It appears that my raccoon pal Fellah has met his end. He hasn't shown up at my door as usual, despite over three weeks of mild weather. I last saw him in late October. He was fattened up and ready to enter his den for the winter. Raccoons generally survive for about four years in the wild, and Fellah is four years old as of this spring. I haven't seen a dead raccoon along U.S. Hwy. 20, so I doubt that he was run over by a motorist. I'll continue to keep watching for him over the next few weeks, but I have little hope of seeing him again.
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)