Michael heard squeaking behind the shelves on the back porch and concluded we had squirrels getting in somehow. So, he pulled the shelves out, and promptly came face to face with a mother raccoon and her two babies.

He looked at her. She looked at him. There was profanity. Doors were slammed. And then I ran out the front door to go around the house and observe from the yard. When I got there, she was on her hind legs with one of the kits in her mouth. She spared me just enough of a backward glance for me to see that, then scrambled up into the attic.

I took advantage if her absence to sneak a peek at her other baby. This is as close as I ever want to get to a wild mama and her babies. His eyes aren’t open yet. I give it about 20 minutes before Ian draws the obvious parallel and names these guys Mommy Raccoon, Ian Raccoon, and Keeghan Raccoon.