Picture of Wild Raccoon

This photo of a wild raccoon was taken in my back yard from about 25 yards away. Texas has been experiencing a drought and the animals are having difficulty finding foods to eat. Because of the extreme heat, there are no acorns, no berries, no wild fruit (plums or grapes in particular) and most importantly - no water sources as most have dried-up.

My husband and I take a few gallons of water to the back to our bird-feeding area which we use in the winter for photographing birds. We used to have tons of bunnies, armadillos, possums, squirrels, raccoons, deer and even a bobcat or two but the drought has thinned the wildlife population down significantly in our area. We're down to a couple of squirrels now.

The raccoons feed on the sunflower seeds that the birds leave behind when late evening arrives. This photo was taken with the Oly E-620 with a long lens at 1/25th of a second. A tripod was used to help stabilize the camera. ISO was 500 and the mode used was Aperture.

If you have any raccoons in your area please keep your distance as they can come down with rabies. Another great reason to shoot with a long lens.

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