Hmmmm... Northwoods closed again this year?!

After watching close to a foot of snow fall since yesterday at daylight, it's quite peaceful outside. Pleasant at 20 degrees with no wind chill. Although there are some pretty deep drifts everywhere. The snow is higher than the tail lights on the GeeWiZ van. Don't think GWZ is going anywhere anytime soon -- or even today it looks like. lol.

Hiway & Shazbot have what appears to be 'peek holes'. They're out on the CoonCam this morning checking out the snowfall -- way on the right side of the screen. Not much snow got inside of their enclosure so they're pulling handfulls of it inside to them.

Not sure why but some people are getting still shots of the CoonCam and others seem to get the live feed fine. So I don't know how to resolve the problem. I get a still shot on the computers I've tried.

The Northwoods is indeed closed again today. So unusual for that to happen, and now it's twice just this year! Anybody want to tell me if my coonies called it spot on or if those ground hogs two weeks ago had a clue getting people's hopes up?

Winter at the Raccoon Orphanage

It snowed in the Northwoods -- finally. I mean it really snowed. Started early last night sometime and hasn't quit yet -- twenty four hours later. It's a very pleasant snow. Sparkly, glittery little floating entities slowly piling up everywhere. It looks like it's fragile little balancing pieces of glittering powder. I had to shovel an accumulation of about a foot off the top of Hiway & Shazbot's mini-coondo. The weatherman says we're in for sub-zero weather tomorrow and colder over the weekend. The kids got sent home from school today at lunch time. It's pretty rare to get a snow day in Coleman!


Lillian made a rare appearance - but if you watch the video you'll see she's very careful not to put her feet right in the snow. She spends some time eating a few icicles from the top of the Coondo perimeter though. But I think she's giving me a bit of a 'what ARE you doing' look when she sees me through the window moving the CoonCam trying to get her climbing antics.

New Year's Eve

Well. It appears this will be the last post of the year. Hoping everyone had a reasonable good year and that 2008 will be one of the best years ever.

I have another horse ranch site I'm designing. If anyone is interested in horses for sale {these are quarter horses} visit the blog that's just started last night at pykequarterhorses.blogspot.com

This winter weather has caused Hiway to wild up ever so slightly. She has bonded tightly with her Shazbot and is slowly growing away from her attachment issue to me. It's a bittersweet victory with my Hiway girlfriend. But alas, it IS what we want for her.

Please don't drink and drive tonight. If you are going to go party in the New Year, please have a designated driver. Be safe!! And Happy New Year.

Snowing in the Northwoods -- whoda thunk?

Guess you could call it snow. Looks like maybe a whole inch might be covering the GeeWiZ van. Lots of 4 a.m. banging around in the Coondo but no faces peeking out anywhere. The mini-coondo sounds pretty quiet. Hiway & Shazbot must be sleeping. Lillian & Benjamin would rather be out in the forest now. But they'll have to be patient until the weather is more food foraging friendly.

Feels pretty balmy out there at 30 degrees. Might sound odd to some folks to hear 30 degrees feels warm -- guess you just have to experience Wisconsin weather for a while to understand that one. :^)

Christmas Eve in the Northwoods

We had a thick fog set in for two days that started melting about everything. Yesterday it was beautiful out and all the ice melted that was in the swimming pool and frozen to the ground pans. I gave the coonies some fresh warm water and Hiway & Shazbot particularly enjoyed playing in the water and standing in it. Benjamin & Lillian don't seem to care much. They don't even go in the pool. My Hiway has outgrown her halter. Haven't been able to find one quite like it her size yet. Then later on in the morning it started to freezing rain and snow. Doesn't look like too much on the ground -- a few inches maybe. I hear the snow plows so it must be icy under that little bit of snow.

A couple of 'the boys' -- Arthur's growing up buddies -- are home on leave. One from the Army & one from the Marines. Those rowdy little kindergarten boys got so big. Brandon's wife Danielle is a sweetheart. Stever is scheduled for deployment in a few months.

Have a safe and happy Christmas Eve.

Question from Citizen

Yesterday I was surprised to get an email asking me why I had shoveled snow into Hiway & Shazbot's mini-coondo perimeter. Kind of caught me off guard as it hadn't dawned on me someone might be watching the CoonCam. {Blonde moment.}

Raccoons will lick snow or make little snowballs to eat in the winter for moisture. If I put water in their pans this time of year, they will get right in just like any other time of the year. If their paws are wet, they will get stuck to the chain link or other metal fencing and rip skin off the pad. Just like the skin on our fingers would do when wet. They don't even flinch when they do that, but they will bleed sometimes. It's best they get their moisture from a natural source like they'd be getting in the wild. So I shoveled in clean snow because I have a tarp on top preventing large amounts from covering the little yard they have. I also break up chunks of ice and put it on top of the frozen water in their pan.

Hiway rather enjoyed the snow and made a little mound in the corner. Patting it in different spots, bringing in more, just like she was building a snow coonie.

Give Thanks unto the Lord

Today is actually my favorite holiday. It is, in fact, the only one I really celebrate. Each year taking the opportunity to speculate on how many wondrous things there are in my life to be in awe of and ever so grateful for. Ponderings of the heart. Time to reflect on everything, show gratitude and share.
Hiway, my big fat girlfriend, is one miracle I am in awe of. What this little one survived through is mind boggling. This Coondak Moment {photo taken} yesterday just makes me wonder how she managed to get so huge and still be such a tiny baby.
Another little miracle that crossed my path is this little Shazbot {and her human Mariah}. This is the first single kit that Mariah raised on her own. You can tell she is quite proud of her little rehab. Shazbot and Hiway were meant to be roomies for this season.

I also need to thank all of you who have helped support the Raccoon Orphanage and keep me going. There are more friends out there on the internet than one can imagine. Social networking keeps Dory & the Orphans in touch with communities -- and I have met some of the most wonderful invisible humans in the world -- not unlike how many describe angels. Both those who have care and concern about me personally, and those who cross my path who want to help creatures they've encountered. Perhaps one day it is in destiny to meet some of these folk face to face. But just having them to ponder about is an amazing journey of it's own.

Please don't drink and drive during the holiday season. Blessed Be.

4 a.m. visitor

Around 4 a.m. I thought I heard someone banging on the door to come in. Kamir said she heard it too because she ran to the window to look, and then ran to the door. She usually jumps up on the door to look out that window too, but upon seeing nothing - ran back to the other window. So I go look. Nobody there. So I open the door, nobody there. Open the storm door to check the Coondos, and in flies Shazbot.

Yesterday we rearranged Hiway & Shazbot's mini-coondo. Put the portable fencing around it so they have some outside time and space. We filled it with maple leaves from the yard. To watch them jump and hide in the pile of leaves was better than any Animal Planet's best animal videos. Shazbot tried to hide from Hiway and pull a sneak attack. Well. With Hiway you don't even need leaves to hide in to surprise her that you're there. Then they'd just roll around together in the leaves like one big fuzzy ball.

It would appear that Shazbot found a way to get out. She's the first one who has gotten out of that enclosure other than the ones who fit right through the spaces -- usually about 9 or 10 weekers.

Well. Being 4 a.m. and dark outside, I put her in the house kennel -- thinking it'll be daylight in a couple hours. But NOoooooo. Shazbot had a conniption if I wasn't right there looking at her. Sounded like something was attacking her the urgency she was yelling at me with. So. Take her out, cuddle her, hug her [sassy as she is she does like her attention], put her back in for a moment so I can grab the lantern and keys to unlock her mini-coondo perimeter.

While unlocking it, Hiway decided to grab onto my arm and hug it for dear life. With her arms through the fence, and my arm on the other side, it took a while to get the door open. lol. Then back in to get Shazbot. Had to lock the mini-coondo til daylight - then we can watch to see just exactly where Sarah Shazbot found a way out.

It's actually rather pleasant outside this morning, much to my surprise that it's only 30 degrees out there. This weather has all my rehabs confused. Everybody was up and pacing at me this morning, and yesterday they all slept until around 1:30 p.m. It seemed partial hibernation was the order of the day -- and November they should all be sleeping in. But this November? Not a typical Northwoods November again this year.

Mini-Coondo Graduation Day

With Lillian and Benjamin in the big Coondo, now that the big boys have gone onto their Big Adventure, things at the orphanage are changing. The weather is getting down to the 20's and 30's at night.

Lillian & Benjamin have settled nicely into the Coondo and are enjoying having more room to roam around. Plans are to introduce Sarah Shazbot to Lillian & Benjamin at around 3:30 p.m. Central time, when her Mariah comes home from school. This is hard for Mariah watching her Sarah grow so quickly. She won't even listen to any discussion of future Big Adventure plans for Sarah Shazbot. The twins already know Hiway from being cagemates a few months ago. But they don't like Hiway much. Since Hiway doesn't bother to fight back if someone challenges her -- she just sits there trying to figure out what's happening -- the transition may not be able to be completed in one day. Shazbot needs to be caged with Hiway and they cannot be separated. For all practical purposes, they are now littermates and need to stay together.

Shazbot gets pretty testy with Hiway at feeding time. She tries to nab all the food for herself. Hiway, being the gentle soul she is, just moves over or goes to do something else. Shazbot always was a lot more feisty than Hiway. Even though Shazbot's half Hiway's age, she calls the shots in the mini-coondo. This attitude may cause problems with Benjamin, since he considers himself the 'big honcho' of he and Lillian. But -- he's got a surprise coming with Shazbot I think. She doesn't back down too quickly.

The four of them have been side by side in two separate mini-coondos for the season, so integration shouldn't be a big issue. But - as always with coonies -- we'll just have to watch and see what happens.

Photos are me and my bestest girlfriend Hiway the other day. She's just such a big baby ... and getting quite heavy besides. She is approximately 6.5 months old now and it's a miracle she's here.

Shazbot gets a roomie

This morning when Shazbot was taken out to her mini-coondo, she was surprised to find Hiway already inside exploring. Hiway was a bit rambunctious early this morning. She was too much help with the canning jars and tomatoes waiting to be made into soup and mulberries waiting to be made into jelly.

Shazbot wanted to play and kept following Hiway around, trying to get her hands on Hiway's face to make her look at her. Hiway just pretended she didn't see Shazbot. They finally did interact some, but Hiway had to be put back in by Lillian & Benjamin once she got a bit rough. She had little Shazbot pinned down like she does with the cats, but Shazbot is still a bit small for that.