Awww, the poor baby. Whether it survives or not, today was it's lucky day in finding you, Marilyn. Hope he/she does well and makes a full recovery!

Wow what a lucky raccoon Willie is to have you. Willie could be short for Wilhelmina if need be. :)

Too bad about the blind eye. Does it lessen their chances significantly if partially blind to survive if set free again?

Best of luck with the little guy/gal.

No, it will get along okay if blind in one eye. Audrey, a raccoon I raised and released, lived here for 15 years. If it is a female, it will have a better chance because it can stay here. If male, it will be chased away by the dominant male here, so I hope it is female.

Oh boy, Marilyn. Your mornings are a lot more interesting (stressful) than most of mine. I hope this little one will be OK, if it's not, it won't be for lack of you trying. Good luck with Willie/Mary, I hope he/she settles down so you aren't risking being bitten. Let us know if things seem to be working (like the pee and poop mechanisms ;0))

Aw, I hope he/she makes it! God bless you for taking it in and of course knowing what to do!

Marilyn's Animal Hospital . . . I'll bet you have a better success rate than most people hospitals. Always impressed by your knowledge and dedication!

Oh precious baby and it is in the BEST hands possible. Praying the little one survives. Be sure to update us Marilyn, and God bless you and your loving, caring heart.

You are such a special person, Marilyn.

Aw, babies are so cute. Hoping for the best for this one -- a complete and fast recovery. Just don't want a precious baby to linger in pain or fear. He/she is in good hands now.

Poor little mite. He is in the best of hands with you, so his chances have improved.

I think you have a new friend for life.

Poor thing. I hope he/she survives. They are rather cute unless the family that is living in our shed is teasing the cats.

You are one special person. Special place in heaven for you.

Maybe she could learn to shower with you ;0) Hope the antibiotic (?) works and she's OK and gaining weight soon.

Yay! I was hoping it was a girl. Mary's odds for surviving and flourishing are very good in your very capable hands. Bless you, Marilyn.

Awwww.......the poor little thing-well,God knows that you know what to do.....

Bless you, Marilyn. You're truly a wonderful person.

Please keep us updated on her progress. I'm glad that she found your home.

I always wonder how these little guys get in such bad condition. Life in the brush sucks. Thanks for taking her in Marilyn and for being YOU.....

I put a big crate in the kitchen and I am going to go out and get her in a little bit. She is asleep right now. I have been so busy because I had to go pick up those meds and some dog food and got home late. So I was late feeding the horses, possums and pigs...and just now got Jody fed. He is usually mad at me for getting finished so late, but he has been nicer about it lately. I hate being outside, sweating half to death, instead of in here in the a/c... so it isn't like I linger on purpose.

I have a kitten with diarrhea, so got meds for that. I will probably tube it to him because it tastes so bad. Always something fun to do around here. :(

I hope to spend some time holding Mary because I want to make her tame. That shouldn't be a problem here because she will stay close by all of her life. Plus, she will get wilder when she is released, but I need her to be tame for the several months that I have her. The last coon....the one my dog raised, I didn't handle. I was busy and my dog was doing a good job taking care of her, but what happened...I couldn't handle her when I needed to. Not good to have a raccoon living in your house that you can't do anything with.

I got the pigeon settled in too. He is in a crate in the kitchen also. I don't want to put him with my other one until he is well.

One good thing...Mary drank all the milk I gave her. That's a good sign that she is eating on her own.

Thanks for saving her, Marilyn. Many years ago I raised one and had him as a pet for two years when my kids were little. He went to school as a show and tell in my daughter's kindergarten class. Can you even imagine that happening today? He was a sweetheart. His name was Rascal.

Poor little sweetie. She looks so woebegone. She is lucky she found you.

I'm so heartened to read all of this. Fantastic! Thank you Marilyn.

You're awesome! Love reading this :)

Sadly, she is not doing well this morning. She is like in a coma, so she seems to be resting easy. I had a chance to closely examine her, without worrying about being bitten and looks like she was injured prior to me finding her. I thought about giving her some subcue fluids but I don't see any reason to try and prolong her life. If she gets restless or seems to be suffering, I will take her and have her put down.

I thought about what I had done....if I had done too much to her. The antibiotic I gave was a kitten dose. I only gave her a drop of Ivermec. I didn't give her the Exceed shot because it is a strong antibiotic and I was waiting to do that today. I had to get the maggots off of her and she was fierce. That may have been too much for her...the spray. I bathed her but it was very brief. So I don't know if I could have done something different. I don't second guess myself very much because I didn't have much time and I had to do something to get the maggots off of her. Some had hatched and others would have shortly. She never did act normal...in that she settled down so quickly.

Before anyone asks...rabies are not a problem in this area. So I am not concerned about that.

She was very thin. Most of the raccoons here very big and fat. I worm them about every couple of months, due to a round worm they carry. Someone dumped about a dozen baby raccoons here that had mange and I fought that. I haven't seen one with mange for a long time. I worm them with Ivermec and that also knocks out sarcoptic mange.

So that is the update on Mary. Thank you to everyone for the kind thoughts and words.

(((Mary and Marilyn)))

Ohh, I'm just now reading this. I'm sorry it doesn't seem like she'll make it, but you have made her time with you very good. Marilyn, you are a prince(ss), as my dad used to say. I truly don't know how you do it all. How are your baby squirrels?

Nothing you did was the cause of this animials down slide Marilyn....Its all part of the Circle of Life.

Not all of the wild life can or should survive.

Oh no! I am sorry to hear this turn of health :( I was hoping your new friend would thrive under your dedicated care. You are awesome!

Raccoons here often suffer from distemper. They just look so sick and get all confused, people often think they have rabies. Poor thing. Even if she dies, she had her last moments with somebody who cared enough to give her milk and get the fly eggs off of her. :)

Erin, the baby squirrels did fine. I released them and they came back and slept in their boxes for awhile but I haven't seen them, so I hope they are okay. I don't go out in the woods very often and I released them far from the house, due to the cats. We have a lot of hawks and owls, so you never know. Like mama pinky said....the circle of life.

You're right about distemper, Dances. I haven't seen any sick coons here, but you never know. My partner vaccinates all the coons she raises and I vaccinated the few I've raised. I don't pay much attention to the coons here any more, but I used to know most of the ones here. Had a very old, blind in one eye coon here....called him "Grandpa" but haven't seen him now in a long time. Only one coon that I named is still here....that's Buzz. He is getting old and probably the last living offspring of my original pet, Cancun.

I've had a big coon browsing around my yard lately during the day. The neighbors also have seen one in their yard during daylight..Marilyn is this normal? I can't cook on the grill any longer as it smells it and I have to run indoors. Been happening 3 weeks now.

Thank you for the update on Mary. Sorry she is not doing well, but glad to know she is in your kind and capable hands. Thinking positive...

Oh no, so sad to read this update. Maybe she'll still rally, where there is life there is hope.

Common for coons to go out in the daytime when they have babies. They don't like to leave them alone at night to forage for food.

How is Mary doing? Any improvement?

Thanks Marilyn..do the male coons have male parts that are visable? I'm asking cause neighbor says this is a big boy.

I'm sorry to be seeing this Marilyn. We left early this morning and were gone all day, two great nieces graduating. I wish Mary was doing better, but whatever the reason you found her alone and thin may have just been too much for your care. Please don't second guess yourself, you didn't cause it. As much as you'd like to, you can't save them all so if the worst happens, just know that you tried.

Wishing you the best. You are doing far more than most people would do.

Mama Pinky, it is easy to tell boys from girls.....similar to dogs...but with all their fur, it is not easy to see....like I had a hard time telling the sex of Mary, due to her fur. Male coons do not have huge testicles that hang down like dogs, so I would say unless the neighbors handled him, they wouldn't know. Yes, males can get big, but the biggest coons here are all females. The males are "average sized". A few females are smaller but most are big. I will try to take some pics tonight to show you.

Whatever it is, the coon won't hurt you so there is no reason to be afraid of it. If you don't want to feed it, then don't. Don't leave dog or cat food out where it can get to it. Just don't try to handle it. Don't corner it and engage it in a fight. Don't let dogs harass it. Like snakes, people get bit when they try to attack them and it can't see a reasonable way to get away.

Marilyn, thank you for your good advice. Never any food left out around here and they have never managed to open my garbage can although they knock it down. I won't bother this critter..trust me on that LOL.

Neighbor has a tiny little possum, she found it poking out from under her porch but says although she knows mom is there she's always wanted a possum so she took it..that I feel is just wrong. She showed it to my grands and me its tiny...I told the boys not to touch it. My dog does not get the parvo shot as she almost died from it so vet won't give it and I'd bet possums carry parvo even though they have an immunity to it. Anyway poor little possum should be with her mom since she has one.

Thanks Marilyn..your an encyclopedia of knowledge.

I lost my post. No, possums do not carry parvo, distemper or rabies.

Typing on my phone....PITA.

Mama possums shake their babies off their backs when they are very small, so Mama is not looking or concerned about it.

They generally do not make good pets. They are very primitive animal. If yo pet one, they think you are a predator.

I would raise it until it got the size of a 6 mo old kitten and release it.

Wild possums seldom bite but ones you raise will bit the crap out of you. It is from stress. They can inflict a very painful bite. They have 50 razor sharp teeth.

Some will get tame, but you need to handle them very gently.

They have very specific food requirements. Feed it yogurt..fruit flavored but not sugar free. No fruit until it is older and only 10% of diet. Chicken necks, boiled. Bugs and snails if they weren't exposed to poison. Crickets are good. Good quality cat chow but not canned food. Soften with yogurt for little one. If it is tiny, don't think it will take a bottle. They don't. They have to be fed by stomach tube. You can give them milk with a dropper. Puppy or kitten milk will work but absolutely no Hartz Mountain. Most important... Yogurt every day and give it something like a cap to sleep in. They like to be covered up. I use knit caps.

I could tell you more but this is a start. :)