In early June, angry cries coming from a storm drain in Northern California caught the attention of several locals. Looking through the grate, they saw a baby raccoon trapped inside, alone.
Unsure what to do, one woman dropped bananas, strawberries and sardines into the storm drain for the raccoon. She put a note asking for help next to the grate, then made some calls to figure out her next move.
Aimee Staats
It was after dark when word about the trapped raccoon finally reached Aimee Staats, a volunteer rescuer, through a text chain with other wildlife rescuers. Staats works with several local permitted wildlife rescue organizations, saving animals daily. Equipped with a headlamp and thick gloves, Staats arrived at the scene, where she found the woman who’d originally reported the baby animal. She was now talking to the raccoon.
Aimee Staats
“She was really good at making raccoon noises,” Staats told The Dodo. “I think she was just trying to make sure he was still down there and just let him know that we were there to help him.”
The woman’s reassuring sounds could be responsible for keeping the raccoon from traveling further into the drain system. As Staats opened the grate and jumped down, she worried he would scurry deeper.
Aimee Staats
“They can be pretty skittish,” Staats said. “He was young enough that he just growled at me a lot … but, fortunately, he didn’t run.” She used a net to grab the baby, saving him from getting lost in the underground system.
Staats said this was the first time she’s rescued a raccoon from a storm drain. Typically, she’s fishing out ducklings. “I’m sure he was with his family, and they were walking across the street, and he just went into the hole instead of up on the sidewalk with the rest of them,” she said.
Aimee Staats
Once the baby raccoon was secure in a carrier, Staats realized that not only was he too young to be released, but all of the rescue organizations she worked with were closed — it was almost 9 p.m. Luckily, a licensed rehabilitator in her network lived nearby and happened to specialize in raccoons.
Before she headed out with the rescued baby, the woman who had spent her day looking after him wanted to say goodbye.
“She sang him a little goodbye song,” Staats said, laughing.
Aimee Staats
The baby raccoon is still in a rehabilitation environment, but he’s no longer alone. Staats said he hangs out with other raccoons his age and is still “growly.”
“The growly part is just perfect,” she said. “It means he is still wild and will be well-suited to be released when he is ready.”
