February 9, 2010
A Raccoon's Valentine Labor of Love
An expectant raccoon turns a chimney into a nursery
-
To an expectant raccoon, an chimney is a high-end hollow tree and the perfect nursery for her kits. John Grffin/The HSUS
Waking to strange sounds coming from your chimney on Valentine’s Day may not be as inexplicable as you think. That’s what Indiana wildlife rehabilitator Denise Hays explained to a caller early Valentine’s Day last year who was concerned about eerie animal sounds coming from her chimney.
“She was very worried that an animal had fallen into her chimney and was injured. But after she walked me through what she heard—screaming and scratching that later softened to chatter and churring—I told her not to worry.”
Hays said the woman did the right thing by calling the wildlife center, but the mystery was easily solved---even offering a happy ending under the circumstances.
February and March mark the beginning of baby season for wildlife, said Hays. “From the sounds and location where she heard the noise, I knew the screaming had probably come from a female raccoon in labor. The chatter and churring was unquestionably the new mama cleaning and talking to her babies.”
Although the typical birthing season for raccoons begins in early March and goes through May, February births are not entirely uncommon. “When we get calls on our wildlife hotline about wild animals in houses, we always assume baby season might be the reason they are there,” said Laura Simon, Field Director for the Urban Wildlife Program for HSUS. “That’s why you never want to automatically close up holes or trap and take away a wild animal -- babies may be left behind inadvertently.”
Chimneys provide perfect nesting locations for raccoons because they resemble hollow trees---high off the ground and secure from harsh elements and predators alike. An uncapped chimney is an open invitation to a pregnant raccoon.
Hays spoke with the Valentine’s Day caller about her options and the dire outcomes of moving newborn animals being evicted in winter. “February is one of the coldest months in Indiana, and the mama would have to carry them one at a time to the new nesting site,” she said, which is usually done under the cover of night, when the temperatures drop even further, and by carrying the newborn in its mouth. “Those poor babies would be exposed to freezing temperatures, and meanwhile the babies in the old nesting site would get cold, too.” An eviction would likely mean death for the newborns.
“The woman told me she has three children—two youngsters and a five-month-old,” Hays said. “I appealed to her as a mother and told her that mama raccoons just want what every mother wants for her kids---to be safe, warm and content. Moms get that. It’s universal.”
Female raccoons are very dedicated mothers. Baby raccoons are fed and meticulously groomed by mom, remaining safe in the nest while she forages at night. Later on, mom teaches them the skills they will need to survive on their own. When confronted with danger, a mother raccoon will often stand over her babies and curl her body protectively around them. Although kits are typically weaned at about 2 months, they often remain with their mother through their first winter.
The appeal to the caller’s motherly instinct worked.
“After I had given her all the options, she said she didn’t want them to die,” Hays said, happy that the new raccoon family would be allowed to stay until the young were old enough to follow mom out of the chimney, which typically occurs when the kits are about 6 weeks old. Hays told the caller to have the chimney capped after the mother and her kits had moved on, so she wouldn’t return the following year to den.
When Hays asked the woman if she thought her husband would agree to the plan, “She replied that because it's Valentine’s Day she gets whatever she wants.”
Denise Hays is a wildlife rehabilitator in Delphi, Indiana who advocates non lethal management of urban wildlife. She and all of the volunteers at Wildcat Creek Wildlife Center regularly use The HSUS book Wild Neighbors as a reference guide. The book is required reading material at the wildlife center, and Hays recommends that every homeowner have a copy on their shelf. “The information on its pages has made a difference in the lives of the animals that we come in contact with and changed my life as well,” she says.
Resources» If you are located within the D.C. Metro Area, take advantage of our wildlife conflict resolution service. Learn More
» Purchase a copy of Wild Neighbors; the go-to guide for useful, humane solutions to conflicts with wildlife.