This night-vision camera remix shows a clever Raccoon stealing a woodpecker suet feeder by holding on until it - and he - falls to the ground. That's a drop of about 7 feet. He then carries it off into the forest to figure out how to open it. Not high on style marks, but it works. I managed to recover the empty feeder down by the stream.
Raccoon fight caught on night-vision! - short but violent turf battle near the typically tranquil birdbath. This is a game trail and it looks like some young raccoon's away from Mom cross paths with a lone male. Surprising hyena like sounds as they run away. Like a lot of fights in nature - not much damage was done - but lessons were learned. Love how the little one on the far left totally stays out of it :-) More HD videos every week. Please Subscribe at: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding
Video of feral cat wisely avoiding a feeding raccoon
Feral cat keeps wary eye on Raccoon.
Not sure if this cat is truly feral, but it is rarely seen in the daytime and always immediately runs into the "jungle" behind the house. The Blue Jays and Mockingbirds, always on guard, make it impossible for it to hunt in the daytime or they sound the alarm and mob it. This cat wisely does not disturb the Raccoon although they use the same trails. More HD videos every week. Please Subscribe at:
In June Mother Raccoon's are nursing their Kits in their Dens. The male raccoon plays no role in raising the young. She often ventures out in the daytime this time of year as she need extra nourishment for nursing the kits - this is normal behavior Unfortunately, some people freak out when they seen raccoon's in their yard during the daytime this time of year and wrongly assume the Raccoon has rabies or is sick. This can lead to the unfortunate situation of trapping a mother raccoon and leaving her kits back in the den to slowly starve to death. Most professional trappers/re-locators know this, but many people trap them in their yard themselves and relocate them. They are easier to catch this time of year as they are desperate for food to feed their young. This is not the time of year to be trapping raccoons.
This raccoon is wild, but we've established a mutually beneficial relationship. This raccoon provides us with precious special moments of insight into her life - relaxing, grooming and taking a nap before heading back to the den.
I knew he'd get the first two biscuits easily and probably the third - but the fourth and hardest (biscuit #1 in the photo above) - that's tough. There were two ways to get it - one would be to just walk the rope down from biscuit 2 and grab a hold of it - the second would be to slide the hanging rope with loop that held biscuits 3 and 4 down the horizontal rope and pull it down to within reach. Several times in the video the Raccoon sees the relationship and causality between the hanging rope and the last biscuit. Lowering the rope just an inch or two and he would have easily gotten the final biscuit. Pretty impressive determination in any case! Of course, if Raccoon's had any vertical jumping ability it could be gotten, but I'm not sure they can jump up off their hind feet. If anyone knows different let me know - may be a matter of practice - OMG if they could learn to jump vertically what would that mean?
Raccoon Tries to Get Bird Suet Feeder in a Unique Way!
Video of Funny Raccoon
Raccoon raiding suet bird feeder
Caught this funny episode of a raccoon trying to get at a suet feeder the other night. Previous suet feeders had disappeared entirely and I suspected the wily Raccoons so I set up my night-vision game camera to catch the perpetrator(s). What ensues is a rather large raccoon trying to get the feeder off of a tiny springy branch I knew wouldn't support its weight. Not to be deterred the erstwhile bandit tries to stretch with only the very tiptoes of one hind foot to support and stabilizing him. The raccoon fails badly and is left hanging onto the suet basket with all four feet about 8 feet off the ground. As it still tries to get the suet feeder off the branch despite dire circumstances it falls to the ground with a thud. Now I don't know if raccoons land on their feet like cats do, but I somehow doubt it. In which case this raccoon had a hard landing and likely limped off to heal his bruises in the den as it left the suet behind!
Possums (Opossums), Raccoons and Armadillos are the Screech Owl's Companions at Night and clean up any left over birdseed and enjoy clean fresh water.
We're expecting the return of nesting Eastern Screech Owls within 3 to 5 weeks and I'm testing out a new "nightvision" camera (more on that in a future blog) to hopefully get more action footage of the screech owls flying around the backyard at night. When all the other birds roost for the night the owls are just getting started, but there are many other creatures that come out at night and are part of the same suburban ecosystem. The video above shows a Raccoon and a Possum cleaning up leftover seed around one of the bird feeding areas and partaking of the fresh water from a small birdbath. This is a regular stop at night for many creatures. In this case, the Raccoon and the Possum come to terms with each other and coexist rather peacefully, although the smaller Possum seems a little less trusting than the Raccoon who goes out of his way to avoid direct eye contact. The top predators in this environment are likely Bobcats and Foxes, but I have not seen any. They undoubtedly have a much farther ranging territory and do not stop by daily. I hope to document whatever chased the Armadillo and scared the Raccoon and Possum at the end of the video. It looks like the nightvision camera is going to work - more to come.
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