RED BANK: ORPHANED RACCOONS GET TLC
For the second day in a row, a wildlife officer was called out to the corner of Brown Place and South Street in Red Bank to care for a raccoon pup that had fallen from a nest about 20 feet above the ground.
A raccoon peers from the family nest Monday in a photo by Brian Spillane. Below, volunteer firefighter David Cassidy found no additional animals in the nest Tuesday evening. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Two others had fallen, one fatally, on Monday, said Debbie Nagel, the animal control supervisor for Long Branch who answered the calls in her role as who as backup for Red Bank.
“His mother must be dead, because it’s been two days,” Nagel said, holding the pup found Tuesday. “They’re hungry and looking for their mother and falling.”
The volunteer fire department dispatched a ladder and other equipment to aid in the search for the mother and other pups. None were found.
The two survivors were taken to Red Bank Veterinary Hospitals in Tinton Falls. After receiving care, they’ll be turned over to volunteer “rehabbers” and eventually released in the wild, said Nagel.
She cautioned that residents should not handle wild animals because of the danger of contracting rabies.
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