Written at 10:00 a.m. Thursday morning:
Some sad news here at our house today. Very early yesterday morning Simon wouldn’t come out of his hole and eat what Rebecca placed in his bowl. We never saw him the rest of the day until Rebecca got home about 6:30 last night. She tried coaxing him out with a marshmallow and he wouldn’t touch it…just stuck his head out and we could hear him kind of purring like a kitten. He seemed wobbly and spastic-like. We were puzzled at what was happening. It was the first time in almost 3 months that he didn’t come down to eat.
Eventually he decided to try to come out of the hole and Rebecca had a towel ready because she thought he was going to fall off the tree. He didn’t seem like he had any strength or coordination of his muscles. He got halfway down the tree but he wasn’t using his back legs… just holding on with his front legs with his back legs dangling. When he got low enough Rebecca grabbed him by the back of the neck kind of like you do a little kitten, and wrapped him in the towel. He was squirming when she placed him on the ground. He kind of fought her a little bit and then he rolled over and sort of hobbled into the bushes beside our big Sassafras tree. We thought he had broken his back leg by the way he was limping. Well he went over to the water area where the sump pump water comes out and was drinking water like crazy. Then he just seemed to want to stand in it. We couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then he started waddling in the bushes along the road and crossed over into our neighbors yard. They were the ones who had found Simon’s 3 siblings when they disappeared from our tree a week after we found them. (their girls had been taking care of those 3, but two weeks ago they got out of their cage and vanished.)
We figured it was time for Simon to go, but were worried that he looked so sickly and had gotten that way so quickly. I was standing at my kitchen sink when I saw him go across the yard over to the Greys. He went right up to one of the Grey girls and they put him in a cage. I saw them standing out in their yard so I went over and told them that he had just left the tree but we thought something was wrong with him. All he wanted to do was stand in the bowl of water they put out for him. He ate a little bit of cat food and some eggs and laid down. They found him dead in the cage this morning. George thinks he got stung by some hornets up in the tree and got their poison all in his system. He was here just a few days short of 3 months.
He’ll be missed.
These were my last 2 pictures of him…
…and one of Rebecca’s favorites…
Written at 11:15 on Thursday:
I know he wasn’t our pet, and he’s a wild animal, but it kind of felt like he was a “bit” of a pet… we can’t stop looking at the tree where he lived. George took down his perch and the branch he had clamped to the side of the tree so he could get up and down easier…this was the last picture I took of him using it.
…and this was my All time Favorite picture…his brothers and sister had abandoned him and he was all alone in that big tree..
Here is a short 3 second video the day we found them…He’s the one on the far right…(every time I’ve tried to watch the video it has to buffer about 45 seconds or so… but then it comes on.)
Written in the early afternoon on Thursday:
Hi again,
You absolutely won’t believe this…I hardly believe it myself…
That wasn’t Simon we saw yesterday…
Simon is BACK!
That must have been one of his siblings that made it’s way back to the tree when they left the Grey’s. We only thought it was Simon, but a sickly Simon. We had no idea it was a different raccoon… never even crossed our minds it wasn’t him… he was in the hole, looked enough like Simon that we didn’t notice it wasn’t it. But now as we look at the pictures, Simon was the only one whose “bandit eyes” didn’t go all the way across. I don’t know where Simon has been…probably hiding out in the back of the tree because some stranger invaded it trying to impersonate him!
I thought I was hallucinating when I looked out at the tree and there he was. Sitting on top. Looking over at the window. Begging for something to eat! I ran to Rebecca’s room and screamed out, “Look out your window!” She flew outside with a marshmallow and tossed it up to him…he grabbed for it, just like he always did!
We are still in shock.
George had taken down the perch and the branch to help him get up and down…but he put it back up this afternoon.
I know this is a silly story to some of you and you might not understand, but Simon has been a bright spot in our everyday lives since May 23rd, when we first found him and his brothers and sister in our big tree. We thought they might stay a few days… but never dreamed it would be this long. We know he will leave some day, but we just weren’t ready for him to go just yet.
Well, that’s my story…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a happy and unexpected ending to that story! I had just been thinking about Simon the other day, wondering if he was still around. I’m so glad he is!
Amazing! Rebecca is very brave!
Talk about a range of emotions! I almost was tearing up hearing about the demise of your little Simon, then….what? He’s back! It’s almost an Easter story, animal version! I too, have been wondering how Simon was doing, and if he ever left the nest! I wonder where he was all that time, when the other raccoon was there. I guess you will never know!
I thought of him too the other day while watching the baby birds in the nest in the hanging basket on the patio. Welcome back, Little Buddy!
I’m sorry about the other racoon, but I am glad that Simon didn’t leave. I know he’s not a pet, but he may think that all of you are his pets — or maybe just his family.
Amazing story! Would have loved to see your face when he reappeared!
What a story! Here I thought Simon was gone and then surprise, he’s back. Must have been wonderful to see that little guy back in his tree. 🙂
I was nearly in tears reading the first part of your story. You knew he would leave some day but you sure didn’t want him leave that way. I was overjoyed to read the second section of the story. I’m so sorry for what the other raccoon went through but it’s wonderful that Simon is back providing joy to your life every day.
Maybe Simon was just out exploring and found marshmallows don’t grow on trees!
Love it!
I’m so happy to hear that Simon is okay. What a relief. Yet I’m sorry the other little raccoon didn’t make it. It’s very easy to become attached to wildlife when they allow us to help them.
My husband and I watch out for any creature who likes our birdseed or fruit. We even have one or two raccoons who chatter while hiding near our patio. Occasionally we put out safe food for them. We love our birds and whatever little wee creature enjoys the tray of seeds in the ground. Everything is placed away from the house.
I’ve enjoyed hearing about little Simon and it’s wonderful he gets help from all of you. Love the pictures of his little face peeking out of his tree house. He is just adorable!
The tray on the ground is what I meant to explain – it’s a metal tray that has a stake going into the ground. We put bird seed in it and occasional fruit or bread crumbs. We’ve seen not only birds eating in the tray but raccoons, rabbits and Chip and Dale chipmunks.
Twist! The Simon story has a happy ending. I’m not crying, you are.😢♥️😉
What a wonderful story, and in these awful times we need bright spots… I was tearing up and I know he wasn’t a pet,,, hah,,,
I’m so happy you are back Simon…
I’m sorry for the passing of Simon’s sibling, but so glad he’s still safe.
What a lovely story Jeanne, I am so happy for you. As you say he is not a pet but you still wouldn’t want that to happen to him after watching him grow up for so long. I must let Sam read it she will love it.
I started tearing up reading. Was gonna tell you. How said I was for you all. I have lots of raccoons visiting me every night. I get so worried about them when they don’t show up on time. The first day I got the babies I stayed up overnight making sure Another adult didn’t harm them. I don’t understand how the momma knew my deck would be a safe place for them. I even put out a blanket for them.. I don’t really know how many visit in a night because they come and go a lot. I’ve had 7 babies at a time here so I know I at least have that many. But every night I still have the original 4 babies. Apparently the momma takes one or 2 of them sometimes. I enjoy feeding them and watching them grow. I know how attached I am to them.
Not the least bit silly for animal lovers! I have tears streaming down my face, first from sadness, and then from joy!! I’m very sorry the other raccoon was sick but so very happy to know that Simon is alive and well. It may not have been Simon’s sibling, but an entirely different raccoon. Yes, It probably was a number of stinging yellow jackets or hornets, so sad. Before you mentioned the water, my first thought was rabies (hydrophobia “fear of water” it used to be called)
I didn’t remember you first saw Simon on May 23rd. That is my birthday We have raccoons that come on the porch to eat the leftover cat food from where I feed the stray cats . We also have opossums (they CAN’T get rabies, too low of body temperature) So glad George was able to put his perch back up for him. He deserves a salmon treat and apple slices, I’m sure you were all overjoyed to see him reappear in his little hole.
I know they’re not pets in the same sense, but you do want to watch out for them. I even do that with a sparrow who builds a nest each year in the crook of the downspout. I love sparrows, they are always kind to each other. I feed the birds and, like Paula, put out things for the squirrels and chipmunks. Their antics are so much fun to watch and my kitties enjoy watching them from the window.
Please update about Simon tomorrow. Anything that brings happiness is most welcome now.
I thought it might be rabies too until Jeanne mentioned his drinking and wanting to stand in the water. It does sound like something bit him and maybe the water felt soothing. Poor little thing. They’re like small children. They can’t tell you what’s wrong and you really want to make them feel better. It might have been one of the siblings since he seemed to want to go to the Greys where he’d been living. It sounds like it was too late for any veterinary intervention.
Hi everyone,
I know it wasn’t the least bit dolly or sewing related, but that was where my heart was yesterday so I wanted to share.
We’re positive the raccoon that was here was one of Simons siblings…it waddled right up to Megan when it was going to their yard. They played with those 3 like they were mittens, gave them baths, took them upstairs. We never got that friendly with Simon. We just took lots of pictures and gave him food when he looked over at the front window. We knew he could see us looking at him. :o)
We haven’t seen him today but there has been lots of traffic by the road and the neighbor was mowing his grass…making lots of noise. If something is too noisy to suit him he runs in his hole.
He might be waiting for Rebecca to get home from work. He comes out a lot of the time when he hears her Blazer pull up.
I’m going to try and decide who is next up for a dress tonight. Hope it’s who YOU want to see!!
Blessings, Jeanne