Keep Looking Up

I chased this pretty little girl up a tree Sunday night at South Lido Beach. There are dozens of raccoons out there that come out after the people start to clear out in the evenings, dumpster diving for food and, I swear, fun. When I first spotted her, this lady was pulling a McDonald's bag from a trash can, and she held onto it for a while as I got closer and closer. Eventually she discovered there wasn't anything but smelly paper in the bag, so she dropped it and wandered up a nearby tree. That's where I shot her as she plopped down to nap for a few more minutes as the sun set. I don't know what's up with the bare patch on her front leg, you couldn't see it until she laid down. And she may look aggressive in the bottom picture, but she was just yawning.

When A Body Meets A Body

I wish I'd gotten a better picture of this encounter, but I'll take what I can get. While walking down a path at Circle B Bar Preserve in Lakeland, I spotted a raccoon up ahead. He crossed the path and disappeared. Couple minutes later I hear the unmistakable shuffle of an armadillo in the weeds, and soon I spot him. But I wasn't the only one who spotted him. The raccoon popped his head out of wherever he was hiding and started watching the armadillo as well. I'd hoped the encounter would last a little longer, or that the two would get closer and perhaps there would be some sort of altercation, but it wasn't meant to be. Having satisfied his curiosity, the raccoon disappeared again and the armadillo went on his merry and somewhat oblivious way, probably never having noticed either myself or the raccoon.

Raccoon Family Album

I thought you might enjoy these family photos of a trio of raccoons I spotted this evening on South Lido Key. They were alongside a nature trail I was walking down, and even though they ran off as I approached, I coaxed them back out by tossing little sticks towards them as if they were food. I know, I know, it was mean, but I wanted to get the shot. Something you can't tell from these pictures is that the mommy, or at least the big one in the front, had an injured foot. Her right rear paw must have hurt, because she didn't walk on it the whole time I watched her. These are much better pictures than the last raccoon family I saw in Ohio.

Furry Bandits

If you pay attention, you never know what you might see. I heard some commotion on a hillside in Brandywine Gorge yesterday, and looking up the hill I saw a mother raccoon and at least three of her young playing on a fallen tree. She finally noticed me hundred feet or so downhill, but she never did anything more than watch me the same way I watched her. The young 'uns never paid me any mind. I later spotted another mother and her young walking along the side of the road, but I already had my picture so I didn't stop the car and shoot them. Must be that time of year.

Who Was That Masked Man?

Here's a Classic Ernie picture for you. I shot this racoon over on the north jetty at Ponce Inlet, Florida. That's just south of Daytona Beach. I was up there visiting the lighthouse, but the weather was overcast and grey, so I had to find other things to shoot. This furry fellow and his mate lived among the rocks on the jetty and made a decent living by begging fishermen for scraps. There were also a number of feral cats living in the same area. I hoped I'd get to see an argument or an altercation between the two competing species, but nothing happened while I was there.
Today is day two without my camera, and I'm having withdrawal symptoms. Everywhere I look, I see a picture I want to take. Last night I saw the sandhill crane family again, but I had no camera! (I also only saw one baby, which worried me a little bit. The other one may just have been out of sight when I drove by, but you never know...)