Originally published 2021-07-07.
Little Hands is a raccoon who was found alone by a roadside as a tiny kit, only a few weeks old, and raised by a family who released him back into the wild at the end of that summer. Three years later he was still coming back to visit Linda, the woman who bottle-fed him, climbing onto her porch swing for a scratch before heading off into the night. His story, shared by Linda's daughter Nikki Robinson and reported by The Dodo in 2021, is a gentle example of the bond that can form between people and the wild animals they help.
Below is how the rescue happened, what raising an orphaned raccoon actually involves, why he keeps returning, and what to do if you ever find a baby raccoon on your own.
How Little Hands was found
Robinson, who has a background in animal care and wildlife rescue, came across the kit beside a road during the busy summer season. Local wildlife rescues were full, which is common in late spring and summer when many young animals are orphaned or separated from their mothers.
When she looked for help, the advice she kept hearing was discouraging. People told her either to leave the baby where it was and let nature decide, or to take it to a vet, where it would probably be put to sleep. Neither option sat right with her, so she decided to raise him herself with her family's help.
Bottle feeds and a growing bond
Because Robinson worked full time, most of the daily care fell to her mother, Linda. A kit that young needs frequent feeding, and Linda gave him a bottle up to five times a day. Robinson recalled that the first time her mother fed him and he gazed up at her, she was won over completely.
Young raccoons are very tactile, and Linda handled him gently and often during those early weeks. She did this knowing full well that he was not a pet and would one day go back to the wild. The aim was to raise a healthy, confident animal who could look after himself, not one who depended on people.
Biology helps explain why touch matters so much to these animals. Touch is the raccoon's most important sense, and its front paws are extraordinarily sensitive. Even the English name reflects this: "raccoon" comes from a Powhatan word usually translated as an animal that scratches with its hands. A name like Little Hands is more fitting than it might first seem.
A soft release, not a goodbye
Little Hands grew quickly and was strong enough to live independently by the end of the summer. Rather than driving him somewhere far away, the family used what rehabilitators call a soft release. The young raccoons move outdoors on Linda's property, often sheltering under the deck at first, and food is left out while they get used to finding their own. Gradually they spend more time away until they no longer need the support.
This gradual approach matches how raccoons develop in nature. Kits usually eat solid food for the first time at six to nine weeks and are typically weaned by about 16 weeks. In the autumn, young raccoons drift away from their mother's family group, with females often settling nearby and males sometimes travelling 20 kilometres or more.
Little Hands, though, stayed friendly with the whole family. He would amble up to the porch swing where Linda liked to sit in the evenings, clamber up beside her and wait to have his back and chin scratched. After a fuss and a snack, he would wander off again.
A post shared by Nikki Robinson (@red_pangolin)
Why he keeps coming back
Three years after his release, Little Hands was still visiting the house where he grew up. That might sound surprising for a wild animal, but it fits what scientists know about raccoons.
- They remember. Laboratory studies from the 1960s to the 1990s found that raccoons could remember how to solve a task for at least three years.
- They stay local. Urban and suburban raccoons often live in fairly small home ranges, sometimes just a few dozen hectares, so a familiar garden can stay part of their territory for life.
- Easy food and safety. A place where they were fed and never threatened is an attractive stop on a nightly round.
His long return visits are also notable because wild raccoons do not usually live long. Typical life expectancy in the wild is roughly two to three years, cut short by traffic, disease, hunting and harsh weather, although captive raccoons have lived for more than 20 years.
Linda's growing raccoon family
Little Hands turned out to be the first of many. Since raising him, Linda has taken in a number of orphaned and abandoned kits, raised them until they were ready, and released them in the same gentle way. Each year, some of them come back to see her.
Robinson described her mother sitting outside every day, waiting for the visitors and lighting up when they appear, even once they are fully grown. To the raccoons, as Robinson put it, "she's just Mom."
If you find a baby raccoon
Stories like this one are heart-warming, but they are not a how-to guide. Raising a wild animal well takes training, the right formula and equipment, and in many places a permit. If you find a kit that seems to be alone, these steps are safer for you and for the animal:
- Watch from a distance first. Mothers often leave their young for hours while they forage. A quiet, healthy-looking kit may not be orphaned at all.
- Do not feed it. The wrong milk or food can make a young animal seriously ill.
- Call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Your local wildlife agency, animal control service or a vet can usually give you a number, and rehabilitators can tell you whether the baby needs rescue.
- Protect yourself. Use thick gloves or a towel if you must move it. Raccoons can carry rabies, which spreads through bites; in 2006 they accounted for well over a third of documented animal rabies cases in the United States. They can also carry a roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, that is dangerous to people. If you are bitten or scratched, talk to a doctor promptly.
- Remember the goal is release. A good rescue ends with a wild animal living a wild life, not with a pet raccoon in the house.
Little Hands shows what that success can look like: an animal who is fully independent, yet still chooses, now and then, to climb onto a porch swing beside the person who gave him a second chance.
Sources: The Dodo, which first reported Little Hands' story (2021); Wikipedia: Raccoon. Photos and video by Nikki Robinson (@red_pangolin on Instagram).
COMMENTS