Raccoon Visitor

Amanda caught this raccoon on our deck a few nights ago. She said he was sitting in the doorway watching them in the house. We knew this creature had been around the backyard for a long time but this was the first time the raccoon showed itself.

There is a section in the Handbook of Nature Study on raccoons starting on page 247.

"None other of our little brothers of the forest has such a mischievous countenance as the coon. The black patch across the face and surrounding the eyes like large goggles, and the black line extending from the long, inquisitive nose directly up the forehead give the coon's face an anxious expression; and the keenness of the big, beady, black eyes and the alert, "sassy" looking, broadly triangular ears, convince one that the anxiety depicted in the face is anxiety lest something that should not be done be left undone..."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 248

We have seen the little muddy footprints where he washes his food in our watering can. We hear him rustling in the bushes under our bedroom window at night. I have heard him chatter as he crosses the yard in the dark. Now we know exactly what creature is roaming our yard at night while we sleep, or at least one of them. :)

I just don't want to see him in our doorway or inside the house any time soon.

Great job taking the photo Amanda.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Mammals in Our Backyard

We have decided to work through our list of mammals that we have observed in our backyard and make journal entries for them in our nature journals. Often times we observe an animal and do not take the time to do the research or the entry into our journals. On these cold, rainy days of winter we will take the opportunity to read about each one in the Handbook of Nature Study if possible and then record our findings. Many of the animals we observe are not specifically covered in the HNS, so we will use the internet or our field guides to get the information.

Here is the list of animals we are going to study:
(also found as links on my sidebar)

Western grey squirrel
Striped skunk
Broad-footed mole
Long-tailed vole
House mouse
Norway rat
Mule deer
Common raccoon
Little brown bat

Covering one animal per week for the next term, I think that our goal is within reach. I will share our results as we go along.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom