I think this trash panda was a bit surprised that I caught it as it hurried home. Recently I posted a pic of a different raccoon and said how rarely I have photographed them. Right after that, I then saw this gal. Go figure! I was actually at a bald eagle nest when I saw the raccoon heading across the field toward a neighboring tree. As it climbed, it stopped briefly, giving me this nice look. It only lasted a few seconds before it resumed its climb and went into a cavity in the tree, not to be seen again.

This was a fun surprise, as while trash pandas are quite common, I have only had a handful of opportunities to photograph them. This past weekend I was staking out a fox spot when the raccoon came ambling along, back to its home in a tree. As it climbed, it paused briefly to check out on the nearby fox to ensure that its neighbor wasn’t going to cause any problems. Once it was sure it safe, it continued its climb and hunkered down in the tree cavity it calls home for a daytime nap to prepare for the next night.

With only a few, rare exceptions, I have never had much luck getting more than a fleeting glimpse of “trash pandas.” This past weekend a buddy spotted a new family of them out fishing and I raced to get some pics.

Mama raccoon had brought her four little ones to a lake and was busily grabbing crawdads and eating them. The kits stuck to the reeds, only giving brief looks at the four of them and never a good shot of all of them together.

I did manage some nice captures of mom and then of her and three of the little ones though. While not very exotic or exciting creatures, it was a fun photo op.

It isn’t often you will see one of these nocturnal creatures out and about during the day. If you do, there is usually something wrong and sadly, I suspect that is the case with this raccoon.

When I first saw it, I was of course a bit excited to get the opportunity for some pictures. As I snapped away though, it was clear something wasn’t right.

It never even looked at me, never showed any fear. It was completely non-aggressive and just didn’t look okay. Given its symptoms, I suspect it was suffering from distemper.

While I understand things like this are part of nature and I have certainly seen some gruesome stuff, it doesn’t make it any easier, especially given that the poor thing was suffering. I talked to a ranger about it and they were going to investigate and handle accordingly. :'(

It isn’t often I get a chance to photograph these nocturnal creatures. In fact, you could count on one hand the opportunities I had.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to see this one as it darted across the road. I slammed my truck in park, jumped out and got all of two pictures before it continue up over the hill and out of view.