But anyways, here you go: The early days, when we were discovering a baby raccoon's love of sucking on things at right about the same time they were.
RIP Luke. We miss you.
-WildSide
4/10/14
Throw Back Thursday
Here is a compilation of videos I took in our first week with Luke and Leia. We didn't really know what we were doing back then. We are a lot better at raising babies this time around. Notice that we didn't even have Luke and Leia's names picked out in the first video. Clyde? Ugh, what were we thinking?
But anyways, here you go: The early days, when we were discovering a baby raccoon's love of sucking on things at right about the same time they were.
RIP Luke. We miss you.
-WildSide
But anyways, here you go: The early days, when we were discovering a baby raccoon's love of sucking on things at right about the same time they were.
RIP Luke. We miss you.
-WildSide
Surprise!
This text conversation happened yesterday:
That's right, WildWomen and I are new parents! We got two new babies yesterday. Meet Han and Chewbacca:
Aren't they adorable?! They were only 4 days old at the max when we got them. Their eyes are still closed and their umbilical cords are still attached! (I know, gross). They look so much a like that we had to paint Han's fingernails blue so that we can tell them apart.
These guys were found in an old lady's attic, and now we have them so Leia doesn't have to grow up alone. That will help her to stay the wild raccoon that she is, so someday she can return to the great outdoors and be free.
We are one day in and it turns out that raising 3 baby raccoons is a lot of work! But WildWoman and I were talking about it today, and we decided it was totally worth it. It's an exciting adventure, and we love these little guys.
...So yeah, pray our apartment manager never finds us out!
-WildSide
4/9/14
Milk Mustache!
Leia is pretty enthusiastic about food. She gets so excited while eating that she usually ends up knocking the syringe away. Sorry the pictures are fuzzy, but I think they adequately portray the adventures of feeding time.
-WildSide
4/3/14
Going on two weeks
I estimate Leia is about two weeks old right about now. Which means that in the next week, her eyes should open. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!
And even though we've been her mothers for about a week and a half, the novelty still hasn't worn off. The amount of pictures we take when she falls asleep in our hands is, well, on the side of ridiculous. Here's just a few.
And even though we've been her mothers for about a week and a half, the novelty still hasn't worn off. The amount of pictures we take when she falls asleep in our hands is, well, on the side of ridiculous. Here's just a few.
-WildWoman
Poosplosion
Leia is a bit overzealous in the back-end department. And by a bit overzealous I mean she is a pootastic poosplosioner. Poo everywhere. Poo on the carpet, on my pants, on her tail, on her head. This resulted in her first ever kitchen sink bath. And second, and third. And a lot of laundry to do. The life of a raccoon mother is...interesting to say the least. And the resemblance to real motherhood is uncanny.
-WildWoman
3/30/14
Hard things happen.
So we (the WildSide and I) have done our best, but our baby Luke has passed away. It's a little dreary (and a lot quieter) without him around.
Luke came to us at about 5 days old with a head trauma having fallen at least 8ft from the roof of our parking garage onto the cement stairs below. He most likely landed on his head, since when he came to us he was bleeding extensively through his nose. I didn't really expect him to survive the night, let alone for the week that he was with us. We loved him well!
I get a lot of questions about Leia now. Does she miss him? Will she be releasable? The answer to the first question is honestly, at this point, no. She hasn't even opened her eyes yet, and she's an infant. Although raccoons are extremely smart, she is still an infant and all her resources are allocated to growth and development, not emotional attachment to her competition for food. The WildSide and I still do our best to hold her as often as possible so she still has that warmth and feel of something breathing next to her. We are also on the lookout for any other orphaned raccoons that come our way. When Leia grows older, she will become playful and start to imprint on whomever she is with--in this case, the WildSide and I. With another raccoon, she will imprint on them instead, and reintroduction into the wild will be much easier for her. She has so much hope!
-WildWoman
Luke came to us at about 5 days old with a head trauma having fallen at least 8ft from the roof of our parking garage onto the cement stairs below. He most likely landed on his head, since when he came to us he was bleeding extensively through his nose. I didn't really expect him to survive the night, let alone for the week that he was with us. We loved him well!
I get a lot of questions about Leia now. Does she miss him? Will she be releasable? The answer to the first question is honestly, at this point, no. She hasn't even opened her eyes yet, and she's an infant. Although raccoons are extremely smart, she is still an infant and all her resources are allocated to growth and development, not emotional attachment to her competition for food. The WildSide and I still do our best to hold her as often as possible so she still has that warmth and feel of something breathing next to her. We are also on the lookout for any other orphaned raccoons that come our way. When Leia grows older, she will become playful and start to imprint on whomever she is with--in this case, the WildSide and I. With another raccoon, she will imprint on them instead, and reintroduction into the wild will be much easier for her. She has so much hope!
-WildWoman
3/28/14
3/27/14
I keep hearing things
When I am stuck at work, I keep hearing our baby raccoons everywhere. I think WildWoman has been having the same experiences. Like, a girl was just clicking her pen, and I thought it was Luke getting hungry again. And it made me kind of anxious.
...Oh my gosh, I'm going to be one of those crazy, obsessive mothers, aren't I?
-WildSide
...Oh my gosh, I'm going to be one of those crazy, obsessive mothers, aren't I?
-WildSide
Lies and Deceit
We needed bottles for our baby raccoons to suck on, so we went to PetSmart:
Wild Woman: Excuse me, where are your kitten nursing bottles?
Worker: Oh, right this way. Follow me.
(Then making conversation while walking) So, you have a kitten?
Wild Woman: Uh...(long awkward pause) Yup! Two of them!
(Me: snicker, snicker)
It's a good thing we are so sneaky and clever when it comes to scouting out supplies for something as sketchy as this:
Wild Woman: Excuse me, where are your kitten nursing bottles?
Worker: Oh, right this way. Follow me.
(Then making conversation while walking) So, you have a kitten?
Wild Woman: Uh...(long awkward pause) Yup! Two of them!
(Me: snicker, snicker)
It's a good thing we are so sneaky and clever when it comes to scouting out supplies for something as sketchy as this:
- The Wild Side(kick)
3/26/14
Motherhood
So basically, suckling needs are met while momma still gets her hands to do her homework.
-WildWoman
3/25/14
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