Recently, two men were working in an abandoned home in Ambergris Caye, Belize, when they heard a growl. The surprised workers looked up and saw an old couch suddenly move. The men thought it might be a crocodile, since the home was in a wet and marshy area, so they called Aces Wildlife Rescue for help.
When rescuers arrived, they realized the noise wasn’t coming from a crocodile but someone much smaller.
“They don’t really sound alike, but if you’re somewhere where there might be crocs, and you’re nervous of crocs and then you hear a growl right behind you, you might just think [it’s a] croc!” an Aces representative told The Dodo.
It was a mother raccoon trying to protect her babies.
By the time rescuers approached the couch, the mother raccoon had fled — nervous about the humans. But she was nearby, waiting for the moment she could reunite with her babies.
Rescuers knew just what to do.
“We placed the babies in a tub and stood back to let mama come and retrieve all three and carry them off one by one,” Aces wrote in a Facebook post.
Carefully, the mother raccoon reached into the tub and moved each of her babies to a hidden location nearby.
“She was outside the window before we’d even placed the box down,” the Aces representative said. “I don’t know where she took [them], but she was back within 10 minutes to grab the next one and then the one after that.”
The Aces representative stressed the importance of calling for professional help when you see a raccoon or any other wild animal in need.
“Think about the animal’s needs, do right by the animal and call a professional,” the representative said.
Raccoons are very family-oriented animals, so it was especially rewarding that, in this case, the mama was able to be back with her babies.
“She was such a good mama,” Aces wrote. “Reuniting them with her is the best outcome one could hope for in this scenario.”
To help other animals like this raccoon family, make a donation to Aces Wildlife Rescue.
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