Officer Chris Williams, of the Camdenton, Missouri police department, came across an unusual site while on patrol around Camdenton High School. He noticed a family of raccoons, a mother and her two babies, struggling to climb over a concrete wall. One of the young raccoons was having a bit of trouble making it over the wall by itself, so it was up to mom and the other young raccoon to help the straggler up.
“I saw the mother raccoon on the wall with one of her babies as she was attempting to get her other baby over the wall,” commented Officer Williams. “The mother raccoon leaned over the wall as the baby held onto her legs so she could reach out and grab the other baby and pull him up.” Talk about teamwork!
In case you’re wondering where dad is, well, males do not play any role in raising their young. It is up to mother raccoon to feed and raise her kits. She will keep them isolated from other raccoons, especially males who tend to show aggression towards kits they are not related to. Newborns spend their first two months confined to the den. Once they reach around 2 lbs, mom takes her young outside and teaches them survival skills, including where to find food and shelter.