Raccoon Eats Banana

If you've ever wondered what the bottom of a raccoon's foot looks like, wonder no more!

Mystery Creature

Any guesses on what this is? Is it our old friend, the bat? (Who, by the way, has been roosting elsewhere). Or, could it be an owl? What could be flying around in the dark at 5:45 a.m.?

More Foxes with Healthy Coats

This fox doesn't look familiar to me.
Why is this fox's tongue sticking out?

A Song

If Camera Trap Codger can wax poetic and post the occasional song, so can Jayla!

To the tune of Little Bunny Fru Fru:

Little bitty chipmunk
I don't wanna see you,
Leanin' down to take a drink,
and fallin' in the pond!

Chipmunk Falls in Pond!

This morning I was sleepily eating my breakfast, watching a chipmunk on a tree stump where there had been a dish of water (which something must have knocked off). So, since it couldn't drink from there, it went to the pond to get a drink. It leaned over the edge, fell in, and disappeared! I went screaming "Oh my God! Oh my God!", ran to the garage, got the pond scooper net, ran barefooted on the deck over acorns, in my nightgown (I hope the neighbors didn't see!), and down the stairs to the pond. Miraculously, the chipmunk was swimming to the other edge of the pond, where it was able to get out on its own. So, I freaked out for nothing. Nothing like an attempted chipmunk rescue to get your heart pumping in the morning. I guess I didn't think chipmunks could swim since a summer or two ago I found a dead baby chipmunk in the pond. Maybe it was just too young to swim or too small to be able to get out. Leotis was completely unaware of the event that had transpired, since he was in the shower at the time. After I told him, he went out and put back the dish of water on the tree stump and put an old fence in the pond so that animals that fall in can climb out.

Handsome Young Fox

These pictures are horribly blurry, as they were taken through a window, but they are much better than nothing. This handsome young fox showed up right when I sat down for breakfast. He sniffed in the cracks of the pond deck, and stepped on the duck weed as if it were solid and not covering water. Then he climbed up on the pile of logs, and then went off farther in the woods. There, he spent a good bit of time digging in a pile of twigs I had created, that has been there for a few years. Maybe he was looking for mice for breakfast. He is a rather healthy looking fox, with no mange. He was on the skinny and small side. He spent like a half hour in the yard, so hopefully he will be back. Unfortunately the camera trap isn't out because I was reluctant to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, but hopefully the mosquito season is over, and I will try to put it out this weekend so I don't miss any more photo opportunities!

Bat Watching

We just watched the bat fly off. He moved his head from side to side, yawned about 3 times, stretched one of his wings, then crawled down and flew off. This time I sort of saw his wings open up and he may have flown off in the direction of the pond. I hope he keeps coming back.

Groups of Twos

The good thing about camera trapping is that you can go on vacation, and if your batteries last, you won't miss any shots! With the animals showing up in groups of twos, makes you wonder if a flood is coming. (The pictures are from the beginning of August). The bat I'm happy to say has showed up in our window the past two nights! We watched him (and I have reason to believe it's a male) fly off last night at 7:45 pm. He woke up, started moving his head from side to side, scratched himself, then cleaned his toenails with his mouth! He then climbed down a few inches to the end of the screen and just fell. We never actually saw him in flight, but I'm sure he did take off flying. Today he is back again. We're starting to consider him a pet.

TWO Foxes, born this year?!

The Mamma Deer is pretty scarred up

Mamma and Bambis Disappear into the Forest

TWO Bambis!