Words of Faith, December 2022 by John Marksbury, Secretary, Desert Interfaith Council
The jarringly hot summer hereabouts created a flow of four-legged refugees from the mountains, seeking water and comforts of an irrigated desert floor. Among them was a half-starved, pregnant raccoon desperately needing relief. She eventually found herself in the confines of a friend’s home in the Indian Canyons neighborhood of Palm Springs where the entry’s atrium and three hollow stone pillars offered safety and blessed shade.
Our friend had not noticed her arrival right away. Only after a neighbor walking his dogs pointed it out to him one day, did the friend see his unannounced guest and the deplorable condition she was in. The dog walker explained that it might be the same raccoon mother which had been smoked out the previous month in the adjacent cul-de-sac. At that time, Animal Control had been contacted but said they did not do wildlife removal, and they could not offer any advice.Now faced with the expectant mother on his hands, our friend called a conservation colleague who knew the mountains well and advised him to contact Palm Springs Wildlife Advocates.
Over the phone, he explained the raccoon was living in the hollow of a stone pillar which she could access from a hole in the top. They cautioned that to remove the mother would surely mean certain death for any babies she might have birthed in the pillar. They then offered to help support the raccoon mom in situ until the babies were old enough to get out and leave. The Advocates came to our friend’s house to do a check-up and administer meds for the dehydrated mother and told him what to do in the coming weeks, including feeding the mother cat food and giving her a wading tub of fresh water daily to rehydrate, soak and wash in the severe summer drought.
Cat food was no problem, as our friend had a cat, whose name was Nittany (named after the central Pennsylvania mountain where mountain lions used to roam), and who also became aware of their scraggly guest, taking frequent visits to the glass atrium doors to see what she was up to.
After several days of feeding and hydration, mama raccoon became noticeably better, and her fur began to fill out and take on the sheen of a pampered feline. It was soon discovered that she had given birth to three babies. She kept by the stone pillars all day and at night would jump to the top of one of them to keep watch over her little brood.
The will to survive filled our friend with great joy. Somehow, the mother knew when it was time to return to the wild with her family and slipped off for the wash quietly one evening. It was sad to see them go but reassuring to know that Mother Knew Best, and human kindness had given her a new lease on life and a hoped-for increase in the population. During this time when Christians around the world rejoice at the miracle of their Savior’s birth, it is nice to know miracles still happen. In fact, they are all around us; we just have to slow our distracted lives to notice them.
NB. Palm Springs Wildlife Advocates is a non-profit service which works with the conservation groups and residents in greater Palm Springs on how to coexist with our wildlife neighbors in the surrounding wilderness with which we’ve been blessed. They can be contacted at (760) 833-5003 should you require assistance.