Raising a Raccoon HD

Raising Buster - One early June evening a little 5-6 week old Raccoon came into our lives. We have a property next to our house that was vacant for 9 years due to some probate issues when the owner passed away. A new owner began taking down trees, removing a shed and also gutting the inside. One night this little baby Raccoon clung to the bottom of a tree in our yard chattering up a storm. I believe the Raccoon family may have been taken away somehow within cut down trees, rubbish, or became separated from the mother who took the kits that she could find far away from the construction. I will never know what really happened. I left her almost 5-6 hours, but no mother came. Around midnight I picked her up with a small fishing net and put her in a live trap/cage that I was using to TNR (Trap Neuter/Spay and Return) feral cats. The intention was to try to find the mother the next night and let her go, which did not happen. We also found that she would not eat solid food and was getting very hungry. The next morning I took two very large Dog cages and combined them into an 8’X3’X3’ foot cage and we began to hand feed her KMR (special formula). We did this using a food syringe and small baby bottle for about 3-4 weeks until she started eating solid food. And once she began eating solid food she would eat almost everything we gave her. Raccoons are omnivores which helps them survive almost anywhere. This was the most interesting animal that I have ever raised and I have had many species including dogs, cats, various small forest animals, reptiles and parrots during my life. Buster knew her name, she came when called, used a litter pan, played with toys and showed affection just like a dog or cat. She entertained us day after day when we came home from work and on the weekends. She was truly amazing. But Linda and I knew we could not keep her long term and decided to release her slowly at about 16 weeks old in our garage and the transition her to our back yard. We had a pet door installed in our garage to help with this transition, thanks Joe P. In the meantime I contacted a licensed animal rehabilitator for advice and that could take her if need be. I was advised to release her during the night and try to get her back into the garage in the morning until she hooked up with the other raccoons. There is another family that comes to our yard, a mother and 3 young coons that are a little older than Buster and we had hoped she would now have new buddies. The nightly release and morning return worked well at first as she would come to us when called and followed Linda to her pet door and go in. But after a few days we noticed that she did not want to play with other Raccoons and their nighty games and food hunt. All she wanted was her adopted human parents, Linda and Brad. We knew the time had come to give her up to a professional. With a very heavy heart and some tears I took her to a rehabilitator who has a fantastic operation and an en