Hefty
A family of raccoons took up residence in the roof of our garage. I named this baby “Hefty,” because he was bigger than his siblings and rather pudgy.
While they were little, after a night's outing mama would carry each baby back into the den by the scruff of their neck. (Their chatter woke me at dawn, so I got to watch.)
At some point, she decided they were getting big enough to negotiate the entrance on their own. This involved leaping to the garage roof from a nearby tree, and doing a back flip to slip under the eaves into the entryway. While the other babies had no trouble with these gymnastics, Hefty couldn't seem to get the hang of it.
One morning I woke to a tremendous amount of chatter from the raccoon family, later than usual. Hefty's siblings were encouraging him to leap to the garage from the tree, but he obviously didn't think he could do it and wanted mama to come get him. She steadfastly refused, and eventually all but Hefty retired to their den while he was left alone in the tree, crying. That's when I took the photograph.
It was a difficult morning, for Hefty and me. He cried continuously, at one point coming down from the tree and wandering around the garage trying to find another way inside. By early afternoon, I decided to interfere with nature and braced a ladder against the garage, leading to the den. It didn't reach quite high enough, and was aluminum so I was afraid Hefty wouldn't be able to climb it. But he did, and finally made it home.
