Cute fluffy family living in home’s chimney seen on trail camera gets evicted
An extremely important — and extremely cute — “eviction” or … er … “rescue” that involved a few fluffy little ones went down in Barnstable, Massachusetts on April 6.
The Cape Wildlife Center, an animal rescue service, had to come to the aid of a homeowner who had some unwanted adorableness living in the chimney of his house, the center said in an April 7 Facebook post.
“Yesterday our rescue team responded to a call to help a finder humanely evict a mom raccoon and her babies from his chimney,” the post said.
Unfortunately for the babies, the fireplace would end up being their last stop living large in a home meant for people.
“The babies had fallen down into the fireplace and mom was staying hidden in the chimney. Our rescue team checked out babies to make sure they had not incurred any injuries and found them to be healthy and well hydrated indicating they have not been separated from mom long,” the post continued.
Now that the babies were in good hands, the center’s next step was figuring out how to lure the mother from her hiding place.
“They placed the babies in a carrier outside on the side of the house closest to the chimney and provided supplemental heat support,” the post continued. “To encourage mom to leave on her own we suggested the homeowner shine bright lights up into the chimney and play loud music to encourage her to find a new safer spot for her babies.”
Luckily, the mom got the hint to hit the road and soon came for her babies.
“Over night we (placed) a trail cam in with the babies so we could monitor them and sure enough she came back in two separate trips to relocate her babies to a new spot!” the center said.
“This is a very common scenario this time of year with animal moms of all species trying to find locations to use as nests and dens. Using techniques to encourage mom to move her babies on her own is the best way to ensure the family stays together. Depending on how many babies she has it may take her several trips/ nights to relocate all of them so please give her plenty of time before thinking they may have been abandoned.”
Since raccoon mothers are extremely protective of their babies, the center says that the mom will almost always return for them.
Barnstable is about a 70-mile drive southeast from Boston.
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Cute fluffy family living in home’s chimney seen on trail camera gets evicted."