The Sad Side Of The Circle Of Life...

The Little Raccoon

If you read my daily posts with your kiddos, you may want to read this by yourself, first...

Each Morning, Handsome wakes up before I do. He makes a pot of coffee and lets the dogs outside. Yesterday, he noticed that Tag was particularly interested in something on our septic mound north of the house. He went over to see what had Tag's attention to find a young raccoon that had recently died. Tag was only sniffing it. and Handsome quickly ushered him (and Bella) back into the house.

When I came downstairs, he told me about it and said he'd dispose of the body when he went outside later. I've always had a soft spot for raccoons. To the extent that I had figurines and paintings of them in my earliest apartments. 

I put down my coffee and walked out to the mound alone to see for myself. I found the little raccoon lying on its stomach, as though it were sleeping. I knelt down next to it, and turned it over to see if I could tell what happened.

I could see it was a little female, and other than blood coming from her ear, I didn't notice anything else that would explain her passing. I went back to the house, feeling bad for her.

After drinking half of my coffee, I told Handsome that I wanted to bury the little raccoon myself. I grabbed a pair of gloves and a small carton, and headed outside. I picked a beautiful, fully-opened daisy from the garden, grabbed one of our shovels, and walked back to get her.

Once there, I lifted the little raccoon up, placed her on the towels I brought with me from the barn, and headed up to the edge of the woods on the west edge of our property. At the top of the hill was a beautiful patch of red clover, so I picked some of those, too, and walked with her into the woods.

Rest In Peace, Little Raccoon.

It took a while for me to find a spot that would be easy to dig, as we're on the "cuesta" side of the Niagara Escarpment where we live. What that means is we have very rocky soil, thanks to the glaciers. I found a nice spot along a little rock wall, and under some hickory trees. There I dug a hole to bury the raccoon.

First I lined the hole with the toweling, and then I laid her on top, placing the clover next to her. It looked like she'd simply gone to sleep. I tucked the toweling over her and gently covered her with dirt.

 

A Quiet Spot In The Woods

 

There were broken pavers in the rock wall, so I grabbed four pieces and placed them over her to make sure no predators dug her up again. I put the daisy I'd brought with me between them, and then I stood and cried. It seems the older I get, the more the passing of a life affects me. Whether its a human or an animal makes no difference. I stood there for the longest time, with tears running down my cheeks.

 

Handsome and I talked about this throughout the day, as we tried to understand what happened to her. He said he noticed marks on her hind quarters that I apparently missed. When I was examining her, I wanted to know if it was a little boy or girl, so I guess I didn't see that. I was also completely taken with her pretty face, and the fact that her paws looked like she was trying to protect herself. I never noticed her hind quarters.

She weighed about two pounds, and we decided that it was likely that a flying predator - an owl or hawk - tried to carry her off by her back end, and that she may have been too heavy for the bird to hold. She was probably dropped, which would explain how she ultimately died. This is the sad side of the Circle of Life.

 

I'm sure she has brothers and sisters. I'll think about them and hope they grow big and healthy. Some will say they're just raccoons. I know they're raccoons...sweet, funny, intelligent, rascally raccoons. I'm sorry that the little one I buried today won't be romping around and growing up with them.