!!

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  12. Thanks everyone! Ringo he is! I didn't see him last night, but maybe he'll cruise by again sometime.

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  13. They are soooo cute, but man, can they make a mess of the neighborhood garbage on trash night!

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