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!

Crazy update to a crazy week!!

Wow...where to begin! Well Phillip and Michelle are out of quarantine and in with the younger coon pile of 7...making an even bigger pile of 9 now!

Thursday got a baby from the MSPCA. Mom was hit by a car and killed and only 1 of the 3 kits she had were caught. Hungry and covered in sticky burrs, Bramble joined the crew. Lost a little sleep thinking of the other 2 left out there, but at least one was safe!

My neighbor also called early that morning. A coon was trying to get into his dog pen and didn't seem right since the dog was still in there! It finally went about 100 feet up a tree nearby so all we could do was wait it out.

Friday afternoon as I'm heading home from work my neighbor calls me....the coonie is only about 8ft up in the tree now. I stop over and my heart sinks...it looks like Tosser! Something is definitely wrong with him. I manage to easily capture him and don't notice any obvious wounds or injuries. So now I am mentally prepared to have Laurie euthanize him...I figure rabies or distemper. I'm a wreck. I settle him into a carrier then head out with Lisa to check on a baby coon found in a woman's back yard. Mom had been around the night before, as well as another baby.....but just this little guy is left there now. He's in great shape so we pop him some fluids and put him in the reuniting box to give mom a chance to fetch him one more night.......

Back to Tosser. Lisa and I bring him in to the animal hospital. After further checking, it looks like his whiskers are singed. I do live near some power lines...so now it's possible he may have been electrocuted to some extent somehow. It's a possibility and he's not in terrible shape....he's comfortable, eating and drinking and for now I'll just monitor him and hope he improves. It's either that or he will decline in health if rabies or distemper are at work. Either way, he's in good hands and I'll be able to help him one way or the other. My fingers are crossed!!!!!!!

Saturday brought a beautiful weekend. Momma coon came back for her kit...only an empty box left there! Also a few visitors to the front yard. My ground hog friend who I haven't seen yet finally made an appearance! And the snappers are out in full force filling my front lawn with eggs!!

Almost looks like an elephant from behind when the get up and walk!
A day trip for the baby geese.....

And a much needed new release pen for the squirrels has been added to the collection. The other 2 are already full of 18 squirrels and there are more to come over and go out! Thanks Vinny for getting it done so quick....great cage!!

Saturday also brought another call from the MSPCA.....another of Bramble's litter mates was found! She was not quite as happy as Bramble to be found! Thorny is a fitting name...growling and nipping she joined her sister.

The older boys ...Gerry and the crew....are officially weaned now and loving life in the small outdoor section of the pen! LL gave me a little scare getting sick for a couple days...but the parvo test was negative and it turned out to just be a tummy bug. A day of nothing to eat and only sub q fluids helped settle it down and he's pigging out with the rest of them now.

Sunday afternoon brought a happy ending for the last little kit lost when his mother was killed. Very skinny and dehydrated, he finally made his way here to join his sisters. Whew!! It was a very vocal reunion for them all and Thistle is doing great now. Even Thorny is starting to warm up a little....instead of cowering in the back of the cage and growling when I try to get her out for feeding time, she actually follows her siblings into my lap to get her bottle! Major progress. Eventually she'll stop growling and nipping at the hand that feeds her! LOL

22 baby coons...where the hell am I going to put them all!

And finally....the 6 squirrels I got a while back were relased and loving it!

Ringer!

My Ringer girl is making appearances again....popping in early evenings before the gang. For those who don't remember her, she's one of my girls from my 2006 release and she's doing great! Every spring she starts showing up in the afternoons when she has kits and eventually brings them around too when they are old enough. I'm happy to say that even after all these years, and after not seeing her all winter, she is still always happy to see mom and say Hi when our paths cross!

The baby population here has exploded in the last couple days so when I have a chance I'll get to updating on 6 squirrels and many new raccoons!

No more room at the Raccoon Inn!

A new crop of arrivals over the past couple of weeks have completely filled me up! Even if I had the time for more, I definitely don't have the room! I'm at 21 now....no time for anything anymore so this will be short but sweet!

These are the latest 2. Yet to be named, the female is the older bigger one and a younger boy. They were together prior to arriving here so I am not going to separate them now and they will spend quarantine together. Don't let her cute looks fool ya....she is a bitch!! Very difficult to handle right now and she gets too stressed if I try. Luckily she readily laps her formula out of a bowl and is very neat about it too I might add! He's not much better...growls at me and tries to bite me, but not until AFTER he eagerly runs into my lap & sucks down a bottle of formula! It's when I got to put him back that he's a grouch about it!

These 4 will be out of quarantine in a couple of days. Mom stopped showing up for a couple of days and the people enjoying their presence in the backyard became concerned for their safety. But the babies were high up in a hollow tree den. We were going to attempt to get a friend to go up there to rescue the babies the next day but there was no need! All were found huddled at the bottom of the tree in the morning and I easily scooped them up.

3 boys and a girl, they are Goldie, Grizzly, Kodiak and Panda-Goldie locks and the 3 bears!

3 more-2 found huddled in a driveway. We attempted reuniting that night but they were still there the next morning.....joined by another sibling at a nearby tree. 2 boys and a girl, yet to be named....but very cute!

The rest of the gang continues to do well. River's test showed she is no longer shedding the parvo virus so she will be able to join some of the others and finally have playmates. She is weaned as well as Baloo the monster sized coon and Scootch....weather they like it or not! With 18 others on bottles anything to make it easier helps!

A lap full o' coons!

The original gang of 8 is getting older and doing great. They are healthy and escaped the wrath of parvo! They have all gotten vaccinated and are just the cutest things!

The 6 older kids...Razz, Cat, Diesel, Dozer, Tank & Mack enjoy playtime in mom's lap after eating.

Razz is the oldest and the first one attempting to play with everyone and everything....


The 2 younger kids have their eyes open too....
Peanut teases the big kids while waiting for his bottle.

Cinnamon his sister....very cute!

And each of the big kids.....
Diesel

Mack

Cat-the only girl in out of the 6 older kids.

Razz

Dozer

Tank

The new gang.

Don't let the picture fool you! There are 5 cute little bodies all snuggled up in there. They look peaceful and calm at first......

....but reach in to get the first one to feed and it's all over!

You end up with 5 screaming hungry babies that all want to eat NOW!!!!!!

This gang was left in a cardboard box in someones yard then brought to me via the Animal Rescue League once again. Now hydrated, warm and eating formula from their bottles....they are screaming, eating, pooping machines!!! The machines are: 4 boys-Diesel, Dozer, Tank & Mack and 1 girl-Cat (as in Bobcat).

They are about 3 weeks old-most of their eyes are starting to crack open, and the perfect size to put Razz with once quarantine is over! He won't be alone for long.

Razz, Peanut and Cinnamon in the meantime continue to grow like weeds! The grand total is now 8 new kids.

Fun with tires & a new overwinter!

Well here's a new one on me! This little guy (or girl?? not sure at this point!) was found in some one's house and needed a place to spend the winter. A cool place. So with a joint effort by many, we have him safe and sound. Fran had the knowledge, Mary got a cozy "house" ready for him, Laurie got him and brought him over, and I have the cold but not freezing environment for him...... So in my garage he resides! I'll be doing a lot of reading up on bats now, and hopefully all will go well and we can reunite him with his colony in the spring!

After learning a few new tricks at the NY conference, Laurie mastered the art of tire tunnels! She's got a great one hanging in her pen and she came over and gave me a lesson as we put one together for the downtown pen.

I hope to eventually have it hanging from the top of the cage...but we're going to need a couple more strong shoulders to help lift it up there so I can secure it! So for now it is suspended just off the ground....but still able to be enjoyed by the coonies. That is IF they ever come out of their den boxes again! We got snow shortly after this and the 6 older boys were NOT thrilled.

Mo, Toto and Quinny wouldn't even leave the den box, and the twins and Rollo finally forced themselves to rush through the snow onto the feeding platform....because they are the biggest pigs after all! haha Stinky was shivering the whole time though and obviously not happy about it!

I have a feeling those den boxes are going to be a mess come spring time! Ugghhh!

The family portrait and more!

Well here is mom and her new family! 4 new kits to add to the cuteness factor out back!

Can you guess what time it is???? If you guessed FEEDING TIME you got it!

Little Quinny is getting big....and he looks a LOT like Toto!

Momo being silly as usual!

Toto likes to hoard the food by planting himself right in the middle of it!


Momo gettin' some mommy time!

Sweetpea...one of the older girls, strikes a pose.

Poor Rollo still has a silly looking ear thanks to his hematoma. It doesn't seem to faze him at all anymore.


And just some plain old silliness from the gang......Toto.....

........Stinky.......

........Nosey........

....Quinny.....

.....one of the twins, I can't remember which....

......Momo......

.....and finally Toto!

Here you can see how big Quinny is getting! He's about 8lbs. now. Toto and Rollo are about 10lbs. and the rest of the boys are about 12lbs. now

A quick visit out back turned up sisters Silly and Red, and they are still getting along very well together! Walking right up to each other and grooming one another. Feisty was also out with Siren. They appear to be hanging out together as well. This time the skittish Siren didn't panic and run. Instead she looked to Feisty and he often turned to her and reassured her in between cautiously taking snacks from me!