He was barely bigger than a leaf 🥺
Recently, a woman was walking her dog through the woods of Northern Virginia when she noticed the dog was trying to tell her something. As she surveyed her surroundings, the woman finally realized what the dog wanted her to see — a tiny animal, barely larger than a leaf, was all alone, asleep on the forest floor.
Unsure of what to do, the woman contacted Fox Tales Wildlife Rehab and told them about who she’d found.
“We got a call about a mystery animal,” the rehab wrote in an Instagram post.
Over the phone, Elizabeth Negron, a rehabilitator with Fox Tales, confirmed the woman’s suspicions — the animal she’d stumbled on was an infant raccoon.
Negron asked the woman lots of questions. She confirmed that the baby did not have any injuries and that he was moving. Negron had a feeling the mother raccoon was likely in the area, so she told the woman to put on gloves and then place the baby in a warm box with blankets and wait to see if his mother came back.
“Reuniting mom and baby is always [a] priority,” Negron told The Dodo.
After several hours, the woman returned to the box and was thrilled to see that the baby was gone. She called Negron and told her the good news.
“I was so happy to get the call back letting me know the baby was reunited with mom,” Negron said. “As much as I love having the babies in my care and taking care of them, because I truly do love what I do, it is always nice to know the mom is alive and healthy to be able to take her baby back.”
According to Negron, baby raccoons rely on their siblings and mom a lot during their development. Keeping babies with their families is always the best way to ensure they live the happiest lives possible.
Together again, this baby and his mom were surely so happy to have been given a second chance at life in the wild.
