Captured! The final tail.

The blog "Raccoon Rivalry" of March 27th now has a conclusion. Depending on your point of view, it has ended happily or sadly. Mother raccoon never did leave the attic in search of her babies. The kits were taken away and are being bottle fed and raised by some animal loving rescuers. The neighbours heard no further sounds from the roof area of their house.

This morning, hubby announced that mini dog ran over to the neighbour's driveway to sniff at the smelly raccoon.

"What? There's a raccoon on his driveway?" I blurted.

"Yes. It's in a cage next to his car," he responded.

"How did it get there? Where did it come from? How did it get in a cage? I thought it was gone. I thought there were no more sounds. What happened?" I was full of questions.

"How would I know? Go ask them," hubby said. "It's in the driveway in a cage. It's stinky and it's snarly."

"Hmmmm," I muttered, "I'd be pretty stinky, snarly and unhappy if I had lost my babies and been trapped in an attic with no food or water for two weeks."

As always, I grabbed my camera and scooted out to take advantage of the photo opportunity.

"Awwww," I thought, as the mother raccoon lay trapped. Her face looked sad and her chin was hanging down...a depressed raccoon if ever I saw one.

                              

She didn't stink and she didn't snarl. She just stared straight ahead. I took her photo. She didn't flinch.

At that moment, I understood. It was the look of defeat. She was frightened and she didn't understand what she had done to deserve this.

No matter what we might think about some animals, the mess and the damage they may cause, living things are all alike. They just want to make a home for themselves and their families. As people and houses keep encroaching on their forested areas, this is becoming more and more challenging for wildlife.

Hopefully, this raccoon will find a new and better place to live and raise her future generations.