I Need Help Now

A nest of baby racoons fell out of a tree in my yard! Two are dead but on is still alive. Its just a little thing, his eyes aren't open. Of course animal control isn't open. What do I do?!!!!

Baby raccoons are difficult to keep alive, unless you have a special feeder. It is essentially a bottle with an elongated tube that goes down into their throat and you can feed them KMR that way- the KMR has to be at room temperature. Even tiny, they bite, and scratch and they can carry rabies. Not that these babies are rabid, but they can carry the virus. Your best bet is to find a wildlife control rehabilitation station and surrender the baby, or call around to the local vets and ask for their assistance. Keep the little one warm as you can- pet heating pads are good-

Aww, the poor babies! The only idea I have is to check for any rescue groups in your area.

if you leave him where he is will he be safe?
do you think his mama will come back for him?

UGh. I can't get ahold of the animal control and they don't deal with wildlife on post. This is unreal. I'm so ticked and sad. I'm so angry I'm crying. Poor little baby!!!! I can't take it inside there are things crawling on it. Hub said he thinks the momma pushed the nest out of the tree cause 2 babies are clearly diseased (the dead ones). I'm so heart broken. I don't wanna just leave the poor thing there but that is what TN gov. said to do. They said its best chance of surviving is if momma comes back for it.


and it still didn't answer what I do with the dead ones. I really don't like government people sometimes.

Aw, that is too sad. My dd has kept tiny baby birds without feathers alive. So while it is almost impossible, it can't hurt to try. Can you set up a warm safe area outside? Try the tube feeding with KMR.

Things crawling on it-is it just fleas?

The things crawling on the baby are more than likely ticks. You can take them off with a pair of tweezers and squish the life out of them. Your baby is suffering from dehydration and needs fluids and to be kept warm. They carry fleas (always) if you have some frontline for cats you can wet down a cotton ball just a bit, and rub that on them to get rid of the fleas. But the reality is, this little one does not stand much of a chance. I have raised the tiny ones and it isn't like bottle feeding a kitten. You have to tube feed them when they are this young.if the eyes are closed you are looking at a coon that isn't quite 4 weeks old. They are born with roundworms usually and that is another factor robbing the health of this one. they drink between 1-5% of their body weight every three hours when they are this age. I am guessing how old they are. The dead ones, I would take a pair of rubber gloves, some newspaper and roll them up carefully. Place them in a plastic bag and put them deep down in the garbage outside. If there are woods near you, you can take them in the newspaper and place them deep in the woods, give them back to nature as it were. Burying them is not a good idea unless you bury them deep- because predators will smell them and dig them up. Also if you are handling the baby, please wash your hands good with antibacterial soap and shed all your clothes before coming in contact with your cats- wash your clothes in hot soapy water twice

Do you have any zoos around you? Maybe they can assist you.

Also, call a news station. I know where I live, we can call the local station and they often help in many various situations. Our tv station does quite a bit with animal rescue centers.

I once found a baby heron (bird), when I was a child, which flew into a telephone pole during a storm. I brought it to my mom who placed it in an empty rabbit cage and she got some long tweezers to feed it and nurture it back to health. It ended up proving to be a very hard task so she found a local guy who rescued injured birds. We surrendered it to him and it made a full recovery and was eventually released back into the wild.

I hope you find some help. Try the news station. Or maybe even the police station might know of someone.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Wildlife Rehabbers by State

Click to expand...

Fabulous link. I couldn't save it as a favorite, but this is a great resource! And with phone numbers, so hopefully you can call someone tonight!

Whats the update?

I've called about all I can. Sadly because I live on a military post people cannot come and collect the little dude. Government property is protected. It is also illegal for me to take in a baby coon here in TN (also against post regulations). Hubby and I put the little one in a cardboard bin (using gloves) and we put some grass clippings and leaves in with it. The gent that I spoke with on the phone was kind and simply said that the only real chance it has for surviving is it its momma gets him. We put the box next to the next on the ground and have left it alone there. He said that momma would go back to the area come dusk when it was quiet and people weren't around. I pray that momma will get her little one but I don't know. The other babies that had died were in bad shape. They looked to have been dead for awhile. As gross as it is (and I could hardly eat dinner after this) the babes had maggots crawling from their mouths and noses. I think momma may have known the babies were ill and maybe abandoned them? Or pushed them out of the tree? Would they do that? I'm trying to calm down now and just tell myself that nature will do what it will do. Honestly if I tried to save it and it died anyway it would be a lot harder on me then letting its mom come back and find it. Plus I couldn't keep it in my home (with it being a no no on post and all). What life could it have with me hand rearing it? It wouldn't fare well in the wild. I'm just so sad for its little life. Sure they can be pesky and annoying but awww they are too cute with their little black and white faces..... Whatever happens happens. It might sound cold but I have little else to do.

Sounds like several people have advised you to leave baby out and hope the Momma returns to him. Poor little baby!

I'm sorry. You must have felt so helpless. It was kind of you to try to do what you could.

I´m so sorry too Beth... you try to do the best...

Sadly, Momma never came back. I thought that the baby was dead this morning. Hub went out to bag the babes to put in the rubbish bin. I was on the phone with phone people that needed to talk to him and when I went out he yelled at me to go back inside. I heard a baby crying!! I was wrong about it being dead. Hub had a shovel with him. I don't need to go into what happened next. I'm ill. Momma hadn't come back within 24 hours and the babe was covered in bugs. I'm just trying to put myself far from this emotionally. I just feel total guilt.

Aw, Beth I'm so sorry. Please don't beat yourself up over it. You did everything within your power for the baby--and then some! You have nothing to feel bad with yourself about.

Poor little baby, and poor Beth. What a difficult thing to go through. Next week, go through the link to wild animal rescues and find out who might have been able to help if there had been more time. Maybe if it ever happens again you will be able to get more help.

What a shame. I am very sorry your heart is breaking. Please do not feel guilty for what a Momma racoon did!