The Bandit's Nest

As you will recall if you are a regular lemonade sipper here at my blog, I found a sleeping bandit in one of the trees in our backyard last week. The little raccoon slept soundly amongst the waving branches in the breezy afternoon sunshine.

He was lying in a nest about 2/3 up the tree. Many readers wondered if it was his nest. I am here to update you on the nest our little masked bandit used as his hotel for the day. It was not a raccoon nest (which I didn't think it was). It was in fact, a squirrel's nest (which I did think it was). How do I know you ask? Well let me tell you!

This afternoon as I folded laundry on our bed I gazed out the window overlooking our back yard. Wondering about our little masked friend I looked up into the tree and you wouldn't believe what I saw. Scampering from branch to branch was a little black squirrel. He would hop to a branch and then with one hand/paw he would grab a fresh green newly sprouted branch of leaves. He would break it off and then scamper back to his old dried leaf nest, placing the bright new leaf on top before scampering off to find more.

I watched him for about 5 minutes as he hopped up and down the tree with new sprigs of leaves burrowing himself in the middle of his new fluffy bed. It was fascinating to watch. Eventually his bed was complete and it now sits about 4-6 inches above the old dried nest. Looks like a fluffy, green, leafy cloud!

While witnessing this little creature fix his home I wondered: Is this something he does every Spring? Or is he trying to get rid of that nasty raccoon smell left over by the "Goldilocks" bandit who had taken over his place last week? I guess I'll never know.