A quick visit with my favorite gals!

Among all the craziness with the new babies, I am still happy to have regular visits with my girls Ringer and Belle when I head outside to care for the gang out there! Sisters from my very first batch, they've been out there since 2006 and have not forgotten Mom in all this time...I love 'em dearly and enjoy what little down time I have to sit and relax and say Hi....even if it's just during a quick meal!

I'm not positive who this girl was....she was comfortable enough around me to be one of mine, but not in the mood for a close encounter like my best girls above! I think this may have been Button or Amy though.

Speaking of the gang outside.....the boys were released this past weekend. I let them go out back here. They are already used to the native crew and vice verse because, God knows, they've been out in the downtown release pen long enough! I'll get the pics up soon.

Madness & Mayhem!

OK....I'm forcing myself to take about half an hour to sip some coffee and update you all....it's been nothing but busy around here, so hold on to your hats, it's a crazy ride!

The 5 older babies from the ARL are doing great! They are absolutely gorgeous and starting to trust me enough to let me deal with them a lot easier now!

 The original 10...the Fast Five, Mason, Cinder & Garfield, Nermal & Odie are becoming good pals with the Dighton 4 and the Little Rascals. It is total and utter chaos at feeding time. They are all caged in the same room and as they are fed they are allowed to run around for a little play time. Needless to say there is nothing they don't get into. With the exception of Garfield's crew, who are still a little runty in development and too small to handle the big kids, the other 16 are loving the extra large playgroup!

 The little boy brought by the Watertown ACO...aka Fluffa nutta because he is a little fluff ball....is doing great and for now is with Lisa. She had a single that needed a friend, and once things have settled down a little, they'll both be back here and added to the group.

Enter the new kids that have come in. Number 26.....A good sized boy (and oh so sweet!) from the Seakonk ACO. He was the only kit captured after mom was hit by a car. He's doing well but came in with a swollen elbow. At this time I am trying to ascertain if it is an injury or a mycoplasma issue. At this time he is getting metacam for the swelling and pain and it is not getting worse. In fact the swelling has gone down some, so I am leaning toward injury.

 Fitchy, another boy similar in size to the Seakonk boy was brought in by Dawn in Fitchburg. He was found wandering the middle of a busy road and she stopped to save him! He is a total sweetheart and doing great as well. He'll be perfect with the Seakonk boy once the elbow is remedied! Full of mischief he is too! He's fond of shredding my gloves right off my hand!

 And it just never ends! 2 more from my hometown. The boy, saved by Maureen the ACO after a resident caught it wandering around after mom was seen hit by a car a couple days earlier, and the girl brought in by a resident under the same circumstances. Both doing great....

And last (I hope!!!) but not least....one final little girl brought to my by Andrea at the MSPCA. They took great care of her before she got to me so she's in great shape and went on the bottle right away...didn't have to fight with her to take it luckily. No pics of her yet, but she looks a lot like Fluffa...

So I'm pretty much as full as I can get with raccoons.....I've got no room to put anymore right now, not to mention no extra time whatsoever, between feeding and cleaning these 30 and still working a full time job! I am praying for no more coonie calls because I don't know that there are any other places accepting them any more either, to send them to! God, I dread this predicament every year!



It's raining raccoons!!

Wow...it has been crazy! What are the chances that most of my calls the first couple weeks on the new job as Animal Control Officer would not be for dogs, but for raccoons....lots and lots of raccoons! I detect some divine intervention.

So I get a call from a lovely couple, Frank & Paula, that discovered 3 baby raccoons at the base of a tree they felt were abandoned. I responded and sure enough, they were very skinny and definitely orphaned. I scooped them up and Laurie was kind enough to meet me and take them to start some much needed re-hydrating! I had told Frank to keep an eye out for more just in case. Don't you know he calls me later in the day and they have discovered 4 more!! Right about the same time Mike from the Animal Rescue League calls me....Hey, we got these 5 raccoons and mom is confirmed dead. You got any room? Sure, bring 'em to the station. Divine intervention again maybe? I decide to drag him along back to check on the 4 babies still in the tree. Glad I did! One had made it to the ground but the other 3 were just way up there. Unfortunately, Mike didn't have the tree gear with him so much to our dismay, as the sky opened up and it started pouring like crazy.....we had to leave them and plan on a rescue the next morning.

 Later that night while at home I got a call from Frank...one had fallen and he had it safely in a box. I ran out there and picked it up, cringing at the sound of the other 2 still up there in their den crying away as I left...helpless to do anything.

I was never so happy to see Brian the next morning when I met him at that tree and he planned his rescue. I was worried what he would find up there. Thanks to their awesome training and skills...ARL saves the day again! The last 2 very vocal babies were brought down to safety. Thanks so much Brian!! I'm happy to report that all 7 have been reunited and are doing well. A fellow rehabber that only takes a limited number of coonies has them now! I did manage to get some pics and video of Brian's rescue that I will share as soon as I get it downloaded out of my phone! With all the craziness and the fact that Laurie had 3 and I had 4 of the litter, I was never able to get a good picture of the kits together either, but I'll get the rehabber that has them to send me one if she can!

Finally have some pics of the Dighton 4. All are doing great! They were quite fond of getting their pictures taken and posed better than any of them. Karen, they are adorable....thanks again for getting them here!

The Little Rascals...Alfalfa, Spanky, Stymie, Froggy and Darla, are also doing great. They've come a long way from being carried around in a shoe box by a drunk!

The 5 babies Mike brought me are great also. They are huge! Lucky for me, old enough to be weaned because they are not thrilled to be near people, and are not handle able right now. But they have no problem scarfing down puppy chow and bowls of formula.....and coonie crack, aka animal crackers! They have no intention of posing for pictures like the young 'uns.

Last but not least, add this little boy to the mix. A single found by the Watertown ACO....he's very emaciated and dehydrated. He's doing well though and barring any permanant damage already done to his sytsem, he should improve well.

And last but not least by any means, we have our original gang of trouble makers. The Fast Five have graduated to a big crate and love it! They are even using their litter box for the most part like good little babies.

Mason and Cinder are still in with the little runty crew of three (Garfield et al) and get cuter by the day. The little ones are very slow developing....maybe even a little runty, but doing well.

I'll finally shut up and leave you with the most adorable shot of Cinder....Oh just too darn cute!!! Laurie and I have to get ready for a fundraiser for our friends at the Billerica Cat Care Coalition that have always been very helpful and supportive of us!

And then there were 19......

We have added 9 new kids to the gang here. First a call from Leominster for 5 orphaned kits. A kind woman and man came across a drunk man carrying around these 5 cuties in a shoebox. Luckily they realized it was not a good situation for the little ones and they intervened...taking the babies and bringing them to me. We have no idea the history behind them, but aside from a possible skin infection, 4 boys and 1 girl are doing great and eating like little piggies!

Shortly after those 5 came in, Brian at the Animal Rescue League put me in touch with a wonderful family in Dighton who had a raccoon removed from the barn, not realizing there might be babies involved. Lucky for the babies, one was a real loud mouth, alerting the family to the situation. A search up in the loft uncovered 3 babies, who were brought here safe and sound. Oops....but wait! Just to be sure, another thorough search of the loft was done the next day and surprise! A fourth baby was discovered. Many thanks to the family that went above and beyond to get the babies here, making 2 long trips and dealing with a flat tire on top of it! All 4 girls are doing great...even the last girl who was in the roughest shape! I'll get pics of them posted for you shortly!

Then we have the original gang of 10. Mason and Cinder are growing quickly and  are doing great with the 3 tiny babies, now named Garfield, Odie and Nermal! Despite the size difference they are wonderful combined together. They are all in the same room with the Fast Five, and it's like a free for all at feeding time when the FF are done and allowed to roam about the room and play while I feed the younger ones! As you can see, no one has a problem when one of the larger FF drops in for a visit with the smaller kids to say Hi!

The Fast Five are at that stage where they are holy terrors and get into EVERYTHING! It's no holds barred while they run about the room leaving nothing but mayhem in their wake, with me right behind trying to prevent them from getting into too much trouble! But they sure are cute so you're really going to enjoy these!!!