When the founder of the Leyden Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation got a call from a Belchertown Animal Control Officer about a stoic, soggy baby raccoon in need, she was ready to help.
“When you are a rehabber, you have that idea that, ‘No, I’m not taking anymore,'” Amelie Dricot-Ziter, founder of the Leyden Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation, said, “And then one day, you’re weak, and then somebody calls you, and you end up taking it.”
That day, Dricot-Ziter couldn’t say no, although she was already fully busy with raccoons and other animals like possums and squirrels in her care. Little did she, or Belchertown ACO Sarah Bryne, know that this orphaned raccoon, who Dricot-Ziter named “Bub,” would garner international attention before his release on Saturday, Aug. 30.
A viral sensation
Byrne recalls the morning of June 9, when a resident in Belchertown called about a wet baby raccoon outside on their front porch, who Byrne says was outside the home for over 12 hours based on the information provided by the homeowner. Byrne says mother raccoons will sometimes leave their babies to hunt, or create a new nest, and pick them up within a few hours to bring them to a new spot. However, there were no other baby raccoons in the area, or adult raccoons that could be a mom, signaling to her that the baby was orphaned.
With this information, a photo of the baby raccoon, and the knowledge that many wildlife rehabbers are full from the recent baby raccoon season, she started recording her approach on her phone — something she never does, but knew she had to do this time.
“The resident sent me the picture of how the baby was, and I was like, ‘This is critical, because this baby is brand, brand new,'” she recalls. “I knew I had to get a clear message to whoever the rehabber was going to take this baby, that I needed to show them exactly what this baby looked like.”
In the video, Byrne walks up a patio to the baby raccoon, who she said was drenched and terrified. As she approached him on the doorstep, the 4-week-old baby decided he needed to show his strength.
“He stood up at me like, ‘I’m so big, I’m scary and big, and don’t touch me,'” Byrne said.
In that moment, the emaciated and shivering cold baby raccoon warmed the hearts of those who saw his photo posted online later that day by Byrne.
The post on the Belchertown Animal Control Facebook page shared that the baby raccoon and a baby groundhog, who was rescued only a few hours later, would be taken care of by Dricot-Ziter, who agreed to take in both of the babies.
“We were bombarded with email after email after email, requesting interviews, so we gave the rights to all of them,” Byrne said about the Facebook post of the baby raccoon and baby groundhog.
She recalls the response from a few major media outlets, including the Boston Globe, People Magazine, New York Post, The Dodo, TikTok creator That Good News Girl, a Late Show with Stephen Colbert “Meanwhile…” segment on June 17, and even international outlets from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Similarly, Dricot-Ziter also had the same experience, saying that she had English outlets like Daily Mail UK also seeking photos and interviews about the baby raccoon. The Guardian ran the story as part of a June “Week in wildlife” column.
This international response to the baby raccoon, on top of local media response from radio stations and TV stations, was something Byrne and Dricot-Ziter say they’ve never experienced before. Moreover, Byrne says Bub is now the face of any Google search for a raccoon standing up.
“It just so happened that he stood up at the right time, I got the right picture, and everybody just thought it was the cutest thing ever,” Byrne said.
Some much needed TLC
In the over two months since Bub was rescued, Dricot-Ziter said he recovered well after warming up, having food and rehydrating. He tested negative for any diseases like rabies, parvo, or distemper, meaning he was a good candidate for rehabilitation after a two week quarantine.
“He was just very little, very emaciated. It was little for his age,” Dricot-Ziter said when she got him, estimating he was likely without a mom for a week. “He was thin, and he hadn’t seen mom in the wild, so he pretty much ate right away.”
Bub was placed with seven other raccoons that Dricot-Ziter had taken in for rehabilitation. As a licensed wildlife rehabber, she is able to care for these raccoons that are vaccinated and cared for before being released back into the wild.
This year, she’s released 21 raccoons already, with five more to come when her intention was to stick to 22 raccoons a year. Many of her intakes come in around the baby raccoon season in the late winter and into the spring, although Bub was a late bloomer, as she estimates he was only a few weeks old and when he was found in June.
Although this picture of Bub, and his story of rescue and release is sweet, Dricot-Ziter reminds others that raccoons, no matter how cute, are wild animals.
In the state of Massachusetts, wild animals like raccoons are illegal to keep as pets for their risk to human personal and public health, health of other animals and the health of the animal itself. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassFWS) can grant licenses for ownership to certain private citizens in specific circumstances.
Wildlife rehabilitators like Dricot-Ziter, are trained and licensed in Massachusetts to offer wildlife rehabilitation services. At the Leyden Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation, Dricot-Ziter does this work on her personal time, funding the operation herself with help from donations.
As a working rehabber for wildlife that don’t always share the same happy story as Bub, she’s reminded of the “double-edged sword” in posting photos of the wildlife with hopes people can learn from them, but concern for those who could take a wild animal and not understand the consequences of possible disease exposure and spread.
In her eyes, Bub is another raccoon to rehabilitate then release. However, Dricot-Ziter still thinks Bub, in his soaked-state, was reflective of how people are feeling in the challenging social and political climate garnering him so much attention.
“I think he symbolized a lot of what people are feeling right now, and knowing that he was going to be rescued and he was going to be okay, I think he made people happy.”
Amelie Dricot-Ziter, Leyden Center for wildlife rehabilitation
In her role in Belchertown, Byrne works with wildlife rehabilitators after she rescues the wildlife in need. This dedication to the animals, Byrne said, is what makes rehabbers like Dricot-Ziter “the real hero.”
“As soon as he got in to the rehabbers hands, that’s where the real work begins. So my rescue took like, 20 minutes,” she said. “Now, Amelie has this little guy … So she’s the real hero.”
To find a local wildlife rehabilitator, visit the link https://www.mass.gov/info-details/find-a-wildlife-rehabilitator. An Amazon Wishlist is available for the Leyden Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation at https://tinyurl.com/3fwkmyr3.