Winter came back and Ruthie moved her babies.

We had very little winter this year. No snow to speak of at all. Maybe five inches all winter when we usually get five feet. On this past weekend, March decided to roar like a lion and we had a few more inches for about 24 hours. Then it went away and on April first we were fooled again with sleet and hail that was gone as soon as it stopped falling.

Ruthie my favorite Raccoon didn't like the sleet either....or did she? She moved her babies out of the hole in the tree and took them to a secret place down in the ravine behind our house. We've watched her in the tree for four, maybe five, springs. We have only seen her move her babies once a few years ago and yesterday. She always moved them but some years we weren't looking and missed the event.

Poor Ruthie was very pregnant in this shot. I made her nervous and she squeezed into that hole when she really didn't want to.

My husband the chef was cooking in the kitchen when he noticed her and called me to bring my camera. I disturbed her a bit just opening the doors to stand on the deck and take photos.

She has a baby in her mouth in the photo above.

She has seen me lots of times so I think she knew I wasn't going to bother her but I was going to watch her. We saw her move three babies. Their litters are three to five. When it was all over I had to wonder if she chose a lousy day to do it so no humans would be hiking in the ravine, giving her the privacy she needs to go up and down a tree three or five times without being noticed.

Look carefully at this photo - you can see the baby with a mask in its momma's mouth.

My next camera is going to have better zoom. My Canon Powershot A720IS (a point and shoot) has been good to me and has a good zoom but as you can see in these photos not good enough for me. So please overlook the blurry spots and enjoy the photos of Ruthie moving her babies.

It was warm today and I hope Ruthie and her kids are comfortable and safe in a home closer to the ground.

Did I ever tell you about the late spring when I was raking up leftover leaves from my garden and I was hissed at by three young raccoons? A neighbor was raking his lawn too and I asked for help and the two of us with rakes got those cute babies to go down into the ravine - again.

Life goes on and Mother Nature has now and always will have my attention.