Paula Woodside, founder of Woodside Wildlife Rescue, arrived with director Raquel Hungerford, armed with a stethoscope and a thermal imager. They pressed their equipment against the wall, tracked the source of the sound, and then did what the situation called for — they broke through with a hammer and saw.
Peering inside, they found five newborn raccoon babies, crammed into a tiny space deep within the wall. Their mother was nowhere to be seen.
“They are too young to understand what was happening,” Woodside said, “as their eyes and ears are still sealed.”
A careful extraction
The babies stayed remarkably calm throughout the entire rescue — perhaps because, at just five days old, they had no real sense of what was happening around them. One by one, the team carefully worked them free from the cramped space.
What they found once the babies were out was concerning. They were uninjured, but weak and malnourished — and two were significantly dehydrated.
“They were uninjured, but they were weak, malnourished, and two were quite dehydrated,” Woodside said.
Around the clock
The team got to work immediately — rehydrating the babies and feeding them every two hours, as newborn raccoons require. It’s exhausting, painstaking care. But it’s working.
The babies are getting stronger every day.
Hoping for a reunion
The rescue hasn’t given up on finding their mother. Each night, the team plans to bring the babies back to where they were found — giving her every opportunity to reclaim them.
If she can’t be located, the little ones will remain in care until they’re old enough to be released back into the wild.
Five tiny raccoons, eyes still sealed, with no idea how close they came — or how many people are now rooting for them.