Wildlife control officers in Toronto are certainly no strangers to hissing opossums or spraying skunks, but sometimes their job brings them face to face with some critters of a much more adorable nature.
Take, for example, the tiny baby raccoons that one company found in the fireplace of a Toronto home this month.
Gates’ Wildlife Control discovered the family of newborns while investigating some noises that were coming from a basement flue in Scarborough, with the company’s vice-president immediately recognizing the sounds as that of chittering cubs.
“This was a surprise because seeing babies this early in the season is highly unusual. In our 36 year history we have not seen baby raccoons being born this soon in February,” Gates’, which has a ton of experience with raccoons and a great YouTube channel to prove it, wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.
Because of the freezing temperatures and heaps of snow in the city at current, the company made the decision to actually leave the darling little crew where they were, with plans to come back when the babes are a little older and the weather a little warmer so they have a fighting chance at surviving their first few weeks in the wild.
Thankfully, the homeowners are apparently okay with their uninvited houseguests staying for a little longer.
“When the outside temperatures are as cold as they are today we choose not to expose the babies to any potential harm,” rescuers wrote.
“We left them in the fireplace with their mother and we will return when the weather is more conducive to performing a humane removal.”
The family will eventually be placed in a heated release box somewhere nearby so that the mother can move them to a new den site — hopefully this time not one that is already occupied by humans who aren’t looking for any furry roommates.
