The boys meet the girls.

Buster, Seeker, Tugger and Growler are officially together in one big happy group now! Aside from a little competition over the bowls at feeding time, they are getting along great. Tugger is the smallest of them all but I tell ya, she is definitely the boss!! I don't have to worry about her getting pushed around.

The gang finishes up their dinner with a little dry kibble to forage and crunch on.

Seeker seems to like eating from atop his favorite orange stuffie!

Buster debates....do I drink it or play in it?.... while atop the water bowl. Luckily he chose to drink it this time....less mess for me to pick up!

And the ever tough Tugger talks to mommy while I take her picture!

Clover has also been moved out to an adjoining cage to this rowdy crew so he can get used to them and eventually join them as well. He'll be so thrilled to have someone to play with finally!

Brief update

OK...Tugger, Growler and Clover are officially out of quarantine and as soon as I have a few moments (haha...right!) they are all going to have some play time to get used to each other and when they are all getting along like good little kits they will all go into the same pen!

Tosser and Mohican are already together and enjoying each other's company!

The 4 babies rescued from their tree den after their mom was (illegally) trapped and relocated are going to a new home today also. That will bring me back down to a more manageable 10 babies....some breathing room that will probably be brief I'm sure!

The kids are big & ready to go soon!

Wow! Look how big Belle's little charges have gotten! Bella is already exploring outside the denbox.... when she can get past her mom without being dragged back in that is! As soon as I get a few moments to rig a tree branch to climb out on, I'll be opening the release window so Belle can decide what to do with them next! It's going to be tough watching them go and not being able to protect them myself...but Belle will handle that well I'm sure!

Well the crew of 4 are safe and sound in Dawn's hands in western MA. Thanks so much Dawn for helping out with our precious cargo! (and to your friends who helped transport them to you!)

I only sent the 4, Clover is having pooping "issues"' and Teddy is doing great, but didn't want to send him just in case. She has enough to deal with herself and don't want to add to it with a single having any medical issues right now.

Down to 14 now and going to have to hold there for now!

Clover & Teddy and the rundown.

The magic number now is 18!! I am totally overrun by baby raccoons! Holy cow! Here is the rundown....we have Clover, a very sweet little boy who loves his bottle! He is just adorable.


Then we have the kidnap twins. No names yet, both boys and EXTREMELY LOUD!! Almost impossible to get them to sit still for even 1 second so this is the best it gets with pics!

Then there is the crew you already met....Teddy, who is doing much better. No new seizures, eating well and everything coming out the other end the way it should! and he's gaining weight like he should be.

Growler and Tugger eating some solid foods which helps at feeding times with this huge crew!

Buster and Seeker also eating soaked chow very well! Doing a good job with crunchy chow too now.

Mohican leaping out the cage door when I open it for feeding! He's very active, that one!

And last but definitely not least...our little Tosser. What a doll!

Here we have the crew of 4 that will be heading to a fellow rehabber on Tuesday to help lighten the load! They are doing great, using the bottle and adorable. Their mom was found dead in a wall near the nest at the old Fort Devens and they rescued the babies. Clover may also be going with them. I hate to part with him, but she it taking a single as well and he is the best option. I don't want to send Teddy on if he has problems obviously.

I just got another set of 4 since last night. A little older than the crew above. The mom was trapped and relocated (illegally I might add!), leaving these little guys behind to fend for themselves. I was able to grab 3 last night from the hollow tree that was their den, but 1 moved out of reach and I couldn't get him. He finally came down today and has since been reunited with his siblings. All doing great and I'm in the process of tracking down someplace for them to go. I am just too overwhelmed with 18 babies....it's just me playing mom to all these critters, having a full time job and not to mention the older gang outside to care for too!

Overrun with babies!

Ok...I'm up to 14 right now and one more coming Friday. Buster, Seeker, Tugger & Growler have been moved to bigger cages out in the shed. They are starting to eat solid foods luckily so they should wean easily within the next few weeks. The 2 kidnap boys are out there as well still in a smaller cage and too young for solids for a while yet, but doing great and eating well.

I needed to make room for the new litter of 4 that just came in! Their mother was found dead in the wall near their nest. They have now joined the gang downstairs....Tosser, Mohican, Clover and Teddy as I have come to call the little guy with goopy eyes.

Teddy's eyes are clear and fine, but unfortunately he has had a couple of seizures in the last 24 hours. He is not thriving like he should be after the care he as gotten so I'm a little worried about him and keeping a very close watch.

In 4 days Mohican's quarantine will be over and he will be able to join Tosser so they will no longer be alone.

As you can imagine we have become overwhelmed with babies. Laurie has about 10 herself and we just can't handle them all. Mary has 3 as well, but also a full house with squirrels, opssums and other critters. No one else in our area takes the coonies so we fill up fast. Thank goodness for our friend and fellow rehabber in the western part of the state...she is going to help lighten the load and take the litter of 4 and a single to go with a single she has in her care!!! Just in time to prevent a nervous breakdown! Ha!

I have been too busy to sleep and eat, much less get pictures of the gang...but I promise to try. I know no one has seen Clover or the kidnap pair yet..they are very cute! (But then again what little coonie kit isn't!)

3 More!

Add 3 more boys to the mix! This little guy came in last night. Very skinny and dehydrated but what a set of lungs on him! He's had some goopy eyes so I'm keeping a close eye on that. He's very sweet and taking his bottle like a good boy!


I just got 2 more boys this evening. They are in great shape and I think they were the result of a kidnapping...someone thought they would make cute little pets when they found them last Thursday and kept them until animal control got wind of it and brought them to me today. Right now they are getting warm and settled and I'll give them a better exam soon.

The little boy Laurie gave me is doing great. What a sweetheart! I'm calling him Clover now. Laurie has a group of girls named after spices and he was originally going to join that theme, but being a boy she called him Clovis. I didn't have the heart to do that to him! HA Ha! I figure Clover is neutral enough and that way none of the other kids will make fun of him!

Macy shows her face!

Macy is finally past the "all I want to do is eat and sleep" stage and is clambering around and playing with mom and Bella. A little pose for the camera too!

The rest of the gang is doing great. A new boy has been added to the mix. Laurie had him for a couple of days and we did some rotating with the animals as she got more calls for even more raccoons! He's doing well and I'll get some pics soon! That brings our little family up to 7 now!

Buster and Seeker are officially out of quarantine now and getting cuter by the day!

The Un-Released gang!

Popeye and Daisy have been re-joined by Foxy and Screech now. I found Foxy curled up under the tarp on top of the release cage. When I opened the door later in the evening she ran down and went straight for the open door and into the cage. I found Screech up in the squirrel pen! God knows how he got in there. I let him out and when I saw him take a limping step, got closer to look. He's got a wound on his foot too...and he begged me to pick him up, climbing up the front of me to hold him. So I brought him back down to nurse his wounds as well.

The girls are uninjured for the most part. It's the boys getting the crap beat out of them! I have a feeling that baby season has a lot to do with it. We'll let them heal up and plan to re-release them later in the summer when all the babies should be old enough to create less conflict between the resident mothers and our gang. No sign of Buddy or Whitey. Whitey was timid to begin with so I am guessing he was avoiding the local natives with all his might and not running into any problems.

Introducing Mohican, Tugger and Growler.

First a little look at how much Tosser is growing! He's doing great and getting bigger every day!


Here is Mohican. A little boy found wandering on the ground a few days after mom was found hit in the road. He has a perfect mohawk up his back, the fur facing the opposite way like a Rhodesian ridge back, so Mohican seemed appropriate! He's doing great, just a little scrape on his nose.

Here we have the girls Tugger and Growler. Two sisters found wandering the streets after repeated attempts to find mom it became apparent she was not around and they were rescued. Growler gets mad when she gets put back into her cage while her sister eats and gives little growl of disapproval. She is the larger, darker girl.

And last but not least....Tugger, a very sweet playful little girl!

She was determined to drag my camera into her cage to keep for herself. We ended up in a game of tug of war in my attempts to reclaim the camera strap. It was so funny....she was grabbing it and yanking on it growling and shaking her head like a dog with a tug toy does! The name Tugger was a given after that! A lot of spunk in a tiny little package, that one is!

The girls are doing great and even starting to eat soaked chow left in their cage. Buster and Seeker are doing great as well, a little older than the girls and also eating soaked chow left in their cage. In 2 weeks time the girls will get to meet the older boys and all go together and Tosser and Mohican will each finally have a companion when they are put together.

What the......?

So I get up at 6am this morning to feed the new babies. I'm at the sink looking out my kitchen window overlooking my back porch. I notice it is in disarray....the bird feeder bungied on the railing is pushed over, hanging over the side, a potted plant is dug up and scattered all over the floor, and the drawers under the gas grill are wide open. I sigh, go out and pick up the mess and fix the feeder. It had to be the actions of a raccoon! I get back inside and realize I didn't close the drawers, so I go back out and....SURPRISE!!....there is Daisey looking out at me! Well she found a nice dry space to hole up in in the pouring rain I guess! I brought her out back and put her in with Popeye for now. She can go back out when the weather clears up again! Silly girl! I'm thinking maybe she followed my scent up there, looking for one of her mommies to take care of her?? She's never been up by the house before.

Popeye returns.

Here's Popeye working his way back to his cage this morning. I watched him go from tree to tree and finally back into his favorite hammock in the cage. He has been returning to the cage to sleep during the days, but this time I noticed him limping. I think he picked one fight to many out there. He's got a good gash in his rear leg and he's limping on a front leg as well.



I let him get settled into his hammock then closed up the cage. He's going to have to stay in so I can keep an eye on him...can't leave him out there gimpy on 2 legs! He doesn't seem to mind being back ....all the comforts of home and all. Since it's pouring out there tonight, he's pretty happy to be high and dry in his hammock! Didn't see anyone else out there and really haven't had a lot of time to spend out there waiting for them to visit....all the new babies are keeping me busy and tired!! I hope everyone has a dry place to snuggle in!

Buster and Seeker

Buster and Seeker got a little taste of the great outdoors on a beautiful sunny day this week. Of course they had no desire to travel much further than my lap really. The brothers are doing great! They have graduated to a larger dog crate so they have room to wrestle and play.

The babies are getting big!

Hey there mom! Belle wants to know what what goodies I'm bringing her today! She's a little more comfortable coming out of the den box and leaving the girls alone for a little.

And look who else wants to check out the outside world! You can imagine my surprise when I saw this little head pop up! It was so quick the camera didn't have time to focus, but it's cute anyway!

Then momma Belle came along and dragged Bella back in....you're not going anywhere yet young lady! ha ha (as Bella tries desperately to hold on and stay put!)

Belle had her hands full with that one! She's at the stage where she wants to play and explore!

Macy pretty much just slept through it all until a playful Bella started pouncing on her and woke her up!

As soon as Macy catches up to speed with Bella I think the release window will get opened and Belle can decide what is best for the family. I'm going to miss watching them grow! (and worry about them constantly!!)

The gang gets released!

It's official now...Foxy, Popeye, Daisy, Buddy, Whitey and Screech are free raccoons! And they are enjoying it thoroughly as you can see in just a few of the pics I got of their antics.

I can't even begin to describe how silly they were running around like maniacs. Buddy enjoyed splashing around in the pond and Popeye starting causing trouble with the other resident coons as they started showing up. He's already got a got some minor battle scars!

Red and Feisty showed up for a brief visit and in the middle of it all, Laurie and I had to head out to rescue a momma opossum and her babies curled up on the side of a road. We picked her up and there were babies everywhere! She is doing great now. Mary has her in a nice safe, cozy cage. She is thin and tired...but has already rested and eaten a good meal and should do well in her care while she raises her babies in safety.