In the Evenings

Around 10pm each night I feed little people on the front porch. The raccoons own the left side of the porch and the skunks the right side. The ringtails own the rafters and the foxes the parking lot. Grey foxes the left side and red foxes the right side. The raccoons get two bowls of Kit&Kaboodle and the foxes get one. Each evening four packs of 24 bun length hot dogs get divided up between everyone. 96 hot dogs per evening. Jax keeps the peace. He doesn't allow the foxes on the porch to steal raccoon hot dogs or the raccoons in the parking lot to steal fox hot dogs. He also clears the porch for me of raccoons so I can get them drinking water and set up the bowls and lights. However the raccoon babies and skunk babies don't quite have the boundaries figured out. Jax chases the raccoons off the porch each night so I can set up. I suspect everyone knows they can kick his butt whenever they want but he's been chasing everyone since they were babies and they just tolerate him. Plus, he's with me. Three or four nights ago baby raccoons wandered onto the porch before I was ready and Jax tore into them but he didn't see mother behind the pole who tore into him. He's got several of these wounds on him. The very next night he did it again and mama came up on the porch and I saw the look in her eye. She was going to finish him off this time. I had to fend her off with a broom.

The evenings are so quiet and beautiful.