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| Our Raccoons Did I say three?? Well that is what we started with. You see a neighbor found them in the road and little fur balls. (Mama had been run over by a car). I immediately took them to our vet to have them checked out and guess what. He had just received three others about the same age. Well, Doc. Convinced us that it would not be any more of a problem see they would think each other litter mates at that age. Boy was he wrong! What a handful they became. (I am getting ahead of myself) Six babies! We went out to the store and bought tiny little bottles and the ingredients for a lot of formula. We use the same one for our children when they were little. You see there was not pre made then. So Sweetened evaporated milk, whole milk, egg and a little of Doc’s vities did the trick. (Am I dating myself??) A large box lined with plastic them news papers and towels. With a smaller one inside worked well for a while. The every three hour feedings were fun. We would all take turns. I even recruited anyone who had enough courage to visit us. To keep track of who was fed and who was not, I would pass them off to Chuck and they would promptly fall asleep. Did you know that raccoons purr like a cat when they are happy? Six babies singing. Got to love it! We took turns clean their boxes every time they ate and we would all catch some sleep. They each were given a bath once a day. We all came to enjoy the fun in the sink! They soon outgrew the box so we found an old wooden playpen. Chuck went to work on it. He put in a heavy plastic bottom liner and plywood sides so they couldn’t get through the slats. They even learned to use a kitty litter box. We named them Ennie, Meenie, Minie, Mo Larry , and of course you guessed it Curly. We could not tell them apart most of the time so we just called them the first name that came to mind. They had their regular check up with the Doc. And were doing great! We weaned off formula and onto canned cat food, then puppy chow. It was summer so we would all go out in the yard or go for a walk down the road. I of course was first in line then came the six babies all in a straight line right behind me. The neighbors thought it was a hoot! (No pun intended) So it went for some time. Now we had to have tree climbing lessons. We would attach them to a tree and they would just hang there! It took some time before they all climbed up but they did it! Now what to do! They would not come down. They were afraid! I went up the tree with Chuck at the bottom ready to catch me or them. Whoever fell first. I climbed to within 2 feet of the first one and he let go, landed on my back, and held on for dear life. I passed him down to Chuck and repeated this till all were safe and sound walking in a row behind us. Mama to the rescue! As they grew they and spent more time outside learning to survive in the wild Chuck built a large cage with a loft and trees in it for climbing. This was out in our back yard. If you haven’t guessed by now we line in the country on a lake in Maine) One day while they were napping on our wood pile I decided to go in and get my self some lunch. I should have known better! Ennie fell off and one of the others pushed a piece of wood off the pile onto her. She had broken her leg. Off the toe Doc’s we went. He x-rayed it, set it and put a cast on her. We carried her around for a while when we went on our walks. She healed fine and was able to keep up with the others. The cast came off you would never know she had broken it.On the night before we were to bring them all up to the north woods they picked the lock on their pen and left to make a home of their own. They did come home once in a while for a visit but after a couple of summers we did not see them again. Our household was always an adventure. Our friends call our home 'The Garland Zoo"! |