A Raccoon Tale: The Sequel
In early April I wrote about three baby raccoons being retrieved by Mama raccoon from our attic.
On Thursday it became apparent that one had been left behind. Lord knows what he was eating up there for the past month and a half. Raccoons generally eat berries, fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables. They will also eat insects, eggs, poultry, rats, squirrels, small livestock, birds, fish, snakes, crawfish, worms, frogs and mollusks. Finally they will eat pet food, carrion and human garbage. In analyzing that long list, the thought that we have that many bugs, worms and potentially rats in the attic is quite disturbing. But somehow the baby raccoon had survived without his Mama, without being able to get out and without us feeding him...?
Around dinner time we heard the now familiar chirping of a baby raccoon in the vent right above the front door. I took the end of the hammer and forcibly removed the vent. My baby daughter then saw him poke out his little fuzzy head. We put tuna in a tupperware container and put it into the vent. All we saw next was a little hand grab the tuna as if starving and wolf it down. We positioned a board from the vent to the ground and waited. Nothing more happened for the next few hours. As dusk fell, the raccoon's chirping became louder and his furry little head appeared again. We went to sleep before he ventured down.
The next morning and all of Friday, there was no noise from the vent. Hopefully the little guy made his way down the board and reconnected with his Mama and siblings. She has her den somewhere in the ravine in back of our home so she isn't far away. We'll leave the vent open for a few days to make sure.
