Made a new friend today.... even if he does hate me

[Grant Lamontagne]

Megan and I came home from a semi-successful morning of fishing (we didn't catch anything, which makes it successful in my book!) to find a small, infant raccoon stumbling around on the deck.

They were born under the upstairs deck but above the downstairs deck a few weeks ago and I have heard them wailing a few times and caught them poking their heads out looking for Mama or complaining about the rain.  I know how dangerous raccoons are, being highly aggressive, fearless and often infected with all manner of nasty biologics, but I don't care because they are cute as anything and I am smart enough not to go near them.


To be honest, I'd have left this little one for Mama to find except for two things:

1- he kept falling over and I was concerned that he may have been injured, as his regular home was ten feet up from where I found him, and
2- the lady next door (whose deck he was on) probably would have killed him the moment she saw him.  In fact, she may have been the reason he was there, but I don't want to think about that, or where his siblings may be now.

I threw on some work gloves and assembled Megan's hard sided cat carrier while she made sure he didn't stumble away.  He looked really drunk, and we were pretty worried about him.  Now, several hours later, I am still worried about him to be honest.  This little monster should probably still be nursing.

At any rate, it didn't appear that anything was broken as he hissed and snapped at my glove and tried to pull away as I picked him up and put him in the carrier.  I think he felt really exposed on the deck because he stopped fighting when put in the door of the carrier and quickly hid inside.  I was glad to see him feel some semblance of sanctuary.

Then it was a quick ride to the local Humane Society- not really that quick as it's on the outskirts of town and we live downtown, but it was well worth it to know that he was getting put in the right hands.  Yes, there's the possibility that he may not be able to be helped, but I'm preferring to think that they will take excellent care of him before handing him off to a local wildlife rehabilitation center before he heads back out into the wild.

I thought about naming him, so that the Humane Society would be sure to give him the extra care and love a scared little kit like him needs, and my first thought was to call him Rocket, after the raccoon in the Guardians Of The Galaxy, but I decided against it since ever raccoon right now is probably called Rocket.  Instead I decided to call him Shawarma, because really, have you ever met a raccoon named Shawarma?

Although I only knew him for an hour and even though he did try to kill me, I am not taking it personally and I hope he has been fed and is able to relax a bit.    I miss him- and the fact that he hates people just proves that we are kindred spirits. 

Def

[WhichDawg]

good job boss!

I think it was the best thing you could do. little "Multi-Rocky" errr Shawarma sure is cute

  "Now Rocky Raccoon, he went back in his room Only to find Grant Lamontagne"

[JP]

Exciting Day!! A kid at school kept some as pets. Probably rescued them at a younger age for a better imprint.

You did good.

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[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks- you have to be careful with raccoons though.  A friend of mine used to work at the wildlife rehab center just outside of Halifax (popularized by the TV show Hope for Wildlife) and she has stated that raccoons often develop an innate distrust and outright hatred for humans (and most other things)  no matter how young they are brought in.  While some can be domesticated, it is very much a hit or miss thing, and often they pretty well decide to turn on you with little or no notice, particularly if there's a group of them.

I however find their antisocial behavior and little slice of evil makes them much more of interest to me!  And, as much as I wanted to keep him, he is a wild animal, and it's not fair (or healthy) to him to try.

One of my best raccoon experiences was watching a guy give his domesticated raccoon a sugar cube.  For those that don't know, raccoons like to wash their food before they eat it, and the raccoon would get really confused when he tried to wash a sugar cube in his water dish and suddenly it was gone!

And holy smurf he was cute- he could fit in the palm of my hand.... you know, while attempting to eat my fingers!

Def

[NKlamerus]

We grew up with a raccoon even though we often also hunted them.

Not necessarily domesticated but he was around for 3 or 4 years. Fed it grubworms and fish scraps.

Dogs could chase one for miles but this one would grab food out of their bowls with no issues

[Aloha]

 

Good to hear this little one will have a chance.  Certainly a better one than if you did nothing. 

[Zed]

Good one Grant 

[Kev D]

Great work 

[Mechanickal]

Cute little robber!

You did all you could to give him the best odds to survive, which is all anyone could ask for.

Being agressive to humans is what has kept his kind from being extinct.

A few weeks ago, when working in the back yard with my parents, I stumbled upon a frog/toad, which had a wood splinter in it's front leg, which was almost in half too...
Probably caused by our work.

My mom picked it up and threw it in the bushes.
I was devastated!!
I wanted to call the animal shelter (they're a 20min drive from my place!!)
But sadly couldn't find him/her again.

It's a living creature that didn't do anything wrong, it shouldn't have to be like this...

It's not "just a frog"

Still feel guilty to this day

[Whoey]

well done, but rocket is reserved for squirrels in canada:

[RF52]

Thats great 👍 Hope that cute little furball gets well 😃

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[Ron Who]

One time, I tried to "rescue" a young crow that got hit by a car. It couldn't fly and probably had some internal damage too. Only when I approached, I was attacked by its mother. She hit me in the back at full speed, and kept coming at me until I moved away. Of course this is a perfectly natural reaction, but it surprised me nevertheless.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I rescue animals whenever I see them in need of help.  A couple of years ago I found a crow at the side of a very major and busy road and, at great risk to myself, I got him in a box and off to the local emergency vet.  Luckily for both of us (the crow and I) it was very early morning on a weekend and there wasn't a lot of traffic.

Not that traffic would have stopped me if it was busy.  I'd have a very hard time living with myself if I didn't.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

My neighbors and I found two of Shawarma's siblings last night, Taco and Souffle.  Souffle seems string and healthy while Taco seems to be in pretty rough shape, just like Shawarma.

I didn't take Taco out last night because I figured Mama was coming back again, but if he's not looking any better by this evening I am going to go and grab him and take him to the Humane Society too- on the order of the Humane Society.  I don't like the idea of taking him away from his Mama, but the vets can probably help him a lot better than she can.

And holy smurf they are adorable.

I know they are a nuisance animal, and I know they are garbage eaters and disease carriers, but then so are some of my neighbors and I'm not allowed to judge them, right?

Def

[Mechanickal]

My neighbors and I found two of Shawarma's siblings last night, Taco and Souffle.  Souffle seems string and healthy while Taco seems to be in pretty rough shape, just like Shawarma.

I didn't take Taco out last night because I figured Mama was coming back again, but if he's not looking any better by this evening I am going to go and grab him and take him to the Humane Society too- on the order of the Humane Society.  I don't like the idea of taking him away from his Mama, but the vets can probably help him a lot better than she can.

And holy smurf they are adorable.

I know they are a nuisance animal, and I know they are garbage eaters and disease carriers, but then so are some of my neighbors and I'm not allowed to judge them, right?

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'll see what I can do.  I have told the neighbors that we needed to have at least one other person around when I climbed up to get it so that way there would be someone to post the video of me falling a dozen feet to the ground with a raccoon clawing my face on Youtube!

Def

[Kev D]

How are the fuzz balls doing?

[Grant Lamontagne]

When we came home from shopping last night we found the neighbors trying to capture Souffle in a laundry basket as he tried to climb the side of the building.  He seemed to be doing a decent job of climbing, but they said he'd already fallen twice.  Not a good sign, so I grabbed my gloves and trusty cat carrier and pulled little Souffle off the wall before he fell again.  Then he went right into the carrier, which he seemed to enjoy, probably because he was less exposed and it smelled like one of his littermates.

Souffle seemed a bit stronger than Shawarma did so I'm hoping he has an even better chance of pulling through, although he had nothing on his other two siblings that were almost cartwheeling up and down the side of the building.  Taco and the other brother, the Burrito Bandit (or just Burrito for short) seemed to walk up and down the building just as easily as they could on the ground, and they showed absolutely no fear of us, probably because they are familiar with us being around and watching them all the time.  In fact, they didn't even seem to notice or care that we were there as they walked by us on their way to a tree they like.

Unfortunately the place I'd dropped Shawarma off a few days ago was closed by this time at night, and I couldn't leave Souffle in the carrier on the deck (cruel), nor could I bring him in the house (two dogs and a cat inside) so I needed to find somewhere else to drop him off, and luckily there is an all night emergency vet not too far from here and they were happy to take him.

I am hoping that Souffle and Shawarma will be reunited at the local wildlife rehabilitation center, as I am sure that's where they all end up going after being collected at different locations.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

How are the fuzz balls doing?

Ignorance is bliss.....

I have not called the SPCA or the emergency vet to get updates just in case it's bad news.  I am much happier living in denial rather than facing the cold hard fact that they seem to have distemper and it has probably progressed to a point where they have serious neurological issues that they aren't likely to recover from.

In the odd times I do go there, I take solace in the fact that at least they aren't suffering by falling, getting hit by a car or having a local cat get them.

But it's much nicer to think that they will get a needle or two, some excellent food so they can build their strength back up, then be released in the woods where they can live out long full lives doing the silly things that Nature's Bandits were intended to do.

Def