Ruthie The Raccoon Has Taken Over Our Tree
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
Canada
December 29, 2017 8:06am CST
I've told you about Ruthie the Raccoon in the past. We name her Ruthie every year one shows up to have her babies in our tree.
Last year there was no one, we really missed watching her...
This Ruthie is huge, she didn't let us see her face, she was sunning herself on a really cold day above the hole that is the door to her birthing place.
We were happy to see her this year. We look forward to seeing her babies. One years we watched her move her babies down into the ravine when they were starting to be active. A true momma, would move from the top of the tree to the ground where the babies can play.
Other years we could see the bigger babies playing in the trees, just like children do. It was fun to see them and then they were gone. Don't know where they go but there is a lot of woods and wild lands around our home.
We love our wild raccoons, they don't bother us. We have a raccoon proof trash can and so do all the neighbors....
Do you have critters in your neck of the woods?
http://www.mylot.com/post/3058215/shes-back
19 people like this
19 responses
@LadyDuck (458006)
• Switzerland
31 Dec 17
@PainsOnSlate There are plenty of deer, wolves usually do not come down to the villages and bears stay up in the mountains.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
31 Dec 17
@LadyDuck No wolves and Bears near us, way to many people in our area, up north in the wilds there will be many but rarely seen by humans
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
31 Dec 17
We have foxes too, I've seen a few not sure about the ferrets, at leas I haven't seen one in my yard. Had a deer in my yard once. Lots of raccoons too
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
29 Dec 17
We have all sorts of wild animals all around us but usually we just see them running not posing!!
4 people like this
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
2 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate that is cool.I love raccoon
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
We see them every winter/ spring. We have the perfect birthing tree in the back yard.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
2 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate They multiply undisturbed in European forests. There are no enemies. Wolves may like to eat them but there are only a few. Wolves are coming back to Central Europe from the east, Poland mainly.
2 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
I think some think they could be pets but they are not pets, they can be nasty. Interesting they are no indigenous, they are everywhere in the Americas.
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
29 Dec 17
I see raccoons here in the urban "wild." Skunk also.
3 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
It makes me nervous when I see skunks, they can be so stinky. I think the "urban wild" must be an interesting place to live.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
I've never seen a mongoose, I do enjoy watching Ruthie.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
@Kandae11 a handsome little guy,,, is he dangerous?
1 person likes this
@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
2 Jan 18
That makes sense @PainsOnSlate I do find it funny that the Sonoran desert has some, of course the Sonoran desert is a little more humid than ours plus that's where most of the well known cacti come from.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
I imagine a dessert area is not their favorite, I believe they need cover to hide in.
1 person likes this
@mom210 (9036)
• United States
3 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate We had one that just loved to pluck one off every night. We moved the coop & upgraded to a more secure hen house and that seems to have done the trick.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
4 Jan 18
@mom210 Our chicken coops when I was a kid were buildings that humans could live in comfortably without the chickens. We moved to the country, built a chicken coop and lived in it for about 4 or 5 months while our home was being built. It was fall, thanksgiving when we moved into the finished house, and the chickens moved into our summer home... and they lived there happily for a long time... and that house we moved in is still there and renovated by my sister and her husband..
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
I can imagine they would make a mess with the chickens, I had chickens when I was a child and we didn't have raccoons around back then or because we were in the country we just never saw them..
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (205696)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Sep 18
@PainsOnSlate I saw a road-squished raccoon on my way home one evening. His whole family was trying to pull him off of the road. It was actually a touching sight.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
21 Sep 18
@TheHorse That is sad. and must have been touching.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
19 Sep 18
I've seen a lot of them, on garbage night they try to get into the trashcans, most of us buy the kind they can't open and it saves a lot of cleaning up... I've never seen a male other than young ones playing in the trees but now that i think of it I wonder if I could tell a male. I think they look alike.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
29 Dec 17
I have roughly 18 raccoon's that visit nightly @PainsOnSlate . They love cat food. When I refill their bowls a couple a times a night, some of them will come up to me and smell my hand or foot. And of course I do have foxes, deer, coyotes, etc.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
31 Dec 17
We don't feed them. We don't have pets is the reason. We do see a lot of animals because we live next to a large ravine that is government land with trails to walk. I ran into a deer in the ravine once and couldn't figure out who was scared worst, the deer or me....
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
31 Dec 17
@PainsOnSlate 
That was a surprise for both of you.
That was a surprise for both of you.1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
15 Jan 18
We saw here moving the babies to lower ground in the ravine years ago, haven't seen them as tiny babies sense, We have seen brother and sisters youngsters playing in the trees only one year too. They were having a ball. Don't know why we don't see them more often. At night they turn on our back yard light that is bright ( motion light) and its usually on trash night but we only see them if we're in the kitchen...
1 person likes this
@DianneN (246720)
• United States
16 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate Perhaps it's the light. They are nocturnal animals. lol. I'd love to see the babies playing in a tree. They are so adorable!
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129430)
• Israel
14 Aug 18
@PainsOnSlate
I live in the city. So all the raccoons you name Ruth.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
14 Aug 18
yes every time we see one in the tree we say Ruthie is back. Ruthie the Raccoon is a good name for all the Raccoons.
1 person likes this
@peachpurple (13884)
• Malaysia
29 Dec 17
You have raccoons;? Awesome, we gave dragonflies, rats, stray cats and dogs
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
1 Jan 18
Cats and dogs are not allowed to run free, they must be in a fence or on a leash. IVe never seen a rat around but I Assume they are around, I love dragon flies. We see squirrels every day, hundreds of them...
1 person likes this
@peachpurple (13884)
• Malaysia
1 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate wow squirrels in Big numbers, amazing
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
1 Jan 18
We have a flood light in the back and it turns on when there is movement, we often see the critters running to the street especially on Garbage Night.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
@Ganma7 we also bought a critter proof trash can...
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
29 Dec 17
Raccoons are adorable especially if you get to watch the babies play! We get really big ones here and at times I had to put big heavy rocks on top of the garbage cans to keep them out. They would shake the metal lids until they got them off hence the need for the rocks on top.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71664)
• United States
2 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate I’ve never heard of one but that sounds great! They must be made of a thick plastic so the mice and moles can’t chew through.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
We bought a critter proof trash can, its plastic and I have to fight it to get it to open but it works. We see messes in our neighborhood after trash day but more and more are buying the critter free ones now. We have open bins for glass, metal and paper but no garbage is open to the critters.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
They can be messy in the garden, because we are surrounded with trees, we tried to garden but it didn't work so we have a herb garden, no veggies anymore.
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
29 Dec 17
Yes there are coyotes around here too..but rarely see them as they are out on the trails ..none in these apartments except squirrels
Happy New Years to you Paints and family
Happy New Years to you Paints and family1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
1 Jan 18
We rarely see a coyote but they are here, the raving if full of squirrels too...
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
I imagine they are around but you probably don't see them. My little town is surrounded by wineries and farms and lots of woods too so they are everywhere.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
2 Jan 18
They are intelligent and entertaining. They are everywhere around here in the wilds. I love their mask on their faces...
1 person likes this
