Raccoon

On our routine walk Sunday afternoon we came across a couple of young raccoons playing in an open area up by the gate. The coons quickly scampered up nearby trees. One climbed up out of sight amongst the leaves. The other stopped in a tree fork and watched us watching him.

As you have no doubt noticed, my blogging activities (posting, visiting, commenting, replying, etc.) have been very sparse recently. I'd like to promise that situation is going to improve soon and I'll be getting back to more frequent posting, but that is not the case. This is the busiest time of year for the Treenware and Pottery crafts business Jo and I operate. We are currently at the end of a period of peak, last-minute production and will soon begin traveling to art fairs. It will be another month or so before I am even home long enough to post regularly. Until then, posting, visiting and commenting on a catch-as-catch-can basis is the best I can do. Once again life intrudes upon blogging.

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Raccoon

Early Bird

You know what they say: The early birds gets all the sunflower seeds -- or something like that. Even though it was still before sunrise, this flightless bandit was actually running a little late making its appointed rounds. It usually gets the sunflower seed munchies in the wee morning hours. As you can see, we are thoughtful and caring wildlife enthusiasts and have provided a platform for the raccoon to stand on while raiding the feeder. Having the coon strain and struggle to hang on just wouldn't be humane. (We gave up on those baffles months ago and should remove them. They are ugly as well as useless.)

(Jo gets the credit for this photo. While it wouldn't win any prizes, I think she did a pretty good job considering she was hand-holding the camera and using only the porch light for illumination.)

Early Bird

Electric Garden Fence

The electric fence surrounding our gardening just didn't seem to be working up to snuff the other day. There was abundant evidence that an armadillo had made several unauthorized tilling forays into the garden, and Jo said she'd watched a coon enter and leave the garden through the electric fence, barely giving a glance back over his shoulder upon exiting -- like maybe he'd felt a little tingle but certainly didn't get zapped. When I touched the little fence tester doodad to the wires, the light flashed as it should, but the pulse of light was weak.

I decided that the tall grass under the fence might be draining off too much of the juice. Even though our grass is growing slowly these days, it had still gotten tall enough to reach the bottom fence wire, especially on the west end of the garden. So...... I dragged out my trusty Weedeater and trimmed the grass under the fence all the way around. While trimming on the back side of the garden, I also discovered that a metal pepper cage had rolled up against the electric fence.

When I finished trimming, I again tested the fence. This time I was getting a bright flash of light and even an audible click whenever the fence cycled on. That ought to be enough juice to zap any raccoon. I'm not really certain what effect the electric fence will have on an armadillo unless he touches his nose to the wire. Trimming the grass may have helped, but I suspect that removing the wire cage accounted for the majority of the improvement.

Electric Garden Fence