Tag Archives: raccoon

Raccoons On Patrol

My recent visits to Juanita Bay have provided a variety of different wildlife encounters.  On a recent trip down there later on a weekend evening, I got something I wasn’t expecting.  I saw something moving on the shore.  It turned out to be a raccoon.  It was working its way along the shore and I headed around the boardwalk hoping to be in position as it continued on its way.  Moving as quickly as I could without making too much noise, I got to a spot ahead of it.  It turned out there were two of them!

Once they saw me, they paused for a while.  Clearly, they were considering a change of plans.  However, I wasn’t moving much or making any noise so they decided I wasn’t a threat and continued on their way.  They came under the boardwalk and up the other side and then off into the brush.  With so much growth around them, getting a clear shot was tricky but I managed to get a few as they traversed the area, keeping a wary eye on me just in case.

A Casual Passerby in the Backyard

While sitting on the deck one afternoon, I was fortunate to have the camera to hand.  As I looked across to our back fence, I saw a raccoon walking along the top of the fence between the two houses behind us.  He seemed totally uninterested in our presence and walked to our fence and then turned left to wander across the back our our house and our neighbors’ houses.  I had a long lens on and he was too close for a while to fit him all in.  Along the fence he went and then disappeared from view.  First time I have seen a raccoon around here but probably not the last.  What other wildlife will visit us?

The Raccoon Family Outing

As a Brit living in the USA, there are certain animals that, when you see them, seem most unusual because you don’t have them on the other side of the pond.  Some of these are large creatures which people who grew up here are still fascinated by like bison.  Others, though, are not so interesting to the natives.  Raccoons seem to fit that bill.  They are more of a pest to most people.  To me, they are more exotic.  As we were walking through Golden Gate Park, we came upon a family of raccoons alongside the trail.  They seemed totally uninterested in the people walking by and more bothered about feeding.  However, the click of the shutter was obviously enough to get their attention as they all perked up and stopped what they were doing when I took some shots.  This didn’t last long, though, and they were quickly back to eating.

Raccoon Family Outing

AE7I1491.jpgRoger and I were on a wildlife roll.  We had been visited by an osprey, we had seen a rat, what else could be lurking along the shoreline?  Roger had mentioned that he had seen some raccoons along there at various times.  I guess raccoons have good hearing.  It was not long after he mentioned this that a face appeared in the rocks.  Next thing you know, out pops a raccoon.  Not just one though.  This was a mom with a youngster in tow.  They were heading from the rocks along the shore towards the brush on the other side of the trail.  They scampered across the path in our direction and through the fencing.  Our presence did not seem to bother them at all.

AE7I1500.jpg