Ever since Jim Thebarge moved with his family to their suburban home in Connecticut, they’ve been feeding stray cats in the area.
The family even made a small designated area in their garage, with heated beds and plenty of food and water for the cats to enjoy.
This naturally invited other wild animals to enter their garage, and Jim was happy to help them.
However, recently the family was shocked when a tiny distressed animal appeared at their back door.
At first, Jim thought it was a stray cat, but once he approached, he realized it was a raccoon.
Sadly, the poor raccoon was in a dire situation. Somehow he got his head stuck in a plastic jar, desperately gasping for air.
Jim immediately reached out to their local wildlife rescue and in the meantime, he tried approaching the raccoon himself.
This is when Jim was faced with a challenge. Although the raccoon came directly to their home hoping to get some help, he was terrified of humans.
Every time Jim tried getting close to the raccoon, the poor soul would run away. Afraid the raccoon would run away before the rescuers came, Jim knew he needed to trap him somehow.
He tied a rope around the back door and lured the raccoon onto the porch. Once the raccoon was inside, Jim pulled the rope, successfully trapping the poor animal.
Just 30 minutes later, the wildlife rescue team arrived. They quickly cut through the plastic jar and freed the little raccoon.
He was finally able to breathe and eat and he happily ran towards the woods! What surprised Jim and his family was the fact that the raccoon kept coming back to their house.
Now and then he would show up at Jim’s house, help himself with some food, and relax in their garage. It was almost as if he knew this place was a safe haven for him!
I’m so happy this little raccoon came up to the right family to ask for help!