They want to look and investigate everything. Sometimes it is very exhausting for me to try and keep the little ones under control. From mid July onwards all my little foundlings sleep in the raccoon-house.

In every corner of this house I have cat toilets layered with newspaper. Many people claim that raccoons are scruffy. The raccoon is very clean. That's why the cat toilets need to be emptied and cleaned every morning and evening. The beds have to always be clean and dry, that's why my washingmachine is filled with towels and running all day long.

After being fed in the morning they are all allowed to play outside. Whilst my husband cleans the raccoon-house, I play with the little guys near the pond, which is their favourite place. Often I feel sorry for my husband, but cleanliness is really important. Sometimes we swap our tasks, but our little foundlings do not accept it. At this age they are really attached to me and they do not want anybody else as their mummy! That's why the cleaning is up to my husband! For our little ones we happily make sacrifices, in order for them to be happy and become strong!

They wake up early in the morning, play and riot, as little raccoon-babies do. And even before the cleaning starts, they are hungry. Every morning starting at 7 am I cook chicken, which the raccoons get together with fruit, vegetable and a bit of baby-food. You can nearly watch them grow now! Two low, big, heavy vessels filled with water can never be forgotten. The little ones start early to wash or soak their food in water.

After their frisky games at the pond, they usually sleep until 3 in the afternoon. And then my nerves get really tested. Next in Order is a long walk in the forest, but I can only ever take up to seven babies with me. Very often I have to walk with three different groups' trough the forest, because there are just too many. At first they always stay very close to me. Once they know their surroundings better there is no stopping them. Everyone jumps and runs in a different direction. At the start I was scared I might lose one of them. Nowadays I sit myself under a tree and watch my hooligans. Every tree gets thoroughly checked for insects, they dig for roots and just everything is so exciting. Day by day they get more self confident and they feel saver in their surroundings.

A very important companion on my trips is my dog Honney. Without her I would have been lost many times. She always makes sure that the raccoon-babies don't run to far away and (weirdly enough) the raccoons listen to her.

These daily lectures are very important for the little guys, so they learn how to roam freely in nature and it also keeps me really fit. When it is time to go home, I whistle. Eventually they will all get to know it and they never forget it. Sometimes a few raccoons come that have been living alone for a while, just to say hello. Whenever I have visitors they usually don't show themselves. They only trust me, my husband and of course our dogs!

At 8 in the evening they get fed again. They get chicken, baby-food, vegetables and fruit again. For the night I always prepare Dog-dry-food (for puppies), to which they should get used to as soon as possible.

All of them can eat by themselves now, with only a very few exceptions, that still beg for their bottle but only when they get tired.

During the night the little ones still have to stay in the house, and are not allowed to sleep in the forest, as they cannot defend themselves yet. There are many other wild animals that would quickly get one of the babies. The most dangerous are: Owls, martens and fishermen.

When the day arrives that I leave the door to the Raccoon-house open at night, the little raccoons can choose whether they want to sleep in their beds, on the terrace or even venture into the forest. But: Never does one go by itself, they always stay in groups together, and that is good.

My raccoon mothers, that come and visit me daily with their babies and beg for food, are very helpful at those times. The wild ones, that's how I call them, play with my babies and roam through the forests. So I can be relaxed and assured that there is always an adult raccoon to keep an eye on them. A raccoon mother will fight for her babies until death. Mostly my babies stay close to me though! All of them sleep under our terrace or in their raccoon-house.

Every year I observe that even the raccoon-mothers get problems with their young once they are around eight weeks old. Many live in their tree-holes in our forest and accept me, as they did not forget that I raised them. They always introduce me to their young, who also have no fear of me. That's how I can learn so much from them and I am very glad, that I am not the only one that gets annoyed and is tired very often. They go through the same. Very often the mum is so emaciated that one can see the bones. The winter was long and suckling babies is really exhausting. I try helping them by putting food out for them in front of their trees. They know exactly where they once lived and many of them come to visit me on an evening. I stop feeding last years raccoons at the end of April. Unfortunately I have to do this, or otherwise all of them would stay. Saying goodbye is only sad for me. The raccoons love the forest and their freedom and that is how it should be. Every year in February though most of them come back, as they know there is always food here, and after such a long winter a lot of them are a-hungered.

I would like to point out again, that the raccoon is in no way an omnivore. Most people label him as such, as he searches bins for edible things. This does not mean that he eats rubbish! He knows exactly what he wants; he is very picky when it comes to food.

It does show how intelligent he is, when he browses through the bins. If something smells so nice, there is bound to be food in it, right? One does not go hunting when hungry! Of course not, one goes to the fridge, or not?! So the raccoon opens his fridge, the bin. He would be rather stupid if he goes on a mousehunt, when there is a bin filled with really nice things! If humans weren't so wasteful with their food, then the bins would not be so full and the raccoons would have no interest in the rubbish. One should pack the rubbish in airtight packages before throwing it out. That way you won't have any "problems" with raccoons.

If it is warm enough we spend many evenings at a campfire and sleep in a Tipi. Never alone though! Our raccoons love being with us. For us however, this means that the sleep is not very recreative. Because by the time the little ones get tired, the night is over. We still enjoy our loud summer nights with our animals and would not want to miss a day.

When the indiansummer is near, the raccoons start eating more in order to get fattened up for winter. They love anything that is sweet. Every evening I feed them Dog-dry-food with fruit and frootloops. Those are their favourite meals.

At the end of October they all get very inactive and tired. When it starts snowing, they hide under the terrace. There they stay the whole winter until the beginning of march.

Very rarely do they come up to my window to greet me then. I have to admit that I really miss them in that time. But I know that they are all happy and that they will have a very good long sleep!