on the other hand, there's such a thing as too much togetherness

So earlier, I posted about our visitor in the tree.  He's cute, he was entertaining, he's interesting. 

Tonight, 11:00 p.m. I heard rustling outside, and so down to the kitchen I trundled just to see who was checking out the yard.  This time there was not one, but two raccoons, who often walked side by side as though their tails were glued together  (they were not).   However, when they got ready to push over our Weber grill, I decided to open the door and yell at them. 

The only problem is that they thought that was an invitation for food.  They BOTH came right up to the door.  As in, there are nose prints on the window.  There wasn't an ounce of hesitation or fear in them, not a smidgeon or a pinch,  and even my banging on the window took a bit before convincing them to move to the other side of the patio.  

My husband on the other hand was downstairs in a record 3.7 seconds because of the noise I made.  

Is it just me, or is something a little bit backwards here?  

sometimes you don't have to leave home

Last evening I was watching tv when something outside caught my eye.  There was clearly something in the tree in the back of our yard.  Watching for a few minutes, I wondered if it was a cat--but I thought it was awfully big for that.  So, in the spirit of adventure, I left the bedroom and peeked out all the other windows facing the yard.  And that's when I discovered this guy.   It was a bit early for him to be out, but it seems that there was a squirrel nest that had captured his attention.  We went outside to take pictures and to watch him for about a half hour.  After that, he climbed back down the tree, gingerly going butt first. 

This has been a fascinating backyard year.  We have had skunks saunter along the fence, two different robin's nests, a couple of bunnies, some resident chipmunks, a ground hog who was easily convinced to move his intended condo elsewhere, and a few raccoons too.  And of course, we have red squirrels, black squirrels, grey squirrels and yes, even a few patchwork squirrels. Our trees have brought in cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, waxwings, nuthatches, blue jays, tons of sparrows, wrens, robins and goldfinches. 

Who needs to leave home to see the sights?