That’s how we have always seen them when inside that hole, just peeking out. My goodness, the pictures I have of one of those litters! (2017 was my first year, then 2019, too.)
The 3 babies were adorable as they tussled around in the nest. Once we even saw them get into a baby brawl, and one tumbled right out of the tree! From at least 30 feet high! Landed in a bush and climbed right back up and got a spanking, followed quickly by cuddles from Mama. It was hilarious!!
I don’t mind the raccoons in my yard. I do mind them coming onto my deck. I’ve decided I can no longer offer bird seed from my deck. It’s a food source that the raccoons are keeping an eye on.
A friend of our is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for raccoons. I don’t know if he’s still doing it, but at one time, he got all the baby orphan raccoons for a certain region. He came to our lake place for the weekend & had the cutest, tiniest baby raccoon in a small cat carrier. She had to be fed every couple of hours so we saw a lot of her - just adorable.
He named her Sally & she was probably his favorite rescue. Once the babies were big enough, he had a large outdoor pen at the edge of the woods where they would live. They all got rabies shots. When it was time to release, he would leave the pen door open. The raccoons would come & go, staying away longer & longer until they just didn’t come back.
A year or more, after Sally was released, he noticed activity at the raccoon pen (empty at the time) & went to check it out. There was an adult raccoon ... with a kit. The raccoon was very friendly, seemed familiar ... could it be? It was! Sally! After that visit, he never saw her again, but he said he felt like she came to show off her baby & let him know she was doing just fine ❤️