June 7, 2009

After several hours of the lights going on and off and the banging and clanging of the new feeder against the tree, I got up at 8:00 to see what damages occurred. Everything seemed to still be in tack except for the new feeder which the lid had certainly been toyed with and was askew!

A turkey was picking at the remnants and all the feeders were empty – as expected and an aluminum pan we put out is now missing. These raccoons were squealing and climbing and on top of the feeders all throughout the night. You could hear their claws grasping at the tree trunks. They seemed to have gotten off to a late start but once they got going they kept at it for a long time. I went outside for a closer look and the pan is nowhere that I could see – they must’ve filled it with goodies and taken it back to their raccoon hide-a-way!
Not sure what we’ll do today. Packing, cleaning and a quick visit down by Paul and Betty are the list. Not only is my vacation just about over, but we have to leave tomorrow morning and we also have to work tomorrow night…argh!
Carlo filled the feeders and looked for the pan – he couldn’t find it either! After breakfast, Carlo ran to town and I cleaned. When he got back, we visited Paul and Betty for part of the afternoon. When we first got there Tom and Judy were there and Paul was napping. He did get up before we left. We were able to give him the gift we bought him while we visited. Stevie was there too. We got back and had lunch and Carlo napped while I brought my blog up to date!
Not too long after that, I took a nap.


When I woke up Carlo was snapping pictures of a lone doe in the back eating some new grass.



Then he moved a bird feeder from the back to the front – possibly in hopes of pissing off the raccoons – hee hee!
On our way to Bud’s for dinner, we stopped to wash my car – it was filthy from being parked under the pines since I’ve been here. Our dinner was tasty, as usual and we chatted with Taylor who has waited on us every time we’ve been there. We even ran into her at the Laundromat last week! After dinner we stopped for propane and to gas up my car since we are leaving in the morning. When we got back, Carlo added leftover beer battered onion rings to the raccoon buffet that we set up in the woods!

As of 9:00 pm I feel, somewhat, that I may have deterred the flying, feathered, nest building, little buzzards. After trying all the different means of eviction, this morning I placed egg cartons on the ledge and haven’t seen much activity since. Hopefully this is the solution. If it’s not, then I have lost!

There are predictions of heavy rain, thunderstorms and possible hail tonight…oh my! Just one year ago the rains started on the 7th and continued through to the 9th when Lake Delton emptied into the Wisconsin River. We were here during that storm and the roads were flooded, not to mention our property and the highways were closing – luckily for us – just behind us. The devastation took less than one year to rebuild! http://portagedailyregister.com/news/local/article_8487f082-53ed-11de-a8e2-001cc4c03286.html

https://secure.finishlinestudios.com/v3/clients/tommybartlett_com/files/common/LakeDeltonTimeline.pdf
Carlo moved his truck and filled the feeders to get ready for the nightly show. Although not as good as in nights past, there was a showing of maybe eight raccoons. We thought they were trying to get their ‘buffet on’ before the storms! They didn’t seem too eager in attacking the feeder that came from the back or the new red one – and they didn’t seem to enjoy the buffet we put out either….hmmmm….maybe those beans we put out were a little overpowering! They did fight and squeal but seemed to end early, just in time for the lightning storm, thunder and rain to start.

Ahhhh, I sleep so well during storms…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!