A few years ago, a homeowner in Toronto heard noises coming from the window well outside his basement and decided to go investigate. When he peered down into the opening, he found something he didn’t expect: a mama raccoon and her babies.
The man thought
the raccoons were adorable and wouldn’t have minded keeping them in his yard, but he was worried for his safety as well as the raccoons’ well-being. He attempted to encourage the raccoons to leave by turning on the basement lights, but they stayed put.
Once the homeowner figured out the raccoons weren’t going to leave on their own, he called Gates Wildlife Control for help. When Cassandra Gates, a staff member at Gates Wildlife Control, arrived at the scene, she quickly located the little raccoon mama inside the small window well.
“She is in a vulnerable position,” Gates said in a video for The Dodo.
As soon as Gates used her grabber to gently pick up one of the babies, the mama ran off into the woods. But Gates wasn’t worried — she knew the spooked mama wasn’t going to leave her babies behind.
“[S]he’s very maternal still,” Gates said. “She cares for her babies. And she will be back.”
Gates carefully transferred all of the babies into a small box, which served as a safe place for them to stay while they waited for their mama to come back. The box had a small opening at the top, which allowed the mama to be able to grab them but didn’t let the babies wander outside of the box.
“We wouldn’t want them exploring without her because they wouldn’t know where to go or what to do,” Gates said on YouTube.
Thankfully, as soon as they were placed in the box, the babies seemed to calm down. They were comforted by each other and even started playing with each other a little bit.
“It’s a perfect playpen for them,” Gates said.
Gates placed the box near the window well, then left the property so that the mom would feel safe to come back. The next day, when Gates returned, she found that the box was empty.
After reviewing the footage from her camera, Gates was able to confirm that the mama had come back for all of her babies. Right after Gates left, the raccoon had scooped up all of her cubs and transported them to a new den.
Thanks to the homeowners and to Gates Wildlife Control, the little striped family got to move to a safer, cozier home.
