Breakfast Guests

[John R Hampton]

Each morning while here in Hollywood Beach, Florida I have a routine of getting up before day break to go for a long walk on the Boardwalk. Within the first few mornings, near North Beach Park, I noticed that a couple feral cats were hanging around in the breaking daylight.  I also saw small piles of kibble that other walkers had obviously left for them.  So I started doing the same, although the felines have been coy in coming very close for their offerings or getting too friendly.

Today I got to my first spot, laid down the treats and shortly had this customer joining me for a dawn snack.

 

 

Pleased with our first successful encounter I kept going to the second point where I had always seen a cat or two.

Carefully laying down a small handful of snacks I stepped away to see if anything was going to come out of the green sandy underbrush by the side of the path. 

Then I heard a rustle and a few more partakers ambled out for their early pickings.

 

 

[JudyS]

Those appear to be raccoons, but they are really odd looking with very short hair.  Is that what raccoons look like in Florida? 

I'm used to this.

[John R Hampton]

 

Raccoon - from Wikipedia: 

As of 2005, Mammal Species of the World recognizes 22 subspecies.^[27] Four of these subspecies found only on small Central American and Caribbean islands were often regarded as distinct species after their discovery. These are the Bahaman raccoon and Guadeloupe raccoon, which are very similar to each other; the Tres Marias raccoon, which is larger than average and has an angular skull; and the extinct Barbados raccoon.  A fifth island raccoon population, the Cozumel raccoon, which weighs only 3 to 4 kg and has notably small teeth, is still regarded as a separate species.^{[28][29][30][31]}

The four smallest raccoon subspecies are found along the southern coast of Florida and on the adjacent islands.

 

Edited September 30, 2016 by John R Hampton
additional info