Sabira Woolley
Jul 27, 2017 · 3 min read

A Baby Raccoons Scary Adventure

Last night, as we were walking to our outdoor recreational cat enclosure to feed the kitties some chicken drumsticks, I heard an unusual ruckus, as if some Tribbles, Ewoks, and Wookies were attending a sports rally.

I hurried over, and saw a big mama raccoon and two ‘teenybopper’ raccoons quickly clamber off the top of the enclosure and then over the fence, disappearing into the brush. I looked in the enclosure, and discovered a baby raccoon INSIDE. He was wedged at the top in a corner, hanging onto the ceiling mesh like a little burr.

The noises continued from outside the fence. (I didn’t have my universal translator handy, but I am pretty sure they were saying “Hide! Hide!”, “We’ll come back for you!”, and from a teenybopper, “You dork!”)

We got each cat into a carrier, so they couldn’t harm or frighten the baby. We decided that we shouldn’t try to handle him. It would probably frighten him too much, and if he cried out, his mother would be very upset and possibly attack us. Plus, even a baby raccoon has sharp teeth, and may defend himself if he believes he is fighting for his life.

So I tried to coax the baby towards the open door of the enclosure. He was VERY tired. And overwhelmed. It is possible he could have been trapped in there for a few hours. I had to prod him (very gently) with a pole to get him to move. He refused to come down. So he had to gradually crawl along the top until he reached the doorway. Then he squeezed out and climbed onto the roof.

The poor baby just lay there, and called to his family (distressed but cute Tribbly Ewok sounds). Ron and I moved away, to give them room to come and retrieve him. But in all the ruckus, they had discovered our bucket of raw drumsticks, and other priorities (pillaging) had precedent.

Ron went back and repaired the opening in the enclosure. I placed a drumstick in front of the baby, concerned that he may need replenishment after the ordeal. But he wasn’t thinking about food. He really wanted mommy and a nap.

After a bit, the raccoons returned, and urged the baby to come down to them. I didn’t see this, but Ron says the mother PUSHED ONE OF THE TEENYBOPPERS UP THE FENCE to come over and get him. Then she disappeared again. After some encouraging calls, the teenyboppers were gone, too. The baby had responded by coming down and climbing to the top of the fence. But then he didn’t have the strength to climb down the other side. The fence leans outward at that point. So if he made the attempt, he could have fallen down about 6 feet, then rolled down a hill into a road.

The top of the fence has no rail, but has the spiky ends of the chain links pointing up. The poor exhausted baby was straddling those points as he very slowly struggled along, looking for a safe place to get down.

Seeing the risky position he was in, Ron and I tried to urge him into a cat carrier so we could move him to where the rest of the raccoons were hiding, or down a fabric and mesh disassembled stroller, so he could get more comfortable and find his way out on his own. He didn’t go for it. So we laid a pile of old towels in front of him, and he gratefully draped himself over them, and fell asleep.

I went a distance away and watched for a while. His mom came back and called for him. He was still too tired. After a while his eyes opened, but he still wasn’t going anywhere. She vanished again. I thought we could just leave him there and let his mom come back and get him.

But then, I heard a nearby owl hooting. Uh oh… A baby raccoon exposed in the open on top of a fence would have been a quick and easy meal. He HAD to get out of sight.

So Ron flipped the towels the baby was resting on, so he dropped into the lush ice-plant growing about 4 feet below. He landed unharmed (whew!) and was walking towards a grove of trees. Mom arrived, and they both were gone in a blink. Totally gone. Amazing disappearing skills.

Sabira Woolley

Written by

Musician (vocals, steel pan, guitar, 5-string banjo), writer, artist, wildlife lover, cat companion, multi-species food provider…