Help "Tiny Tim" — and all the wild animals in our care.

One of 2010's first orphaned raccoon babies, Tiny Tim turned out to have a very unusual disability.
As he grew, we realized his back legs were not working normally, and in fact, did not work at all! Radiographs (x-rays) showed that his spine was either fractured or congenitally unusual, resulting in paralysis of both back legs. Normally, this would be a death sentence for a baby raccoon, since raccoons who cannot run and climb are easy prey for cars, owls, coyotes, dogs and bobcats.

 

This particular baby, Tiny Tim, is among the luckiest of raccoons.

Enter the Veterinarians!

For several years, Dr. Andrew Sams of The Sams Clinic, an orthopaedic specialty vet clinic in Mill Valley, has kindly donated consultations about our raccoons with bone issues, and provided the best in orthopedic advice. This time the conversation went, "Dr. Sams, I really need you to see this raccoon baby. His back legs don't work at all!" The happy news is that the Sams Clinic has a neurosurgeon on staff, Dr. Lisa Klopp, who examined young Tim.

Dr. Klopp's exam revealed that Tiny Tim would most likely need surgery to correct the spinal cord compression. Because Rancho Raccoons animals are wildlife, not pets, and must be releasable to live their natural wild lives, we were most concerned that he is able to socialize and grow as a wild animal among his own kind. While we love caring for the animals we look after, we're careful to keep them wild, and a protracted recovery would put Tiny Tim somewhat behind his peer group in development. Thankfully, raccoon babies are very social among their peer group, and our long experience tells us that Tim will catch up surprisingly quickly once he can use those legs.

Now the Foster Care!

Amy Pfaffman and Jack Gescheidt, two of our foster care volunteers, have taken on care of Tiny Tim.  During his pre-surgical weeks, the goal is allowing the fracture to heal  so that there is a sturdy base for his upcoming surgery.  Amy and Jack have been exercising Tiny Tim's back legs daily to keep them limber and strong.  Meanwhile, he is developing as a normal raccoon baby, and is eager to explore his world!  His forearms and shoulders are Popeye-like, a result of propelling himself using only  two legs!  Because he is on his own (his pod of siblings is busy climbing, which Tim cannot do at this point), Timmy is more attached to his humans than is usual. Raccoon babies are brought up in pods of similar-aged babies, and learn best from their own kind. Tim will need to catch up with his pod post-surgery, but meanwhile is getting excellent physical therapy from Amy and Jack.

Tim's Prognosis

We hope Tim will regain full use of his back legs, and be releasable either with his pod, or with a slightly younger pod. If he needs a few extra weeks with a younger group to catch up, we will be able to accommodate that. The very difficult side of wildlife rehab is that, despite all our efforts, we aren't able to save every animal. It's possible that Timmy will not be able to live as a normal wild animal, and if his back legs don't work, he would have no quality of life, even as an "educational" animal. So we move forward in this endeavor with faith in raccoons' healing powers, which are prodigious, and in his caregivers all doing our very best for him.

While the Sams Clinic and Dr. Klopp are generously donating their services for this youngster who's stolen everyone's heart, we are always in need of donations to cover the daily care not just of Tiny Tim, but of all our masked clients.

 

 

Please donate to Tiny Tim's Braveheart Fund, and help us help all the wild animals in our care.

 

 

Our Mission

 

• Provide excellent foster care for orphaned and injured raccoons until they're ready for release to the wild
  
  
• Educate children and adults about local wildlife and their fascinating secret lives, with the goal of improving our stewardship of the earth we share
  
  
• Promote wildlife-safe solutions to human/wildlife conflicts

 

 

Looking for information about raccoons?  Do you need to know how to discourage raccoons from nesting in your home, eating your pet's food or knocking over your garbage cans?  Click About Raccoons.

Do you need a humane, professional wildlife exclusion service to effectively close off your building or areas of your property to wildlife?  Call our affiliated nuisance wildlife control company, Good Riddance! Wildlife Exclusions, LLC at
415 342-7956. (San Francisco Bay Area only).

 

Want to find out what’s going on at Rancho Raccoon on a regular basis?  Click on our blog, The Treehouse, for all the news, patient updates, new volunteer opportunities and more photos of our beautiful clients.

We depend upon community and corporate donations to help us provide comprehensive care to our wild clients. There are several ways to donate!