Raquel P.

I found a baby raccoon while walking in a park close to my house. It was dehydrated and weak but I left it there until almost morning to see if mom would come back to get it but she never did. So I brought it home and got online to talk with multiple rehabbers on the best care for it. As it turned out there were no rehabbers in my county that could take her so I took care of her. I never put her in a cage and allowed her to go through the cat door to explore outside when she was old enough. She came and went and eventually only came in to grab a bite to eat every few days. She disappeared for 23 days so I assumed she had made a nest or had moved to a different location. One night at 2 :30 am I hear that very specific cry of a baby raccoon so I jump out of bed to check and sure enough on my kitchen floor screaming its little heart out was a beautiful baby. I didnt know what to do because she wouldn't let me touch the baby. She eventually picked up her kit and climbed up my cabinets, she opened the top cabinet and went inside. Yeah so now I had a very protective mom with her newborn kit in my cabinet with all my food. It was a nightmare. She eventually came out the cabinet after 2 days carrying that precious baby and booked it strait to my bedroom. I had left one of my drawers in my dresser open half way so of course thats exactly where she goes. Great so I guess I'm sleeping on the sofa now! I tolerated that for 2 days before I made the very tough and heartbreaking decision to call a rescue for some kind of help. God must have made plans because the only rehabber I could get to answer was Paula Woodside at Woodside Wildlife Rescue. She came out and safely and efficiently captured mom and baby to bring to her rescue. I called everyday to check on mom and baby which I had named Lake because his mothers name was Forest. Paula informed me that it wasn't going according to plan because mom wasn't tolerating being in a cage. She stopped taking care of the baby and obsessed over finding a way out of the enclosure. Paula made the decision to open the cage but mom never came back for the baby so right then I knew what I had to do because everything inside my heart was telling me I needed to be the one to rehab Lake. Thats exactly what I did. He was released last fall. Lake will always have a special ace in my heart.