| Naomi's World |
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| Hi, as you can see, I am an animal lover. I am also a nature nut and one of those tree huggers that you've probably heard about. More than once I have rescued a bug from drowning in a birdbath. I have also been known to stop my car in the middle of a busy highway in order to move a turtle off the road and onto safer ground. I will slam on my brakes for deer, dogs, birds (this includes turkey vultures), raccoons, opossums, and whatever else decides to mosey into my path. I have no tolerance for those who are intolerant of animals, children and old people. I still believe in GOD, America, prayer in schools, and the fact that every man and woman, no matter what race or religion, is worthy of respect until they prove themselves otherwise. I also believe in freedom of speech as long as it does not defame any religious or ethnic group. I am afraid of storms and tornadoes. I worry that we might blow ourselves to Kingdom Come someday. And I fear that our clean air and natural wildlife refuges are in danger due to a lack of concern from the current administration. That being said, I hope that what you will find on the following pages will interest you, make you laugh, cry, or just think. |
| Living in the country affords one the pleasure of being close to nature. Several years ago I discovered a male and female raccoon living above us, in the upper roof of our home. They never bothered anyone and were adorable to watch as they came out at night to forage for food. One night in particular, I decided to start putting out a little something for them. The first few nights following that, I could hear them coming down the tree by the side of our house. I put out a plate of raisins and golden graham cereal atop an old pine tree stump, and they seemed to enjoy it. The smaller one, a female, would come down first, followed after a few minutes, by the larger one, the male. Between the two of them they cleaned the plate every night. I also made sure they always had fresh clean water alongside the goodies. This continued for the next several months. Then one night after I put the food down, it rained and everything was ruined, so I decided to move their dinner to our front porch which was covered and would keep both the food and the raccoons dry. They didn't hesitate to come to the porch, as the food was there, and the male in particular became quite bold as he stood on the porch roof and leaned down over the edge to watch me put their food down. If you've never seen those little eyes peering at you, then you've missed a lot. I became very curious about this raccoon and tried getting him used to me by holding a cookie in my hand and getting close to the porch roof as he watched me, or rather the cookie. After two weeks of this, finally one night he gathered all his courage as he reached down with his little paw (they are able to use their paws as well as humans use their fingers and are extremely dexterous) and gently took the cookie I offered. From that night on we became fast friends, though the female was still very shy and secretive and would never come down until I went back into the house. As time passed, our raccoons became known as Rocky and Racquelle. Rocky even came down for a cookie one morning, which is something raccoons don't normally do, as they are basically night creatures. He had been coming down accepting food from me for about two years when one night I noticed he had a fresh bruise on his little forehead. I had no way of knowing that that would be the last time I would see my brave Rocky. Racquelle was still eating on the porch, but Rocky disappeared and never returned. A few weeks later, I saw a new male with her and I understood why Rocky must have gone. The two males may have fought over her and Rocky lost. I miss him and the gentle way he would take what I offered him. He never attempted to bite or harm me in any way and he trusted me. Below are a few photos I took in the early years: . |
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| On Mother's Day of this year (2001), Racquelle gave birth to five kits. A day later, I found one of them on the ground, with the umbilical cord still attached. Thinking that the baby may have fallen down from their den up in the roof, I put it on a soft layer of towels and left it at the bottom of the tree where I knew Racqelle would see it and take it back up with the others. Sadly, she did not return for her baby. I contacted Leslie Straub, Director of Florida Wildlife Care in Gainesville FL, and was told that I did the right thing. However, Leslie also told me that sometimes things happen in nature that defy human understanding. A female raccoon may remove one newborn from the den, either because of illness or for the well-being of the others, and leave it to die. Unfortunately this did not help to reassure me, as I was heartbroken for this tiny baby which I had wrapped in a soft towel. I placed it in an empty check box and buried it out in our backwoods where many of our departed, but beloved pets have been laid to rest. Since Racquelle is not as shy with me as she once was, she allows me to photograph her whenever she is on the porch. A month after the babies were born, they began following her down the tree and I was fortunate enough to get a couple of quick snapshots of them. Hopefully, as they grow, they will let me get closer. These newer photos are here: |
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| FAVORITE LINKS |
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| THE RACCOONS |
| MORE TO COME.... |
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| MORE OF MY WORK: |
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| (This site is a work in progress) |
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| The photos below were just taken in August. The babies are now three months old and still growing. Although the four of them are very close, they don't always come down to eat at the same time. The night these photos were taken, I believe the fourth kit was off somewhere with their mother, Racquelle. |
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| I finally got a photo of Racquelle's mate, whom I named Robby. |
| NEW!! |