Are you my mother?
So I voted today like a good little citizen. It wasn't at all as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't have to wait in line at all, just gave my name and went straight to a booth.
On my way back from voting I went to my office and as I got out of the car I was approached by two baby racoons. They are the cutest things ever. They were each maybe a couple handfuls big (the only accurate way to judge the size of cute creatures) and walking so wobblily. They came directly at me. I bent down and lightly pet them. I started to walk toward the door and they kept following me. It was like a page straight out of Dr. Suess' "Are you my mother?".
I didnt know what to do. i tried to get them to follow me into the office but they were afraid of the door. So i went inside and said "I have baby racoons following me to the first person i saw" This is not a situation I have ever been in before so I didnt know what was the right thing to do. DO I let them wander? What if they wander into the street? Do i pick them up and try to get them in a box? what if they bite and have rabies? What if my smell on them makes thenm somehow tainted and their mother doesnt recognize them? what if their mother is already dead which is why they are frantically searching?
I decide I should try and capture them so I go back outside and try to catch up. But then they crawl under a storm grating and go into the drainage tube! So I called the mom of one of out patients because she works for animal control. she told me to try to catch them if I wanted, though they may bite and could have rabies, and get them in a box. Offer water and cat food on a flat dish. Then she gave me the number for Gainesville animal control so they could pick them up.
So I went back outside. Lifted of the storm grating and waited. I made little noises. I heard them a few times, but they never came out. So I had a coworker watch the tunnel as I went to the convenience store to get cat food. I put out cat food, waited some more. Nothing. I found a flashlight and looked into the tunnel and it looks huge and long and awful. I didnt see the racoons and I couldn't see an end to the tunnel.
So now I feel utterly defeated. I wish i hadn't paused so long in considering my options and had tried earlier and harder to get them into the office before they ran off. What if the tunnel has some sudden drop off and they have already met their doom? i left the cat food out there and the grating off for now. I think I'm going to check every so often to see if it looks like they have come out and eaten some food. I know it won't happen but i really hope I see them come out so i can take them somewhere safe.
They were so cute and lost.
On my way back from voting I went to my office and as I got out of the car I was approached by two baby racoons. They are the cutest things ever. They were each maybe a couple handfuls big (the only accurate way to judge the size of cute creatures) and walking so wobblily. They came directly at me. I bent down and lightly pet them. I started to walk toward the door and they kept following me. It was like a page straight out of Dr. Suess' "Are you my mother?".
I didnt know what to do. i tried to get them to follow me into the office but they were afraid of the door. So i went inside and said "I have baby racoons following me to the first person i saw" This is not a situation I have ever been in before so I didnt know what was the right thing to do. DO I let them wander? What if they wander into the street? Do i pick them up and try to get them in a box? what if they bite and have rabies? What if my smell on them makes thenm somehow tainted and their mother doesnt recognize them? what if their mother is already dead which is why they are frantically searching?
I decide I should try and capture them so I go back outside and try to catch up. But then they crawl under a storm grating and go into the drainage tube! So I called the mom of one of out patients because she works for animal control. she told me to try to catch them if I wanted, though they may bite and could have rabies, and get them in a box. Offer water and cat food on a flat dish. Then she gave me the number for Gainesville animal control so they could pick them up.
So I went back outside. Lifted of the storm grating and waited. I made little noises. I heard them a few times, but they never came out. So I had a coworker watch the tunnel as I went to the convenience store to get cat food. I put out cat food, waited some more. Nothing. I found a flashlight and looked into the tunnel and it looks huge and long and awful. I didnt see the racoons and I couldn't see an end to the tunnel.
So now I feel utterly defeated. I wish i hadn't paused so long in considering my options and had tried earlier and harder to get them into the office before they ran off. What if the tunnel has some sudden drop off and they have already met their doom? i left the cat food out there and the grating off for now. I think I'm going to check every so often to see if it looks like they have come out and eaten some food. I know it won't happen but i really hope I see them come out so i can take them somewhere safe.
They were so cute and lost.