cmheuer

Thank you, Suzanne. I haven't seen them in the yard for many years and was delighted that they are still living in the woods here. I hope you can get a photo of the ones near you; I will look forward to seeing the posts.

Thank you, turtlesandtombstones.

I'm glad I wasn't a rabbit, too, Alice. When it took off so suddenly, it came right at me!

I'm sorry, Liam. I wasn't able to get any other angles. It all happened so quickly. Thank you for the suggestions; they are very helpful.

Would like to know if this is a destructive caterpillar.

I would like to know whether this is a harmful catepillar or not. I usually just find the tobacco catepillars on my azaleas, which are very destructive to the azalea leaves.

These are native tree nuts that feed the rural squirrel population.

Thank you, Keith. The nursing raccoons have been coming out in the late afternoon for a number of years now; I'm amazed each time and look forward to seeing the little ones. When they're older, she brings them out at night to get food from the cat dish on the porch. I also have a photo of her hanging upside down in order to get the hummingbirds' sugar water from the feeder. They're quite the rascals.

This is a nursing raccoon who was cooling off in the bird bath in the late afternoon. There are only two conditions that I've noticed bring out these nocturnal creatures during the day. One is of course rabies infection and the other is a nursing mother, who feeds while her brood is sleeping.