Animal lover Joseph Mason knows you’re supposed to leave wildlife alone, but when he saw a group of starving orphans, he felt like he had to step in.
The Kelowna resident found a tiny raccoon in his backyard last week, stuck in a vine. He said the tiny kit was "half dead, and I couldn't let her perish."
As he watched the struggling critter, he realized it was not alone. Another baby soon stumbled out of the bushes, and a third appeared a short time later.
Mason watched them for a few days, but said he could see that the backyard bandits were fading fast.
"I don't think they would have lasted another day," he told CTV Vancouver.
So he scooped up the masked siblings, and brought them to the Rose Valley Vet Clinic, a facility known for taking on tough cases. Last year, the clinic made headlines when it treated 10 puppies infected with a deadly virus, free of charge.
The clinic opened its doors to the teeny trio, who appeared to be dehydrated and malnourished.
"They completely were in the process of dying when we found them," Rose Valley veterinarian Moshe Oz said.
Another employee at the clinic, Nicole St. Arnault, said the raccoons weren't moving at all.
"We had to give them fluids and started feeding them right away, and just sort of brought them back," St. Arnault said.
After a week at the clinic, the curious creatures perked up, and were strong enough to be moved to a rehabilitation facility in Langley. Staff at Critter Care Wildlife Society will monitor their recovery, and get them ready to be released back into the wild.
Critter Care takes in creatures ranging from bears to chipmunks, helping them to build their strength before releasing them back to their natural habitats.
Mason, the man who couldn't stand to watch them suffer any longer, said he's relieved that they won't be put down.
"I know that they have a chance at life, that they're going to get a chance to live their lives out naturally," he said.
