A total of 4 masked bandits
showed up on one of our porches the other night.
Yup, coons!
A mama raccoon with 3 of her baby kits.
Skeeter's supper leftovers made a snack for them.
Mama got first dibs.
Each little coon kit took a turn.
Of course my camera battery was low on juice, dog-gone it! Plus, these coon critters were moving fast. The cubs were running around like crazy and exploring everything on the porch. So, I apologize for the very poor quality of these photos.
For those not in the know, Skeeter is our cat. She's a former feral cat who decided to semi adopt us about 9 years ago. I say semi because she's still fairly feral. Skeeter lives outdoors because she is terrified of coming in the house. She's fed her meals atop one of two "feeding stations" that fit on porch bannisters. For those of you shocked that she lives outside, please know that she has full access to a barn and our greenhouse. AND she has two fully insulated custom built "cat houses" - one on our back porch and one on our covered deck.
I also need to say that I know full well that I should never feed critters out of doors like this because it does attract wildlife. However, we live in the country and I've been feeding feral cats for many years. Because the feeding stations are so close to the house, we've not had wildlife bother them much previously.
Where were the dogs during this nighttime raid? At my feet wondering what the heck I was so excited about. Because there are no windows that look out on the scene and the door is half glass, they didn't see a thing!
