Raccoon

A Raccoon has been making early morning visits to grab some bird feed before the birds get to it. He used to make night raids and was about to destroy the feeder my son got me for Christmas. To stop this, I began putting a daily ration in the feeder each morning. By nightfall, the feeder is empty and of no interest to the Raccoon. Daylight foraging is not typical behavior for Raccoons, but they’ll brave some daybreak sunlight if the prize is tempting enough.

I suppose cracked corn will do until someone nearby has a garden full of ripening sweet corn. Several years ago, a person over the hill from us tried to raise sweet corn for market. As the corn ripened I noticed a total absence of Raccoons at Blue Jay Barrens. He said that the Raccoons overran his fields and left him with almost nothing that he could sell.

Cracked corn can be awfully tough to chew. I’m probably at fault for not softening it up in a bowl of water.

He alternates between corn and sunflower seeds. Sunflower is softer, but I imagine the hulls provide quite a bit of roughage in his diet.

Wild animals must always be on the defensive against larger, more powerful animals that might take away their meal. The Raccoon is not going to willingly abandon his feast. Whatever’s coming, it must be big and powerful.

Or maybe not.

I think these two should be able to share the feeding station without too much conflict. The Raccoon doesn’t stay around very long. As the morning brightens, he becomes more nervous and finally hurries off to sleep the day away.

A CAMERA CRITTERS submission.