Raccoon During Daylight

[Ed Cordes]

I know it is unusual to see a raccoon during the day. however this young one was lured to our neighbor's dog's food. He then scrambled up a very weak young sapling. He had quite a time getting down. during his ordeal he managed to pose for some images.

1DMK2 with 500 F4. Evaluative metering, ISO 100 at EV 0 with f 5 and 1/100. Slight crop with levels applied.

All comments are most welcome. Thanks for looking.

[Steve Canuel]

I'd be concerned to see one of these out during the day but he looks pretty healthy. Nice job of catching him with a clear face through all those branches
Steve

[Vincent Grafhorst]

Cool photo Steve! Not wall art IMO, but definitely a unique photo and well exposed despite the dull light conditions.

[Ed Cordes]

I'd be concerned to see one of these out during the day but he looks pretty healthy. Nice job of catching him with a clear face through all those branches
Steve

Steve,

Yes, when the neighbor told us there was a raccoon in the yard the first thing we thought was rabies as well. About 10 years ago there was quite an epidemic of rabies among raccoons, so we were on guard.
As it turned out I think this was a young teenager who sneaked out from his parents during the day to explore the world. He skittered up to the dog pen of my neighbor to try to steal food. He apparently got scared and scampered up a rather weak tree. Once we saw him it seemed to us that he was healthy, but not mature enough to act like an adult raccoon. - Kind of reminds me of me when I was his relative age!!
It took him about 1/2 hour to figure out how to get down. However, the day ended on a happy note as he did get down (I have some comical images of his antics) and ran away.
I'll bet he has quite a story to tell his grand kids in a few years! LOL
It is these kind of doings are why we love living where we do.

[D. Robert Franz]

Tough light and a very busy image but the look of the raccoon makes it worthwhile.. An alternative would have been to fully illuminate the raccoon with flash and let the BG go dark if techncially possible..