Baby raccoons!
Just the other day, I told y’all about the raccoons in my neighbor’s attic crawl space. Well, we’ve been dealing with raccoons in our attics for a few years now. In late winter/early spring, female raccoons look for a safe place to den. “Safe”, meaning away from male raccoons who resent the babies because while mama nurses them, she won’t mate. So… quite simply, baby raccoons are not safe around a horny male and mama has to hide them.
That’s another reason I don’t like the idea of calling in animal control. The mom works so hard to keep her babies safe. That’s nature at it’s most basic and beautiful.
But, these raccoons are rather fertile and while I saw two adolescent raccoons last week, I have now seen Mom and three toddlers who are still so small, they’re unable to navigate their way home.
This morning, at 6, which is late for them to go home, I heard all this chattering from outside. What did I see? Mama raccoon on the roof across the alley, coaxing her little cubs up the drainpipe where they would then tightrope along the roof’s edge for a couple of yards, then wiggle down to the awning and into their dark and cozy den – which happens to be my neighbor’s attic crawl space.
The chattering was the mom telling them to hurry, I’m sure. It was also the babies grunts and whines as they tried and tried to do as mom said, only to fail and have her lead them down instead. Where they wound up is anyone’s guess. The babies are at that awkward stage – too big for her to carry home and too small to get home on their own.
I don’t want them in anyone’s attic and I’d rather they live away from our neighborhood but… I find myself now concerned about their safety and hoping they’ll soon get that upper body strength necessary to find their way back “home”.
For your viewing pleasure… this is what I watched from my window this morning:
That is so darn cute.
Aren’t they adorable?! When I first saw them struggling to get up the pipe, I thought they were cats. 🙂 I love the chirp one of them makes when s/he slips off the rail. Too cute.
Ahh, animals. They steal your heart without even trying. I loved the video.
They do steal your heart. Whatever they do is without malice. Simply survival. And yet, look how attentive the mom is. It’s a wonderful thing to watch.
They are so cute! I don’t think I could call animal control either.
The cute ones get really big, though, and that’s what worries the neighbors. I think, as long as they keep to themselves, just going about their day and night in this lovely family way, then they are not a nuisance to me. Of course, I can say that because they’re not in MY attic. :-/
I had no idea raccoons “chattered”. Such a great video to show us the real story of what happened to the babies. I’m an avid animal lover and feel sorry for all the animals who have nowhere “natural” to do their thing. We’ve encroached so much into their land and they’re trying so hard to adapt but it’s not always an HEA for a many of them. I fear for the babies trying to navigate in our world up and down drain pipes and attic crawl spaces.
Patti
You said it so well, Patti. They have nowhere ‘natural’ to go. I do worry about the stray cats and kittens out there as well. Especially since they’re forced to share the same limited space. I know nature deals with this but nature is not always kind.
Thanks for coming by!
Aw! How cute. I love baby animals. Thanks for sharing.
They’re almost huggable! 🙂 Almost.
Eww, forgive me but all I’m thinking of as I read this is: if one of those adorable and huggable critters get a hold of you…that’s hours in the ER and rabies shots!! lol! Here’s praying for them to grow healthy and strong and return…home 😉
lol. True, Tuere. BUT… 😉 …this family of raccoons is behaving exactly as they should. No daytime activity, no aggression, no stumbling about or foaming at the mouth. These guys are just trying to survive. I do worry they could be or become sick and that would be awful for all of us. Right now, though, they’re just doing what they’re supposed to do. To call animal control would mean the end of them because in the city, they won’t relocate raccoons. They’ll kill them. I don’t want to see that happen.
Almost all babies are cute. I’ll hold my decision on baby scorpions and a few other creatures. I agree with you and Patty that their natural homes have been taken away to make homes for us. And then we complain that they’re pests when all they’re doing is trying to survive. Is that so wrong?
Baby scorpions?! I don’t even want to think about them. Yikes. But to your question – rhetorical, I know but can’t resist… there’s nothing wrong with what these raccoons are doing. In fact, I’d have to say they’ve adapted much better than humans ever could. If our homes were bulldozed and we had to make do with what was left, we wouldn’t survive. At least I’m sure I wouldn’t.
That is nicest thing ever minus the scorpions. I wonder where they live.