Tag: Raccoons

Last week I shared Everyone should have cookies and peanuts on a cold winter’s night and that the raccoons are about.

Here’s another example from the next night on the calendar. This young lady is unknown to me (she does share her name as the days roll on) and is quite healthy.

Note also she hasn’t kitted yet (she’s still with child, as they say, although with raccoons it’s more like “with children.”

And it’s a three cookie plus peanuts night for this young lass.

We did notice at the end of last season and as this year grew our local raccoons had acquired a sweet tooth. Nothing extravagant, and their dietary desires are most often ruled by reproductive and milk-producing needs, so we’re not concerned.

But it is fun to watch.

 

People in the southern hemisphere will appreciate this post’s title, people in the northern hemisphere, know this video was shot on 22 Jan 2022, ie, a cold winter’s night.

Although it couldn’t have been too cold because the raccoons were out.

Raccoons don’t hibernate so much as they go dormant, lethargic, and prefer to cuddle up together into little fur balls until warmer – around 30°F or higher – temperatures come.

We get inklings when they’re about.

Sometimes a rustling late at night.

Often little footprints in the snow.

Or, as is the case with our local raccoons, a pounding on the door and a harsh demand, “Yo! Two-Legs! Starving raccoons out here!”

And so we do what we can.

To keep the peace.

It’s a good thing.

 

First, my apologies.

I begin this video mentioning a young lad.

Not the case, as I realized while I continued videoing.

A young lady, this.

Gender in The Wild is not as fluid as it among Two-Legs these days. At least in western-based cultures.

Many cultures across the globe have more than two gender identities. Note: gender, ie the properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles. Gender identity is what an individual believes themself to be. The latter deals with self-recognition and ever more now meaning a surgical self-recognition.

It’s that last part I still have challenges with.

Do you want to know them? Happy to share if you’re interested.

First, it has nothing to do with the self-recognition part. To thine own self be true. Go for whatever makes you happy and comfortable.

 
The Wild has many children who switch gender (reproductive role). The gender switch is accompanied by an identity switch. That tends to be the way it goes in the The Wild; gender leads to identity, not identity leads to gender. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, “When I was a boy, I did boyish things. When I became a girl, I gave up boyish ways.” Or vice versa.

(can’t you just see the evangelicals preparing crosses to burn?)

In The Wild, lots of factors can cause gender switching to occur. Environmental factors, usually. All too often human pollution plays a role. Climatic issues.

In cases where humans didn’t screw things up, the switch occurs to increase species reproductive flexibility. Too many guys? Everybody on the right, switch to gals. Too many gals? Everybody on the left switch to guys.

Simple enough.

And as noted above, many cultures recognize more than two gender-identities. Cultures recognizing more than two identities afford such wonderful individuals special status. “Special” here means “respect, honor, love, …” Not cross burning. I’ve met quite a few in my travels and have always found them wonderful company.

Specific to western-based cultures, I wonder if some of the factors increasingly found in The Wild are at work among Two-Legs.

Do climate changes play a role? How about human pollutants? Are we affecting our genetic structures to decrease reproductive flexibility?

I mean, those who chose surgical sexual transformation are (to my knowledge) unable to reproduce (do let me know if I’m mistaken here). Caitlyn Jenner (one of my heroes) can’t bear children.

So my challenge isn’t with people making gender-identity decisions in whatever direction they choose (although I am concerned when individuals less than thirty or so years make such a decision because their neural topography isn’t yet up to making such decisions. Or so science tells me). It’s with my wondering how much western-based cultures have contributed to the increasing prevalence of something once (and probably still in many places) considered evil.

But then that’s the kicker.

Cultures which have multiple gender-identities don’t consider such individuals evil. To them, evil is forcing someone to do something they don’t want to do.

Like carrying a child to term when you don’t want to or can’t (for whatever reasons).

Budda-boom!

Way to go, Two-Legs!