Mother raccoon and her five babies

[lizzie]

A week ago, I got a phone call from a homeowner, Sam, who had a mother raccoon and her baby kits living in his attic. When I talked to him, a trapper had come and caught the mother, but the babies were still stuck up in the attic. After being without their mom (and thus, without nourishment) for three days, I told him that we were on a race

Comments

[evilegg]

Amazing.

[lizzie]

I know! I keep watching the video over and over again because it STILL amazes me. :-)

[evilegg]

That raccoon is smarter then me.
It's the very definition of the difference between common sense and book smarts.

[lizzie]

lol I was so worried she wouldn't be able to find the hole in the portable fence. I put up the gold fence so hopefully the babies wouldn't escape. I was holding my breath the first time I saw her go back to the cage after I had let her out of it - I was so worried she wouldn't be able to get in. Apparently, that was a useless worry. lol

[anodracs]

What a good mama! Did all the babies survive the attic ordeal?

[lizzie]

Yep, all five babies survived and are doing well with their momma! The homeowner never found any more babies in the attic, so that's good - we got all five out of there!

[anodracs]

Oh, and I was looking at your LJ and I noticed you have had pre-exposure rabies shots. Did your insurance cover them? If not, how much did they cost?

[lizzie]

I got my pre-exposure shots about 10 years ago, so I'm not sure if my information is still valid. No, my insurance did not cover them - I had to pay out of pocket. Annoyingly, they WILL cover post-exposure (which is done in the emergency room, so it's super-expensive), but they wouldn't cover pre-exposure. The three-shot series cost me $350 at our county health department. It was well worth it, obviously, but it took a couple of months of planning and saving before I was able to get them.

[anodracs]

Aha, thanks for the info. I'd love to get a rabies series, but I've seen cost estimates anywhere from $2,000-7,000.

[lizzie]

Is that for the pre-exposure or post-exposure? You should be able to get your pre-exposure through your county health department, or team up with a vet's office who has some employees that need to get the series (some health departments won't order it because it's too expensive for them to just "have on hand"). Because the post-exposure is only given in emergency situations, it's carried in emergency rooms, thus, you have to go to the hospital a bunch of times in order to get the series there. I can understand why *that* would be $2k - $7k (because you have to pay for the ER room each time, etc.) but the pre-exposure should be a LOT cheaper than that. Maybe call your county health department and ask them? I know mine was nearly 10 years ago, but I've had rehabber friends get their shots more recently and the price hasn't gone up that much.

Please help

[ext_1410412]

Hey Lizzie, the names Rocky Raccoon.
I come from central Oregon. I was really hoping somehow I could get in contact with someone about Raccoon's. Iv been wanting one for quite sometime now. I know there quite a hassle in doors but I myself live out in the redwoods and I also have a place I could raise them if needed.
All I know is that i would do anything in my power to get one. Just need someone to point me in the next step. Who should I talk to what? should I be doing???

Re: Please help

[lizzie]

Call your state department of natural resources to determine whether it's legal to have a pet raccoon. If it is, then they might be able to give you some reputable sources of raccoon breeders. If it's not, then you're SOL.