[eskielover]

I have been dealing with house mouse for awhile now but it has turned into 4 that I know about, 3 humanely caught. One trsnsported far away, the other2 are waiting fom me to catch the last one. These mice were no longer nocturnal. I caught the first one licking an ice cream bowl I hadnt rinsed off yet for tje dishwasher...at NOON....not midnight, NOON!!! Then it ran around the kitchen. While I was cutting up chicken, the dang little thing got onto my kitchen counter againm. Heard the empty paper towel rustle & sure enough I tilted it up & there was mouse inside the cardboard roll. Finally it trapped itself in my humane trap & I put it out miles from my house.

Mouse # 2 was running around my family room & went for the cracker in the trap & it closed on him. Put that mouse in the big plastic container. I knew there was another mouse because just as I noticed mouse # 2 in the trap mouse #3 decidedto try & clinb my pants leg. That was a funny mouse. I put the trap where I saw it go with a piece of cracker in it. It got one cracker piece out then it was climbing all over the trap & playing peek a boo with me. Finally coaxed in in & I slammed the trap door after if. Dumped it in the same container as mouse #2 & the crscker piece fell in too. I took the funniest video of those 2 mice. The one in the container grabbed the cracker, ran around the contauner doing jumps & summersaultsto keep the other mouse AWAY FROM HIS CRACKER. Thatvideo was hilarious. Mouse # 4 showed up last might while I was busy with the sweet wild mommy raccoon that showed up on my back deck Sunday afternoon.

She looked so scrawny then I realized she was nursing babies. I started giving her some of thegood lsmb & rice dog food from my dogs. She scarfed that 1/2 & went off doen the steps. When she csme back I gave her more. Then I found older grapes in my refrig & gave those to her. In the middle of the night she brought her 4 babies to visit.

Babies played around on my deck climbing on everything & playing in the water tub I sat out there for mom. They all wandered off . Mom came back slone just before sunrise to eat thebdog food & finish off the grapes. The sun came up. She took ahuge drink of water then used one of my unused flower pots to poop in. Wow, like she was litter box trained. After that she laid down on the deck, flat out while I was sitting in my family room with the sliding door open ( screen door closed so she cant get inside) & I was tslking to her. Most wild critters would run....she just took a nuce nap....when done she got up & mosied down the deck stairs & back to her babies. She has been visiting every few hours now to get more food. Nursing 4 baby raccoons took a lit out of her with how thin she got. Eating like she was starving & drinking like dehydrated. My stream is at the back of my 10 acres & the runoffbstresm is down the slope in back of my house. A distsnce for a mommy coon to go for water. She is out therd begging for food right now. Time to care for my wild animals who have made my farm their home. I have to figure how to download the photos & videos from my phone. They are adorable

[eskielover]

Wow, when you take care of one wild animal they put a sign out...."caring lady here, handouts available".

Last night all 4 baby raccoons & mom came to visit but I didn't have dinner ready for them yet. Finally got a plate together of wet dog food, grapes, applesauce & a cut up fresh Georgia peach I just bought 25 lbs of. Turned out only mommy raccoon came back to eat & she picked out everything & put the peach slices out of the dish on the deck & lifted up the other pieces to see if she left anything under them.

I was doing some work in the house & went back into my family room. There was a raccoon scarfing down the pieces of peach. It was dark out & couldn't see well. Soon, there was a squabble going on & mommy raccoon chased off the other moocher who was just eating the peach she didn't like anyway. I looked out a little later & there was a huge possum wandering around on my deck & came up to the screen door to check out what was going on inside.

Only missing critter was my not so neighborly skunk who usually lets me know he's been around.

The joys of country living....I finally caught mouse #4 & released them into the corn field several miles from my farm. There will be more but at least this round of mice have been removed.

[eskielover]

So mommy Raccoon & her 5 babies have taken up residence at my home & visit several times a day looking for me to put out their dog food for them. One baby squeezed itself through the small opening I had in the screen door to move them away so I could put their food out for them.

Honestly I would rather suppliment their food & keep them safely around my farm where I know they are loved & cared for even in their wildness.

Oh my gosh the babies are so adorable. There is one whose fur is as black as its mask. Named that one Cocoa Puff. Another one is as light colored as the other one is dark.....named that one Latte. Another one is dark but not the black color....named that one Mocha. One of the babies is the runt on the litter....got dubbed the name Tiny & the other one has 7 rings on its tail so it got the name "7 Rings".

One night They came to my back deck looking for food but I told them they needed to wait because I was finishing up planting some plants on my front deck. Pretty soon 2 little baby raccoon faces popped up next to the front steps & they watched everything I was doing. As I walked toward the front door, Cocoa Puff came running up to me. They are friendly & getting more friendly all the time. I have petted the one that came into my house on the back but honestly trying very hard not to get them used to human touch incase they run into someone who is not raccoon friendly like I am.

They are the most adorable creatures & I am so thankful that Mommy Coonie (her name) brought herself & her tribe of 5 kids to my home looking for food. The little ones have perfected climbing my sliding screen door all the way to the top. They climb the tree next to my back deck & file onto the deck....it's so funny to see all 6 noses looking in through the screen door wondering where breakfast, lunch, & dinner is.

This is the most priceless experience with my wild woodsy critters I could have ever imagined having. How blessed they made my home their home....obviously feeding them helped.....but it keeps me laughing & filling my camera with adorable pictures & videos....wish I could figure how to get the photos from my album to show up here. I can't see them when posted with either my iPad or my phone so figured no one else could see them either.

I don't have TV, but my deck is known as Raccoon Entertainment Network. They are a wonderful & priceless experience I am enjoying.

[Travelinglady]

It's nice that you are so caring about these critters that some people would consider nuisances. Mice are cute and I've always liked raccoons after I read a book about one named Rascal when I was a little girl.

[eskielover]

Lol....when nuisances are that cute & as sweet as momma coonie was from the beginning its hard not to enjoy having them around to interface with & whats buying another bag of dog food when Im feeding my 3 eskie dogs already.

[Artchic528]

I know you do mean well, but feeding wild animals only creates for them an association with humans for food and they'd rather get the easy meals instead of going out and foraging in the wild for their own food. This makes them more and more dependent on people for food to the point where they have little fear of people and become a nuisance animal and are often destroyed.

So, while your heart is in the right place, you're doing them more harm than good in the long run I'm afraid.

Four Reasons Not to Feed Wild Animals (Plus Four Ways to Help Them) : The Humane Society of the United States

[eskielover]

Luckily I live in the country on 10 acres with most of it being woods. There are no close neighbors that these guys will interface with & my local animal rehab friend said the malebbabies will naturally wander off next spring into the wooded areas on surrounding farm areas to look for mating while the females stick around mom who has been at my farm for some time now. She is already more used to human interface than any other raccoon which indicates she was probably rehabbed as a baby.

If I lived in the city, I would have them relocated to the country but since I live in the country far from other people as long as they suppliment their natural forreging here they will hang around my woods & streams & will be safe & I have no plans for moving any time within their life span.