Decided I'd go bow hunt a ladder stand I put out last year. Its only 75-80 yards from one of my shooting houses so no need to hunt it during gun season but it is on a major crossing. First thing that happened when I got to the top of the ladder was I found I was sharing it with some type of tree frog. Pretty good sized tree so decided we could share. I sat and read and watched squirrels and piliated woodpeckers. A fox squirrel then a gray squirrel decided to climb up with me but beat a hasty retreat when they found me up there.
Along about good sundown I heard the leaves rustling coming down the ridge above me and spotted some white in the bunch. As it got closer I found was a mother coon with 3 kits. The smallest kit was albino with white fur and pink eyes. He looked to be the runt of the litter and likely has had a rough go of it. They came straight down the ridge, followed a fallen tree and finally stopped under my stand. I guess the mother saw me taking pictures and turned around and took them back up in the direction they had come from. I don;t know if the little albino will survive the winter but I hope to see him again. You never know what to expect when you go sit in the woods - kind of like opening up and log on the sawmill.
After the coons left right at hard dark 2 deer came out and went over to my feeder but was too dark for me to tell if big does or the 6 point and his buddy I saw Saturday 35 yards from my front porch.
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My well camoflaged treestand buddy
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A speck of white in the distance
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Mom and siblings - Whitey is right behind mom
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Looks like life can be tough when you are small and different
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Everybody remember how to walk the log now.
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Look mom - I'm doing it.
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At one point I thought was a white kitten adopted by a raccoon family.
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Edge of my tree stand on right - directly underneath me.
That is pretty darn cool. Hope it lives through the winter
Nice pics WV. Can't say I've run across one of them before, thanks for sharing.
Yes, that is pretty darn cool, just one of the awesome joys of bow hunting, so many times it just becomes appreciating the good ole outdoors and all of God's wonders,,to be honest, I got goose bumps just reading a seeing your photos, man this has to be near top of the list of cool things to witness in the woods,
Cool pics WV.
You never know what you will see is right. I was moving some dirt with my Kubota yesterday and was driving along the edge of my 1 acre prairie grass plot. I spot a pair of bobwhite quail in front of me. Along with them are 10 or 12 quail chicks. They were no bigger than a chicken egg. It's OCTOBER! I find it amazing they have a clutch now. Second or third clutch? Quail are on the decline around here so I hope they make it. I told the wife we're buying some cracked corn and make a feeding station out there to help them make it through the coming winter. Gary
My wife and I worked the polls all day yesterday for a special election and I showed these pix to my next door neighbor when he came in to vote. He said he caught a big white coon in a live trap a couple years ago and was talking to a taxidermist about getting it mounted then it escaped. He caught it again but the taxidermist said he was not sure he could match the eyes so he turned it loose. I told him might be the father of this one. Never can tell.
Those are some nice pictures!!!
Very nice and thanks for sharing.
I've seen a few albino skunks and an albino squirrel and an almost solid black white tail deer but never an albino raccoon. Like mentioned, you never know what you'll see. Nice pictures. :)
I have seen mounts of albino coons people killed but never saw a live one before. I saw a white squirrel in a local (Bluestone) State park several times one week a few years ago while fishing next to a wooded campground. I was not close enough to tell and don't know if i was supposed to be a gray or fox squirrel. I have seen several color phases of fox squirrels in different parts of the country from light gray/almost white with black markings on their face to nearly all black. Where I grew up in N. Fla and here in S. WV they are mostly red. The only way I can tell them apart from a distance is the fox squirrels have a longer tail - distinctively longer than the body while the gray squirrels tail is distinctly a bit shorter than his body.
We all see neat things in the woods and on the water but most of the time it is just a fond memory. This time I happened to have a camera and got lucky.
Well, I saw the little white fellow again this morning on my way to an early morning bow hunt. I ran right up on him on my North property line about half a mile from where I last saw him on my South property line. I think he may have been gnawing on some catfish heads I had dumped near there several weeks ago. I was right up on him on my ATV before I saw him. He ran up a 14" poplar (with a lot of sweep) next to my pasture/line fence and was a good 2' out of reach before I got off the ATV and reached the tree. Not real sure what I'd have done with him if I'd caught him as certainly not going to hurt him. I did not see his mom or siblings but I assume they were close by. Anyway it is good to see he is still alive and healthy.
If you had caught it you probably would not be "healthy". :o :-X
Lynn,
Not to worry. You are talking to one of the world's best coon catchers and I have the scars to prove it. I caught my first one when I was frog gigging in Apalachicola when i was a teenager and have caught many, including some big real ones over the years since then. Never been bit (yet) but their back feet can do a number on you when you grab him back of the neck. Used to hunt and kill lots of coons but I never had the heart to kill one after I'd caught him alive so they just never knew how lucky they were.
Reminds me of my uncle who once caught a half grown bobcat blinded by his car lights one night when he was a young man. He swore he would never catch another one.
Pretty cold and dreary today but I decided I'd sit in the shooting house and read instead of watching TV. About 1530 an adult coon came out and fed a while at my feeder then left. Feeder went off at 1600 then at 1630 I heard rustling leaves and spotted 3 young coons coming down from behind my shooting house. I looked around and sure enough there was Whitey dragging up the rear. They came down and fed half an hour or so then Mom and Uncle Pete came back from down towards the creek and started feeding. The young had growled a little as they fed if another got close and same when Mom was around but they'd snarl and slap hard at Uncle Pete. I guess he finally felt unwelcome and let after 15 minutes or so. Then about 1700 Bucky, my nuisance buttonbuck came to the feeder. One sibling and mom headed up a tree but Whitey and other sibling ignored him and kept feeding. Other two finally came back down. Every once in a while Bucky would raise his tail and sort of paw at the mother coon. Finally got so dark I had to pack it up and chase Bucky away (Not an easy task if the truth be told). I did not see where the coons went but I think they just went back up the trees the feeder cable is attached to.
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Mom without the kids.
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Siblings get to the food first.
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All at the table again.
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Chow time.
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And more.
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And more.
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Mom and Uncle Pete join in.
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Uncle Pete leaves but Bucky comes to dinner.
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Getting dark with Bucky still here.
Glad to see Whitey is still around! Looks like a peaceful afternoon.
Well, we had a real dreary, cold, cloudy and drizzly rainy afternoon which kept me inside. Just before 1700 I looked out the window and spotted Whitey on the hill in the pasture by the gate about 30-35 yards from the front porch. He was by himself and obviously running around looking for something to eat. I yelled at Becky and she ran up and grabbed her camera and sneaked out the front door and got 20-30 pictures of him in the pasture and in the woodline. You can clearly see him in most but the low light and distance made most of the fuzzy with the lens focusing on limbs and weeds instead of him most of the time and when it did focus well on him he would be facing away.
He may have been coming from over by the hay barn where there was still some sweet feed left in Blackjacks trough from this morning's feeding.
Anyway I am glad Becky finally got to see him and that he is surviving. The last I saw it looked like he was heading over towards my closest shooting house and feeder where I saw him a month ago. I am a little concerned he was by himself but once before i only saw him. Lets all keep our fingers crossed and hope he makes it through the winter.
Well at least if you get snow he will be camouflaged. :D
Lynn,
We had snow last Wednesday and there are patches all over the place although this drizzle may end the last of it. He does blend in real good with it but sticks out like a sore thumb on those south facing, bare slopes.
I discussed releasing Sampson, who was resting on his blanket on the porch, to go help me chase him down but Becky said leave him alone which is no doubt the proper thing to do. I sure hope he makes it though the winter but it makes me nervous to see him out alone. Nature will take its course one way or another but I have sure enjoyed watching him these last couple of months.
Nice pics.
I have enjoyed the pictures and you sharing his adventures!
And the raccoon doesn't know a bunch of people from all over the country are rooting for him. :D ;)
We have antlerless season till the end of the month so I decided to go sit in my shooting house a while. Bitter cold and nothing moving until just before 4:00 pm I heard leaves rustling and ice crunching. I thought it was a deer but looked under the feeder and it was Whitey. He looked almost yellow against the snow as he headed down towards the creek and my pasture. I stayed around about another hour and decided was too cold to be skinning a deer if one did come out so got down, freed my feeder spinner from a piece of corn cob wedged in it, replaced the battery and updated the timers to feed more to empty the remaining corn over the next few days.
I came home and when I got near the yard Sampson barked and I thought he did not recognize me then I saw he was looking to the end of the road. I looked and spotted Whitey hanging around the trash barrels. Walked down there and he darted into a culvert under the road. I came home and got him about a pint of dry dog food and put in the end of the drain for him to get at least one good feed.
I'm torn between catching/trapping him and just letting him go. I met a guy last week with a small zoo who wants him. I don't know if the improved likelihood of survival in the zoo vs the quality of life living free. I am concerned I am seeing him out by himself at times the other coons are not out.
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Hard to see as he is nearly 80 yards or so away just to the right of the dead walnut.
Feed him,When you feed wildlife they learn where the food is from you. Stopping is hard on them this time of the year.
Give him time, to see what happens.
Well, Whitey is back. He looks like a cream yellow now. My wife yelled at me about 5:00 pm to look out the window and sure enough there he was running around the trash barrels. I guess he smells the food in the trash. He didn't find anything so he made a round by the creek and over the road. I got dressed and went out looking for him. I figure he is probably checking out the barn and getting scraps of horse feed they drop. Anyway on my way back I spotted him up on the bank near where we park the cars. I tried to get a picture but the wind shifted and he discovered me. We were eye to eye at about 30 feet apart then he took off, down the bank. along the locust log I put in years ago to pile rocks against a washout, to the creek and into a hole in the rocks under my bridge. For all I know he may be denning in there. At the risk of incurring another dependent I went ahead and put a quart of dry dog food on the rock in front of the hole. He is obviously struggling to find food or he would not be out in daylight and alone. I don't know if his mom and siblings are hibernating or what. It is cold and snow coming and no time for a young coon to be out looking for a meal.
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One of wife's pictures as he looks for food along the creek after giving up on a meal from the trash
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Crossing the road. Maybe heading to the barn.
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Last known location - under the bridge.
Okay a raccoon story .4-5 years back sitting on my patio enjoying a cold one .Three little kits walked within 10 feet of me like I wasn't there .No momma coon .I had my camera and snapped three little heads up a sapling looking at me .A few weeks later two little coons then later one little coon,still no momma .I left scraps for him on a log .He must have ate them .Next spring a larger coon ,then bigger and still bigger .Today he's a big burly boar,king of the woods at probably over 20 pounds .The fatality rate of orphaned coon kits are high but they can survive .If they can make through the first winter chances are they will be okay .
Al,
I am really torn on this issue. Been watching Whitey since back in October. I noted he was the runt of the litter the first time I saw him. Its a struggle to let him live free and wild knowing the high mortality rate he risks rather than capturing him and turning him over to a local zoo started by a guy rescuing various mistreated and abandoned animals. The zookeeper would love to have him. He says no special permits required from DNR for albinos as nobody expects them to survive anyway.
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed he continues to survive.
Dog food is good. :)
I hope that it makes it and becomes a sorta mascot.
I always say good food,a little shelter and a animal can survive. :)
Quote from: Peter Drouin on January 16, 2018, 08:40:21 PM
Dog food is good. :)
Coons are tough critters. I agree, they love dog food, if we leave our garage door open after dark, we will find the dog food bag has been hit hard by coons. I'd feed him heavy as food is warmth, and enjoy him coming and going.
Raccoons are opportunists ,very adaptable and will eat anything that doesn't eat them first .They can live in about any environment from Florida to northern Canada and live on anything from garbage to bird eggs including the bird that laid them .
I've seen people make pets from young kits but more often than not upon adulthood the call of the wild takes over .As the case of my big boar I can get within about 20 feet of him which is close enough .He's big enough to tear the ears off a good hound .No thank you brer coon.You do your thing and I'll do mine .
Al,
When my son was a teenager he caught 3 little coons about the size of squirrels. They could eat solid food but not bite hard enough to break the skin. He gave 2 away and kept the other. We had a pet doe that same year running free in the pasture. Sean got a permit from DNR for Chester the coon and they took it to WVU where my daughter was in school and one of her best friends was in the vet program. They gave him his shots and neuthered him. My wife made him several harnesses as he grew. Took a small collar on his neck but a pretty big one around his hips with a connector on top. He was a real chick magnet and every time Sean stopped on his way back to school to walk him or such and the teenage girls saw him they wanted to come pet him which made both of them happy. If the police saw him they'd come check his permit but then all was fine. He had a lot of personality and would play chase and tag and such but would always bite if he had food. He'd go fishing with Sean and chase the minnows in the bait bucket. They'd toss him a small crappie and he'd run under the bow and snarl and snap till he finished then he was his old friendly self.
Chester had the run of their old house at their college and Sean's roommate was fine with him. They came home one day to find egg shells in front of the fridge. When they opened it they found Chester asleep on the bottom shelf. I think they taped mouse traps on the fridge door to keep him out. Chester would use a litter box but did not cover anything. There was never a dull moment with him around.
Oh they are comical critters to watch even in the wild .Dang things can tell when the tomatoes get to the best ripened stage--then they take a bite out of each one .Rather fond of sweet corn at again the best stage .Don't ever get between a sow and her litter .You'd stand a better chance with a grizzley bear .It's takes a pretty good hound to best a full grown raccoon .
We have a warming spell by weeks end,they will be stirring around for a snack .They won't be on the real move until about the end of March .Then the males will get that "urge " and get clipped by automobiles by having other thoughts on their raccoon minds .Boys will be boys ya know .
Al,
Well familiar with that time of the year. I've had times I'd hear 10-12 squalling up the holler and in the pasture and look out with a light and look like 20 sets of eyes on the hillside.