Yes, I met a "rehabber", a person that takes in orphaned or injured animals and or mammals and cares for them until they can be released back into the wild or an appropriate home is found.
You knew it was only a matter of time before I did a post like this didn't you?
Steve calls me from work at about 8:15 Tuesday morning, "You have to come see this, a baby raccoon is here at the shop following us around."
Me, "I'm about to leave the house, I'll call you when I'm at the corner so you can be at the shop when I get there" I'm thinking, ohhh there's going to be some great photo ops there!
Steve works at Bishops Glen, a "retirement comunity", taking care of the maintenance in the many different buildings there with a few other men.
The little raccoon took a liking to all the guys on the crew. As I pulled up he was following one of the guys around like a little puppy. Just a tiny little guy about the size of a 8lb cat.
They were trying to catch the critter in a box, apparently he is scaring the residents. Steve starts to walk toward him with the box and the little guy runs towards a fence. Steve turns to walk away, next thing I know the little guy is literally following right at Steve's heels. As I turn to get my camera I hear a noise, I turn and the box is over the coon. "sigh" A missed shot. The guys know this small creature will get out of this box fast, they slipped a piece of cardboard under the box and placed that box in a larger box, tape it, then went hunting for a cage.
Cage being found and the little guy placed inside the question now is what to do with him?
Isn't he cute? Honestly I want to bring him home and snuggle with him, he seems scared and lonely.
I remember seeing a mammal rescue website when I rescued that small bird earlier this summer so I volunteered to take him with me to work.
My major concern, cute as he was, is that this is a wild animal and this cage is very old, will it hold him? What if he were to get loose while I'm driving? Oh that could get ugly!
Well, he talked to me the whole way to Daytona, he was kind of upset and when I talked back to him it seemed to sooth him a bit. He didn't like that orange shag carpet on the floor of his cage, but hey who would blame him?
We arrive at the office and I bring him inside, tell my little traveler to make himself comfortable, my agent thinks I'm nuts. (He was also working floor the day I found the small bird) I get on the computer and start searching for this rescue organization.
Once again, it was a challenge to find the site. I tried different search words and phrases, no luck.
"Try what you tried when you were searching for the bird lady" I thought to myself. BINGO! There's the site! (Ya think I would have saved it back in May, Right? You don't know me that well do you?)
Wildlife Rehabilitation of Daytona!
These guys will take in any lost or injured mammal, give it the care it needs and then release it if that is possible back into the wild.
What They Do They will nurture orphans, tend to the sick, provide them with vet assistance, and give them a permanent home if so required.
I called right away and got a sweet lady's voice on the other end, I told her I had a baby racoon, she thought I was going to say I had a baby squirrel as it is "squirrel season" here in the Daytona Area.
She asked if he was in a cage and could she keep him in the cage until later that afternoon, can I bring him over?
By the way she is located at ..
933 Beville Rd. Suite 102JSouth Daytona
in Beville Rd Business Park
Right down the road from me! (this I remembered from May also, another reason to volunteer to take the small creature)
I dropped him off with her, at her place of business. We (the raccoon and I) had bonded, Jackie the rehabber told me this. Jackie told me that young raccoons bond quickly with people after losing their moms and she thinks thats why she was following Steve and the other guys around like he was. She also noticed he bonded with me very quickly too. Had I not had 4 cats at home, he would be a new family member!
There was a lot of eye contact with him and I, and something very sweet about that look in his little eyes. I do miss him but Jackie told me he is doing fine with his new raccoon family. She'll keep him about 2 months then let him out into the wild with a group of other raccoons.
Wildlife Rehabilitation of Daytona is constantly on the lookout for donations of:
Dry dog food |
Dry cat food |
Canned cat food |
Paper Towels |
Nuts, unsalted |
T-shirts, baby blankets, towels |
Bleach, laundry detergent |
Hav-a-hart or humane animal traps |
Insulin syringes & Surplus Medical supplies |
Tax-deductible contributions |
You can drop off the donations at the address I provided above. If you need to contact Jackie you can call her at either 386-235-3751 or 767-2500, the 2nd number worked for me on Tuesday.
Century 21 Sundance consists of three Quality Service Award Winning offices owned and operated by RE Broker Nancy Dance. Each office has a Broker/Manager on hand to assist Agents in any way needed.
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Lysa, what a great story. Too bad I missed your buddy that morning, I guess I was meeting a customer or something. Wonderful info on the shelter, and it's just right down the road from our office. great stuff. should be featured in localism.
I really wish I was in the office that day! I guess everyone in town knows who to call when there is a wild animal on the loose!
Hi Anna, I was so hoping you were going to come in early that day. He was so adorable! I would love to get a Localism Feature!
Midori, I wish you were here then too! If they didn't they know who to call now!
I loved this, Lysa! One of my favorite childhood books was "Frosty, A Raccoon to Remember", a true story of a park ranger who took in an orphaned baby raccoon. I need to try to find that book for my kids. He got into all kinds of trouble, including sitting in the toilet and flushing it -- all day long -- just to spin in the water. She was glad he didn't discover how to flush until he was big enough not to go down the drain. :o)
Sarah, I knew you would! I've never heard of that story, how cute sitting in the toilet flushing to spin! Maybe it's a good thing I didn't keep the little orphan!
Lysa -- Good job!
Aziz! Thanks my friend!
Lysa: Why does this not surprise me? ;-)
Jay
Lysa, you spammer you. =) I LOVED this! This little guy is awfully cute! I think it's funny that you didn't save the name of the organization back in May. I'm the same way. One day I'm ultra organized the next I can't find my car keys. LOL I'm so glad you were there for this adorable 'coon. He can consider himself lucky. =)
Hi Lysa, He is a cutie. I LOVE raccoons. You know TLW and I had about 20 of them for 6 years. The mommies used to bring their babies over to us to play with. They really are the cutest little critters. Did you know they are related to dogs? I found that strange as I find them to be more cat like.
View raccoon show
Lysa, I would have wanted to keep him as well....but know you can't keep a wild animal. Still, he (or she) is adorable. We have several places that will come to help capture a baby animal or one who has been hurt but in the winter I came across kittens outside in the freezing cold and couldn't find anyone to go get them. A friend and I got as many as we could but they left the others......glad that this raccoon has another chance.
Lysa...how cute! I would have been tempted to keep him too!
Jay! LOL! You know me so well!
Maggie, I knew you would love this! You're right he is lucky, had animal control been brought in the little would have probably been put down.
BB, I love that show and those photos. You are right, they do seem to be more cat like (and love cat food) but their facial expressions remind me of dogs.
Carole. You're so right, wild animals belong in the wild unless for some reason they can't go back into the wild. My kitties are rescues as well... Animals always deserve a 2nd chance!
Joan, He was so sweet! You should have seen him following Steve, I wish I had a photo!
Lysa, This is a beautiful and touching story....I'm so glad the little guy had you come into his world.
I once raised an abandoned raccoon whose mother had been shot. He was only a few days old when I got him and had to be bottle fed for a long time just like a baby (and this meant at all hours of the night). He was a wonderful member of the family and grew up to be very fat and friendly and mischievous . His favourite foods were baby pablum and grapes. Your post brought back such wonderful memories of him.
Thanks for having such a big and caring heart...you're magnificent !
Jo
My cousin is heavily involved with the humane league over in Palm Coast. I don't think they take raccoons, though.
Hi Jo! I've bottle fed new born kittens before, yep just like human babies, they have to fed every couple hours. I'm glad I brought back some good memories :) Thanks for the compliment, but I'm not magificent, I'm just me :)
Jeff, So you have family this way? That's neat your cousin is involved, not sure if they take raccoons or not there, and that was way out of my way, but I do spend some time in Flagler!
Ann. I kind of got that "rescue" vibe from you, I think we have more in common then we realize!
Sure - my parents live in Palm Coast since 1990. I've been down a few times.
Well Jeff, If you and the family come back you'll have to stop by and visit Midori and me at our office!
Wonderful! I volunteer at the WCC in Fort Lauderdale and have been meaning to blog about it. Thanks for sharing!
Tchaka, Thanks!! Oh please blog about it! Get it out to the public!
I love how you are always concerned with animals well being. Even though this raccoon did scare the you know what out of me that morning when you had him in the office.
Lori, that was a riot when the little guy scared you! I sure miss him!
Sarahs photos on her blog brought me here. I just got done with animal rescue and release n my own back yard. 2 possums, 1 raccoon. I just love critters and safely had them moved to somewhere that wasn't as dangerous.
Chris, I remember your stories of your childhood and the cow in the living room :) I would have brought this little guy home if I didn't have my kitties and knew how to take care of him correctly. Keep up the good work girl!