That is awesome news, Marilyn!

I hope that she heals up and recovers from her ordeal quickly so that you can turn her loose soon. If it goes that way, one wee soul saved and one less thing to take up your time!

How amazing!! Aww, I know you'll take really good care of her 'cause you don't know how to do anything else with this little one. I have a feeling she'll make it just fine.

She's a fighter!!!! I'm so glad you found her, and she you. Even though, yes, you do have your hands full and there are so many hours in a day.

(((((Marilyn and Mary))))

LOL. Well Marilyn, now we know Mary is tough. 'She may be little, but she's mighty'. I don't like that she's growling and biting at you, but I suspect she'll figure out pretty quickly who's providing the food. I'm glad she's OK. I wish you didn't have the added responsibility but maybe she'll surpass the need for close attention quickly and can join the outside critters a little more independently. I hope she'll go to the milk and on her own. Let us know...

This is the BEST update!! I was afraid to come back and check, sooo happy it looks like she is improving. Maybe if you give her IV fluids it will help her eliminate whichever substance caused a problem?

If all goes well, I plan to keep her about 5 months and then let her come and go as she pleases. They usually will come back and sleep during the day. Hopefully get a little wilder. Right now I am hoping for a little tamer. She bites me but not hard. Sort of a warning to show her displeasure at being handled.

That is wonderful news. What age is she roughly, and is it normal for them to growl and bite? Anyway, I feel she has a good chance to recover under your care.

She is about 5 or 6 weeks old. Yes, completely normal to growl and bite. She is a wild raccoon. She has settled down some because you would never want to pick up any wild raccoon. They are very fierce when scared. She already knows I am not much of a threat...so she is mostly warning me.

WOOOOOooooooooHHHHHoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad. I could use some good news. Go Mary!

Thanks, Marilyn. I am ignorant as far as wild critters are concerned. Do they start to growl and bite at a certain age? I thought "babies" perhaps didn't.

Raccoons are fighters. Go, Mary. Nothing cuter than a baby raccoon. My baby never growled or bit anyone in the two years we had him. >My four-year-old daughter used to slide down her sliding board with him on her lap.

Very thankful to read this update and know that Mary is still alive. Praying she continues to thrive.

I think you need to rename her 'Lazerus'. She came back from the dead.

Nice!!!! Love this great update.

I had missed the update before this so I'm just enjoying the good news.

Great news!

The other baby raccoon I raised didn't growl or bite, but I got him before his eyes were open. It is normal for a baby animal that has never been handled to be defensive. Even kittens that age would tend to not be friendly, if they had never been handled. The one my dog raised was not friendly as it got older. She lived in the house for two yrs. I didn't think she would ever want to leave. So glad when I evicted her. She came back a few times but I don't let her in any more. She liked my dog, but I couldn't handle her.

I raised two more....Abby and Audrey, but they were about this age when I got them. I didn't handle them and I can't remember now how I got them back in their crate. I used to let them out and they would climb a tree and stay up there all day. I also raised Rupert and Allwyn but they were boys and didn't stay.

You've got a regular zoo there, Marilyn! LOL

Check your little raccoon for distemper. Its a common disease in raccoons and is most often fatal. It is also communicable to other susceptible animals. Use high caution and isolation procedures until you know for sure it does not have distemper.

See link below

https://www.cuteness.com/article/signs-distemper-raccoons

Baby Mary drank her milk tonight and went to sleep. When she woke up, I gave her more, and she drank that.

The woman I partner with, does almost entirely raccoons. She told me day before yesterday that she has 90 right now. She has dealt with distemper a lot, but her coons come from all over. I don't like to raise raccoons.... So I raise the possums. The reason I won't usually raise raccoons is because there are so many here already.

The reason I think it was the Ivermectrin that did it to her.....I worm my horses with zimectrin, an Ivermec paste. They don't like it so I take a piece of bread and put a little dab in the center, fold it twice into a little square and they will eat it with no problem. I repeat it until they get their entire dose. I was doing that one day, everything going as planned, until I got to TueLo, my oldest mare. She spit it out and my dog, Bobby, grabbed it and before I could get it from him, he gulped it down. His symptoms were the same as the coon. He recovered about a day later but I thought he was going to die. I did have to put him down a couple years later because he had kidney cancer. I asked the vet if it could be related to the overdose of Ivermectrin. He had gotten enough for a 300 lb animal and he was a little dog...Jack Russell x beagle. Anyway the vet said he didn't think so but I've always thought it did.

I have a feeling you would know better than that vet! I hope to read up that Baby Mary is improving........... Best wishes to you and the little one.

Yay baby Mary!

And, one of the things I admire about you, Marilyn, is that you're willing to look bad experiences in the face and learn from them. Who knows when the knowledge you've gained from caring for this one little raccoon will help another animal.

How's little Mary doing today, Marilyn?

She is doing good, Erin. Seems completely normal now. Every morning I take her out and use one of those pre-moistened towelettes to wash her face. She likes it. We have mutual bonding where I wash her face and she "fleas" me. That is little light chewing an animal does to bond and scratch another animal's flea bites or whatever. ( Horses do it too and they don't have fleas.)

She has a little spot on her forehead that looks like a bite of some kind and may be an abcess. It is extremely small and I have some excellent prescription strength meds to go on it.

Saw N yesterday.... my partner...and she asked me if I wanted to vaccinate her now, but going to wait about a week until I am sure she has gotten over her Ivermec over dose.

Will try and get a pic of her later today.

I'm glad little Mary is bonding with you Marilyn and I hope all continues to go well for her.

Good news Marilyn. That's cute she like you to wash her face. I don't know how quickly raccoons mature - is she drinking only at this point or can she do soft foods or solids at all. Would love to see a current picture.

So happy to see your "good news" update on Mary. Looking forward to pictures and more stories.

I have just been giving her raccoon formula and a dab of yogurt in it. I keep forgetting to get baby cereal when I go to town. I will get some today. She may like a little cat food kibble and I will offer her some of that too. She gets very messy when she eats. I gave her a taller dish....more of a water dish than for food, to try to keep her from getting so much on her.

We order all of our formulas from a place called Fox Valley in Colorado. They have species specific formulas....comes in buckets and you just have to add water, 2 to 1. We get it for possums, raccoons and squirrels. Next time I have to raise kittens, may try their kitten formula.

I could be wrong but unless an animial is a solitary creature don't they all *flea* each other and reconfirm their bonds? Cute she's bonding with you Marilyn, she's gonna think your her mother. Haha

Aww, you are a miracle-worker, Marilyn. I'm sure she does think of you as her little mama!

She has started to follow me, so that is good. I don't trust her outside yet but she follows me around in the house.

Such good news about little Mary. She's a lucky little coon :)

Awwwww! I'm glad she's doing so well.