|
It
all started as usual with a phone call about wildlife in
distress. This call was from a worried homeowner in Darien,
CT who reported that a young raccoon was stuck very high
up in a tree.
Kelly
Record and I arrived at the scene and, upon inspection,
found that there was indeed a raccoon stuck in the tree
approximately 30 feet off the ground. To me, stuck in a
tree usually means a juvenile who may have ventured too
high and was now too scared to come down. However, this
raccoon managed to get his head stuck in a tree hollow while
trying to come out. I have never seen anything like this
before! This hole was only large enough for a squirrel to
get through so it’s no surprise that his head got stuck.
Now we were faced with how to get the animal out safely.
Based
on the height, it was determined that a cherry picker would
be needed. Acherry picker is a truck with an extending arm
that has a bucket attached. These trucks are commonly used
for tree work high above the ground and having it on site
would facilitate this rescue like nothing else would.
Once
it arrived, and despite my fear of heights, I climbed into
the bucket and was brought up to eye level with the raccoon.
His head was the only part of his body that I could see
while the rest
|
of him was inside the tree cavity. I tried to gently push
the raccoon's head back the way that it had come but it
didn’t work. He was really stuck and I was scared
to push any harder and hurt him. I had the cherry picker
lower me back down, feeling somewhat useless.
Kelly
and I started brainstorming. There was no way we were
going to give up without freeing this raccoon...his life
depended on it. So we came to the conclusion that the
raccoon would have to be sedated. Thankfully that worked!
With the raccoon sleeping, I was able to use olive oil
as a lubricant and gently push back the folds of skin
around his head, Any many, many thanks to the following
veterinary practices. Our work with wildlife would not
be possible without their skills and support: High Ridge
Animal Hospital Stamford causing him to slide back into
the tree cavity from where he had come.
Kelly
then went up to finish the job by sealing the hole up
with hardware cloth so that this would not happen again.
Once
the raccoon awoke, he was able to climb back up the tree
to reunite with his mother and siblings who had been watching
the rescue from a safe vantage point higher up the tree.
Besides having a bad hair day, this raccoon was lucky
and has hopefully learned his lesson.
|
|
