Raccoon Kits: Growing Up...

November 18th. 2014. Mum and three kits turned up first in August. On August 31, Mum and only two kits visited again; we never saw the third kit again. Mum and the two kits came by every few days or so. 

Now the kits come by every few days alone. I’ve only seen Mum with them once since they started coming alone. Mum may be in somewhere nearby but it seems that the kits are growing up and starting to develop their independence and strike out on their own.

Related post: 

- Raccoon Mum And Kits Again 

- Raccoon Mum And Kits 

- Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

Raccoon Mum And Kits Again

On August 25th, Mum and the three kits returned. Mum posed quite nicely.

On August 31, Mum and only two kits visited again. It’s unlikely that the third kit had left the group. Kits usually stay with their mother for about a year; it’s probable that the third kit is dead.

On September 7th, Mum decided to eat in style on the platform feeder. She left the kits on the ground. They haven’t tried to climb the feeder yet. Wonder how long it will be before curiosity gets the better of them?

Related post:

- Raccoon Mum And Kits 

- Raccoon (Procyon lotor) 

Raccoon Mum And Kits

August 24th, 2014. A raccoon Mum and kits came by the feeder. They scrounged around for food before a noise at the front of the house scared them off. The kits climbed up the closest tree.

 Mum went down into the woods and waited patiently until the kits decided it was safe and climbed back down the tree and rejoined her.

Related post:

- Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

Raccoon (Procyon lotor)

Scrounging around for seed... 

The platform feeder wasn't much of a challenge either...

August 21st, 2014

Raccoon (Procyon lotor) 

Walton County, Georgia

Peekaboo!

February 20^th, 2013. We were driving along a rural road bordering the Oconee National Forest in the late afternoon when we encountered a raccoon crossing the road. Rather than scamper across the road ahead of us, it doubled back to the edge of the woods. Next thing we knew, it…

peeked around a tree to see if it was safe to come out again.

A closer view

We sat for a while to see what it would do. After a few minutes, it set off along the tree line and came out to the road a little further down the road. Instead of crossing the road, it set of at a trot down the middle of the road. We followed it, hoping for another photo op, but it didn’t oblige and finally crossed to the other side of the road and set off through the woods until it was out of sight.

Raccoons are nocturnal so it was unusual to see a one in daylight hours. It seemed healthy but sighting one in daylight may be indicative of an animal infected with rabies and its best to stay at a safe distance from them.

Click on an image to view a larger image

Identification Resources:

University of Georgia Museum of Natural History: Raccoon (Procyon lotor)