A few days ago we saw two "new" raccoons in our yard and one of them was missing 3/4ths of his tail!!! I assume he lost it in a fight or that he had some sort of horrible accident. He looked to be in perfectly fine shape otherwise. Given the tail situation we pretty much had no choice but to call him "Manxie". The other raccoon who showed up with Manxie was soooooooooo big that he reminded me of Cilantro from many years ago. I decided that this other "new" raccoon had to be named Coriander, in honor of Cilantro's memory.

I put "new" in quotes when referring to these raccoons because Manxie seemed to recognize me. When I went outside to put a few grapes out for them, both raccoons bolted, but Manxie didn't go too far. Also, when I opened the window in a back bedroom to talk with my visiting raccoon friends, Coriander looked nervous and backed off, but Manxie just kept eating all the time I was chatting with him. Generally, raccoons who do not know me go immediately under the deck or entirely out of the yard when I open the back window to chat with them.

I have to assume that Manxie, and possibly also Coriander, are former kits that I had socialized a couple of years ago. Manxie might just have more memories of being here when he was a baby. Since they showed up together and left together, Manxie and Coriander are probably sibling brothers. Raccoons who show up by themselves this time of year might be boys or girls. Herman von Vermin, for example, who ALWAYS shows up alone, may very well be a Hermina von Vermina, just stopping by for a quick bite before getting back to her den to nurse her babies. Tiny Tim, who also ALWAYS shows up alone, may well be a Tiny Timathea. Time will tell. Timmy seems young and if she is a girl, she will doubtless have kits, but none of them may survive for very long given her age and size. If "Timmy" comes back next year with a few kits trailing her, we will certainly have to change her name!

Anyway, if Manxie and Coriander are former kits, then it makes me wonder where they have been or why they suddenly showed up for a visit the other night. A raccoon missing most of his tail is easy to identify, and it didn't look like this was a new injury. You would think that with such a distinguishing physical characteristic I would have noticed him if he had visited me as an adult before!!!

Where Old Manxie went after he stopped being a kit in our yard is unknown to me. How he lost his tail is unknown to me. What I used to call him when he was a baby is unknown to me. They look (and act) quite different as adults, so returning kits are very hard to identify as adults, unless they have some very special distinguishing feature like the scar Herman von Verman has on his shoulder or a white raccoon "uni-brow" like one of my kits years ago had. Snowball, for example, was definitely NEVER a kit in our yard. I can say that with complete confidence, as I would certainly have noticed a blond raccoon kit!!!

So what Old Manxie has accomplished, or not accomplished, across the course of his little raccoon life will never be known to me, his human friend.

Raccoons are just mysterious that way...

Whoever invents a garbage container that a raccoon can not open will get the Nobel Prize:)
Raccoons may have settled in Sweden.
Fantastic fine animals - when it's in the right place.
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Curious people look everywhere, Chris.

Of course I didn't spend the "whole trip" looking in ditches, but alligators are not hard to spot if you know what you are looking for. I even saw a couple of big ones in ditches at the Kennedy Space Center, and of course I saw other amazing things there.

I have seen Miami, the Florida Keys (pre-Katrina) and Orlando. I was told that there are parts of the Florida Keys where one can see alligators on one side of an island and crocodiles on the other, but sadly I never saw any crocodiles.

I did not see any raccoons in Florida, but I'm pretty sure that they were there...

I am pretty sure that if there was a risk of something running out of a ditch and eating me, I'd keep a pretty close eye on the ditches.

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Reality Internet Personality

Whoever invents a garbage container that a raccoon can not open will get the Nobel Prize:)
Raccoons may have settled in Sweden.
Fantastic fine animals - when it's in the right place.
https://translate.google.se/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsverigesradio.se%2Fsida%2Fartikel.aspx%3Fprogramid%3D83%26artikel%3D5801675&edit-text=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=5801675

More like Bear proof..

But racoons are called Tvättbjörn (Wash bear) here because they are related to each other.
Bears likes to eat human garbage:)

Or humans, if Bears get the chance to put one on 'the menu', they aren't picky eaters really, since Bears are Omnivores, like people are.

I have come across occasional bears at Lake Tahoe in California and I have seen occasional bears where my in-laws live in Wisconsin. Bears don't really "want" to eat people, Vic. They would much prefer to eat the blueberries you are picking!!! My impression of bears is that they are much like skunks. If you give them a chance to go the other way, you will probably be just fine.

Or humans, if Bears get the chance to put one on 'the menu', they aren't picky eaters really, since Bears are Omnivores, like people are.

I have come across occasional bears at Lake Tahoe in California and I have seen occasional bears where my in-laws live in Wisconsin. Bears don't really "want" to eat people, Vic. They would much prefer to eat the blueberries you are picking!!! My impression of bears is that they are much like skunks. If you give them a chance to go the other way, you will probably be just fine.

It depends on the type of bear. Polar bears will hunt and attack people. Grizzly bears are very dangerous. All bears will attack if you get between them and their cubs.

I've learnt all about bears since living in Canada. I've even seen some.

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Reality Internet Personality

I am pretty sure that if there was a risk of something running out of a ditch and eating me, I'd keep a pretty close eye on the ditches.

Alligators, when resting in ditches, did not appear to me to be at all hungry. For example, an alligator spotted in a specific ditch along a highway in the morning was likely to still be there, in the exact same spot, sunning itself around 4pm when we were returning to our hotel from a day of sightseeing. Actually, I've heard that alligators would do very well at cocktail parties. They prefer foods they can eat in one bite! (If they catch something that is larger than a good-sized alligator bite, they wait for it to rot down to a more reasonable size.)

Do we have any Floridian or Louisianan readers of this thread? Am I painting an accurate picture of American alligators???

Anyway, I've heard that to catch something bigger than a large rat or an iguana who has had the bad luck to fall off a branch into a swamp, alligators have to pull bigger prey into very deep water to drown it, like crocodiles do! We've all seen that National Geographic footage, right, where some poor herd of herbivores is trying to cross some section of a river in Africa and all the crocodiles are just lined up there in the river waiting for the weak, the slow and the young tender ones to cross...

In general there would not be enough water in a ditch in Florida for an alligator to drown me, and most of my alligator spotting was safely from inside a car anyway.

Alligators and crocodiles are very, very, very old species. They are like living fossils!

Who WOULDN'T want to look in a ditch if there was a chance of spotting an alligator???!!!

Mother's little Olle:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vPPLInDU3uo
Mother's little Olle in the forest went,
roses on the cheek and sunshine in look.
The lips little out of berries are blue,
only I did not have to be so lonely here go!
Brummelibrum, who lumbers there?
The bushes creak. A dog certainly it is ...
Shaggy's coat, but Olle will be happy:
Oh, a companion, it was good to see good day!
Pats so bear with small hands,
holds out the basket: See, taste!
Winnie, he devours most everything what there is:
Listen, I think, that you enjoy wearing.
Mother got now see them, gave a scream.
The bear ran away, now the game is over.
Oh, why scare you away, my friend?
Little mother, asking him to come again!

Or humans, if Bears get the chance to put one on 'the menu', they aren't picky eaters really, since Bears are Omnivores, like people are.

I have come across occasional bears at Lake Tahoe in California and I have seen occasional bears where my in-laws live in Wisconsin. Bears don't really "want" to eat people, Vic. They would much prefer to eat the blueberries you are picking!!! My impression of bears is that they are much like skunks. If you give them a chance to go the other way, you will probably be just fine.

With a bear, it's not so much about eating you, it's about defending their territory. If you are where you don't belong, your body may end up dead but mostly intact which is a good reason to keep your distance whenever a bear is around.

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Chris, I know what respect you have for rules...

With a bear, it's not so much about eating you, it's about defending their territory. If you are where you don't belong, your body may end up dead but mostly intact which is a good reason to keep your distance whenever a bear is around.

Yes and they defend their cubs:)
Especially in the springtime which is now:)

That bear cub is adorable!!!

One of the most certain signs of spring is when Skansens bear cubs in Stockholm decides to leave the den and have a peek at the world outside:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okStmx4tON8

All I know is that when it comes to food or women, gators and I use the same approach... latch on and death roll, baby, death roll!

...death roll, baby, death roll!

Merciful heavens!!! Poor Kris!!!

I'm hoping our uli wasn't out shopping
http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150317/NEWS/150319688

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You and me both - Uli, you OK??

I shan't worry, I believe the location was a few miles from her abode and I'm sure she is up to her armpits in tax forms.

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Chris, I know what respect you have for rules...

If it were only the rules.......

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Time to say "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw":)