The new kid.

Give a big welcome to Chicken Little here. She was brought to me Wednesday. (At least I think it is a she! She's not very handle-able right now so I haven't gotten a good look yet.) She was found with a dead raccoon that had been hit by a car in the road. Lucky for her she was found by a kind benefactor that took her in and cared for her for a couple weeks before tracking us down. She is understandably a little freaked out right now, having lost her real mom then the human family she grew to know. Now she's here with a total stranger and nothing is familiar! But not to worry. I kept her bed in with her and she is now adjacent to the overwinters so she can get to know them a little better before getting put right in there with them. She will have lots of fun friends in no time and this will all be a memory for her.

She's eating great and exploring her pen and I think this adorable little one will fit in just fine here.

Dumpster diving & other raccoon tales.

Laurie and I went out yesterday to check on what was possibly a sick raccoon that had been in a dumpster for 2 days. We stuck our heads in one very stinky dumpster to see a ball of fur curled up in one corner. A little poke with the net and a very beautiful head popped up to look at us. It's face was clear and alert. Whew! So seeing as Laurie was heading to work right after, I began to mentally prepare myself to jump in one nasty pile of garbage! Luckily though, we were able to manipulate the little fella with the net close enough to actually scoop him into it without climbing in. Once out of the dumpster it was very apparent he was very full of energy and uninjured. Laurie popped some sub q fluids in him and we opened the net and watched one very relieved raccoon bounce happily into the woods! Love the warm fuzzy feelings of a happy ending!

Later that day I headed out to take care of the gang and River and her kids were coming in for a visit. I put some food out there and ran back to the house to get my camera. I came back just in time to find one impatient girl raiding the shed! Bagged!! She made a less than graceful attempt to run out of there as I stood there laughing my ass off!

 Once I figured out it was the animal crackers she was after, I offered up the coveted snack as an apology for laughing at her embarrassing predicament. Surprisingly she didn't even hesitate to come get it right from my hand! They are used to me, but not usually willing to take things right from my hand. Apology accepted I guess.  :)

Amazon is River's #1....she's always with mom and is the first to follow her lead.

 The rest were content to let me throw the treats to them instead. They have grown into big, gorgeous raccoons! Momma is doing a great job.

 One of the rare shots of Howell on the left here. He's the shyest of them.

 The three girls, Nile, Amazon and Tigris with mom River on the right. Howell is actually there, he's just hidden behind mom!

 Nile (below) is a beauty as well. Similar looking to Amazon, but with more browns in her mask. Tigris is the shyest girl and reminds me of Stoney actually...a little bit of an attitude when they were still in the pen.

 As far as the gang still here. The little kids are growing fast. Houdini looks great and his injuries and feet are all healed up.

 Petey is a happy camper as well!

 Spencer is a very handsome boy.

 Pinner is big and beautiful and a brat at times!

 Along with Laurie's 5, this gang of 9 are adorable as hell! Sorry but of all the pics I took in there, these are the only ones that came out!! The camera doesn't always focus these days. May have to bite the bullet soon.. I intend to hold out as long as possible, but can't really have a cute blog full of adorable raccoons without the pictures, can I?

An interesting ride home.

So I'm at work yesterday and via the power of Twitter, another baby coon in need of help that I can't say no to....because of course now I know about it and won't sleep unless I know it's OK. So the ARL rescued him then met up with me when I got out of work and delivered the sweetest little guy! I'm thinking a little too sweet for what should be a wild coonie this age! Should have been at least a little huffing and spitting as we hovered over the box, but what we got instead was a more than eager bundle of fur hopping into my arms and loving it!

Anyway, I'm driving home when something moving at my feet scares the crap out of me! My little friend managed to get out of the cardboard carrier and was happily exploring under my feet...and the break and gas pedals! I managed to pull him out of there without driving off the road and he quite happily spent the rest of the ride co-piloting from my center console!

It's a miracle we even made it home between him under my feet and my laughing so hard, and of course I just HAD to call Laurie and tell her! It's pretty obvious my driving was the last thing I was paying attention too! Shame on me!

So my little escape artist is appropriately named Houdini. The box (one of those cardboard carriers)was secure in the back seat when I got home. I can only guess if it rolled on it's side, the bottom may have gaped open just enough to provide an escape?

He is doing fine and eating solids so easy enough to add to the mix. Although the bottom of his back feet are injured. The sensitive outer layer of skin peeled off somehow. Most of one foot is skinned off and just a little of the other. May have skinned it off sliding down a tree or something.....not a major injury, but a very ouchy one! Doesn't seem to phase him too much though....walks a little funny, but does walk and climb his cage.

On other matters....The Boat Babies are back and bigger than ever. Petey has also joined the crew. I had him for a night. He was extremely emaciated and needed round the clock critical care that I just didn't have time for, so JoAnn took him on and what an incredible job she did...no surprise! He survived thanks to her care and has now become best buds with Spencer and Pinner. I'll have pics of them all soon!

The big boys are having a blast!

At last...all the big boys have recovered from whatever the heck was making them ill! They are eating formula and puppy chow out of bowls and Rocco has FINALLY got some playmates! Yeehaaa! He is thrilled beyond words!

Even better....they have moved into the outdoor pen! It was total excitement as they raced from the carrier...

...OK....not "total" excitement for all of them! LOL Brim was a little hesitant when it came to stepping out onto those dirty looking lumpy things!

But eventually he made his way out and was climbing the branches like a monkey in no time!

Soldier the Velcro coon.

Spitfire...like an old pro at this.

Brim giving his best pose.

Chowing down.

Sammy gives us a close up.

Rocco and heights were not the best of  friends to begin with......

....while the rest of the boys were climbing all over!

...on top and under the branches.

Rocco still holding on for dear life! LOL

This is the BEST!

Eventually Rocco got over his "height issue" and has no problem going up and down as necessary now.

In the process of cleaning the pen and checking things out in the woods I ran into Red! I didn't realize it was her at first. I thought it was Lexi but she's usually too shy to just come running over to me! It didn't take long to realize who it was when she made it very clear I was to give her some attention....NOW please! Hehe. I obliged her with a good scratching all over and set her up with a pile of treats. She looks great and has babies out there somewhere! It was great to see her...it's been a while!

Ringer and Belle along with Scrappy and Gibby are pretty much nightly regulars when I go out there to feed and clean everyone. Gibby goes above and beyond, escorting me on my rounds, testing all the food buckets and treats to make sure everything is top quality, and annoying everyone in the pens trying to be-friend them all. He just can't seem to understand why these grown coonies keep snarling at him and chasing him when he's just trying to say Hi! Then one scares the crap out of him and he comes running to me and jumps into my arms. "Well if ya stopped annoying them...." I keep telling him! Adult raccoons do not want to make friends with strange, annoying little boys!

Yet another illness has reared it's ugly head. Bama is not doing well at all. He was perfectly normal for an 8pm feeding, then the next feeding at 2am he has a seizure in my lap. He did take his bottle after the seizure, but has been lethargic and somewhat neurologic since. As of right now he is not eating and he has trouble walking normal. All he does when I open his cage is stumble into my lap and want to snuggle up there. For now he's on supportive care and getting sub q fluids but I fear the worst. No other symptoms with him and different from both other issues that have gone on with the rest of the gang.

One other new boy has made his way here. He's pretty emaciated (most likely a sibling to one Laurie got a week ago!)and I'm slowly trying to bring him back around. He's pretty bright and alert and taking a bottle now....I'm ever so slowly introducing calories back into his system. He's getting clinicare and fluids for now in small amounts to jump start his system and if he does well on that I will eventually be able to work in regular formula. I can only hope there was no irreversible damage done if any of his organs had begun to shut down already. Keep your fingers crossed for the little guy and Bama too. :(

A very quick update....

OK...what started as an apparent leg injury on Porcelain appears to actually be Mycoplasma Arthritis. Her sister Pebbles and Soldier also appear to have it as it is contagious.

In a nutshell:

Mycoplasma arthritis is characterized by painful swelling of the joints on the feet, wrists or arms, and reluctance to move due to pain. The infectious agent, which is a special type of bacteria, infects the bone at the growth plate, destroying the ability of the bone to elongate as the animal grows.It then blows out into the joint or soft tissues around the joint, where swelling is associated with accumulation of yellow pus in the tissues.Since the bone and joint have been severely damaged by the infection by the time that these signs are apparent, the prognosis for these animals is poor with respect to potential for release, even if treatment has some effect. This condition can be quite contagious within a rehabilitation facility.The source of the organism is not clear, but probably it is carried in the upper respiratory tract of coons.The organism enters the body through a wound, such as the gums at tooth eruption, or through respiratory tract.

So they are on Doxycycline now. Porcelain was the most affected and the use of her 2 affected legs is slowly improving. Pebbles was started when she showed signs and it appears to have stopped it's progression and Soldier, whose rear leg was slightly affected has pretty much regained normal use of his leg so I am hopeful for all of them....and will be keeping a close eye on the whole gang for any signs of lameness now! It's going to be a month of medication for all of them though! So far Lucky and Ducky remain just that, and no signs from Doc, Sis and Trooper who are all together with Porcelain and Pebbles. (knocking on wood now!)

Soldier is improving and no signs in Sammy, Brim and Spit, although Brim has refused to eat the last few meals so now I have to worry why! No other symptoms and no abnormal poop thus far, so I'm hoping for an upset tummy issue right now.

Rocco is doing great! I'll try to get pics of his stumpy little cuteness! He's like a big round tic with stumpy fat little legs sticking out.....very cute and was getting ready to join Soldier et al until strange illnesses started breaking out! So for now...he remains a loner for a little longer. Better safe than sorry!

The last little boy from the Animal Rescue League that 2 girls had brought home, and Springer, the girl found in the walls of a home, are both great and doing fine.

Then there is Spencer. A very cute 2 week old that literally dropped in on a tree house during a little slumber party out there! He's not injured.....I think he's lucky, the tree house broke his fall. After an unsuccessful attempt to re-unite him with a mom he has made his was safely here! Thanks to Julie and her daughter for taking such good care of him and getting him to me. He is doing great and eating like a little piggy!

And finally 3 more 4week-olds (the same size as Springer and the ARL boy). One was found orphaned this past weekend and the finder kept him until finally contacting Laurie. She got him settled and re hydrated for me until I could pick him up, and despite diarrhea from being fed regular milk for almost a week, he's none the worse for wear and is now enjoying a proper diet of raccoon formula! The other 2 are girls that fell from their tree....probably after mom disappeared & they got hungry enough to crawl out. A re-unite attempt was unsuccessful and Martha was kind enough to get them to me all the way from Gloucester yesterday. One girl is doing fine, the other has some head trauma from the fall. She had a bloody nose and mouth and swelling around her nose area. Hopefully that is the extent of the trauma. Her jaw is working fine and after being re hydrated and getting some Metacam for the pain and swelling, she is resting comfortably and the bleeding has stopped. It's a slow process getting her to take anything by mouth since her nose is all plugged up between the swelling and dried blood in there. As we all know when we have a cold, it's hard to breathe and eat at the same time! Right now it's just a "wait and see" game...with nothing apparently broken, it's a matter of controlling the swelling and letting her rest. I'm optimistic...she gets pretty annoyed when I wake her up to give her fluids! We'll see how much more eager she is once she starts getting full strength formula....it tastes a lot better!

I think that covers all the coons for now!

The cuteness is unbearable!

Well I am actually able to go inside River's pen without being mauled now. I won't be giving her hugs anytime soon, but we have reached an understanding. I do what I am told and bring food..... and I live! LOL

The babies are quite leery of me, but they follow mom's lead and come out for a little chow, followed by a little milk, and give me the chance to admire their total cuteness!

She is such a good mom and it is awesome to watch her interact with them! They are absolutely beautiful!

Gibby is great and was re-released Wednesday night. Hopefully he has learned his lesson and will try not to make friends with every strange raccoon he encounters?! Scrappy was out there last night to keep him company, as was Ringer....however I highly doubt Ringer was going to make him feel at home if he went anywhere near her!

Ringo has finally been spending his days away from home. Up until a few days ago he was always in the den box by day. LB was around and I think he finally egged him on to take the plunge and just go wild!

All the boys.

A lot of new raccoon activity these days! This past Sunday was pretty busy. Most of the day was spent working the heart worm clinic at Woburn Animal Hospital. But the wildlife doesn't stop for our busy schedules. While there, 2 little boys were brought in by Dick and his lovely wife. The boys were in the middle of the lawn, and after giving mom a night to fetch them and fending off opportunistic foxes, it was best to just get them to us. They weren't in terribly bad shape, but one was a little "off". Laurie ended up taking them home and both are doing well and eating great, however one does have a noticeable head tilt. It could possibly be trauma from falling from their tree. There are no noticeable external injuries or wounds. She'll be keeping a good eye on him, and paying close attention during their quarantine in case it's due to illness. But otherwise, Tewky and Crooky are quite comfortable and well fed!

Around the same time 2 baby mice were brought in. I just had to look in the container...and get suckered! I have managed to keep the little buggers alive this long and I'll post pics of those cuties later!

Shortly after getting home from the clinic Rocco arrived. A very cute, pudgy singleton who managed to survive in the walls of a home after his mother was removed, until he was able to be rescued. Rocco is a very good eater and has the cutest little chirp when he's hungry! He's about the same age as the boys all ready here so once his quarantine is over he'll have plenty of friends to play with!

On to the next day.....2 more boys from a frat house in Waltham after mom was removed. Again in pretty good shape and they settled in and started eating well.

So here's where we stand....and with pics finally! Good luck keeping it all straight....I barely can! LOL

Soldier (left in both) and Sammy out of quarantine and best buds already, although not "buddy" enough for Sammy to share his bottle by any means! Soldier is bigger but didn't stand a chance getting Sammy off that nipple!

So does Sammy have the cutest, most adorable face ever!!

Then we have the not so evil twins now! Brimstone & Spitfire are officially happy with their new mom and no longer trying to kill me! They still get a little pissy......but nothing compared to their first few days here! They are quite cute little fellas now. They are out of quarantine today and will be joining Soldier and Sammy in a bigger cage! Woohoo!

The pair that came in after Sammy are doing great also. I haven't named these boys.They will be moving on to another rehabber and I don't want to get even more attached only to send them on (ha! too late!).The frat boys will also be going with them. He can only take a very limited number of coonies so it's a matter of juggling and rearranging them in good groups. These guys will be perfect and will get lots more attention with him...and that will in turn free up more room here for more of  the inevitable babies to come .....

So all 9 of the older babies are boys! I think my basement has become the new frat house! The 2 pair will be moving on Saturday and by then Brim, Spit, Sammy and Soldier will be in a big cage eagerly awaiting Rocco to join them after his quarantine.

We also had another horrible chain saw incident. These guys were not so heartless though. They immediately contacted John the ACO and were horrified by what happened. Mom managed to escape uninjured, a couple of the babies were killed instantly, 2 were totally uninjured, and 2 others injured....one requiring it's hand being sewn up and the other needed to be euthanized. John got them to Woburn Animal Hospital for treatment right away and I met him there with a reuniting box. Mom escaped uninjured so hopefully she would come back for the surviving 3. I'm thrilled to report she wasted no time collecting them once the coast was clear! Kudos to everyone who helped turn this tragedy into a happier ending than it could have been! Once again, thanks to Dr. Rice for  fixing up the little one!

Holy crap! Babies in October!

Laurie got a call this past week from a woman that found a baby raccoon in the middle of a very busy road. When Laurie called and told me we both figured "we'll see what it really is when it gets here". Many times things are not what people think they are....and all the coonie babies should be grown by now!

Well holy crap....doesn't it turn out to be a little baby raccoon! Very young and very much still on the bottle. Uhhhh...you're about 4 months late this season little fella!!

The next day the woman checked the area for more and sure enough there were 2 more at the entrance of a drainpipe, down in a ravine type median in the middle of a very busy main road in Woburn. She managed to grab one but the other went further into the drain pipe and disappeared. Laurie headed out there to try to help. Unable to reach the little one Laurie called in the Animal Rescue League to help. Fast forward a couple hours and soon she has the DPW, Woburn Police, Woburn Fire dept. and State police on scene, all trying to help find the little bugger! Unfortunately it was an unsuccessful endeavor.

Of course we can't stop thinking about the poor thing so we decide to head back that night to see if just maybe we could find it in the area....to no avail. But the drain pipe goes underground across the road and under a big building. There is a night guard there, and turns out a night shift on duty in the building....so we head in and ask if they know where in the building the pipe goes to and can it be checked? They call the maintenance guy who would love to help (actually they were all very helpful and kind.....but who wouldn't be with 2 adorable little baby raccoons there to melt their hearts! LOL) but even if they could manage to find the pipe, all they would be able to look at is straight down a manhole, not into the actual pipe. They also mentioned seeing a dead coon in the road within the past week also, no doubt the mom. So he promises to keep an eye out and we have to call it a night.....a very sleepless night thinking about one poor unfortunate baby that would probably die out there.

Fast forward again to the next day....I'm at work and get a text from Laurie.....the third baby was found and in route to her house! AMEN!!! I was ready to ball my eyes out I was so happy! A not so common happy ending thanks to the diligence of the 2 women who found the first baby and didn't give up, checking the area on their way to work, until the last one was found and safe!

2 girls and a boy now reunited and doing great despite a rough beginning and a crazy search and rescue! I had the pleasure of coon sitting for a couple of days and I have to tell ya....Laurie almost didn't get them back! No worries though...they'll be back here soon enough to join all the rest that will be spending the winter!

Scrappy and Dolci join us.

Another 2 stranded babies with no where to go have joined us. Found wandering down the middle of a road the finders attempted a couple nights to re-unite to no avail. I was unable to find anyone else to take them, so despite the overflow here already......say hello to Scrappy and Dolci! (So named by their rescuers)

Luckily they were already old enough to be eating on their own, as the finders had to hold on to them for a while before I could accommodate them. Brother and sister passed quarantine with flying colors and luckily are just the right size to fit in with Michelle, Pip and the rest of the gang. After a round of vaccines they finally got to move from my basement dungeon into the spacious outdoor pen with new friends, fresh air and trees to climb!

Everyone accepted the new kids very well but tiny little Pip still had to make sure they knew who was boss!

That's 13 now in the baby cage! They are going to outgrow it soon....very soon! The boys with attitude are ready to go as well as some of Laurie's. If we can get them out soon with an early release I may be able to juggle this gang over to the larger pen where there is a little more room. That will give Laurie's gang a little more room too...she's as overcrowded as I am! I need a contractor for a roommate so I can get him to build some more pens in exchange for room and board! LOL