A Raccoon’s Story

It was May 15, 2020 when Covid-19 was already here and everyone was required to stay home. My father got home from work and he brought home a tree trunk with a baby raccoon in it. I was shocked and a bit scared to see one so up close. It hissed at me when I tried to touch it and then started to cry. My father picked it up carefully, making sure it didn’t attack him. I didn’t know what to do at first but then I started to do research on my phone on what a raccoon needs or how to care for one.  Our first thought was to take him to a wildlife shelter but I told them that it may not be open since the pandemic was still going on and it was hard for anyone to go anywhere so we decided to keep him. I decided to give him a name, Cooper. 

Cooper was afraid of us at first but then he started to open up to us. I stumbled upon how someone can tell how old a raccoon is while doing research and I found out that he was about 6-7 weeks old. As days turned into months, and then years, I got to raise him like any normal pet while keeping him on his diet and keeping in mind that he is still a raccoon. As of today, I still have him and he will be 3 years old in May. Cooper would sleep anywhere, he eats blueberries, strawberries, mango, wild blackberries, or any kind of fruit we think he would like since there are some fruits he would smell and just walk away. He also eats honey nut cheerios and granola plus he also eats broccoli and corn. Having an enclosure is something the person can choose to have but I let him roam freely since he is very small ( 1’5 ft tall) and he doesn’t climb everywhere. Bathing him can be a bit hard but we tend to clean him when we can since excessive bathing might damage his fur.

Raccoons are very interesting to learn about and having one made me learn new things I never knew much about. There are many things I want to learn about raccoons since everyday I learn new things like how they can train themselves on where to go to the restroom without teaching them or even know what is wrong or right. I enjoy having Cooper around and I still can’t believe I have a raccoon and he has changed my life completely.