ABC News shared a video on Wednesday, June 18th filmed by a couple in Pennsylvania watching a mama raccoon struggle to save her baby from falling off a roof. The video shows the mom already struggling to hold on to her baby as he flails and tries to hold on to her.
Make sure your sound is on so you can hear the couple’s conversation as they watch the events unfold. The mama raccoon refuses to give up; moms everywhere know that when it comes to protecting our babies, failure isn’t an option!
@abcnews “That is the will of a mama right there.” A Pennsylvania couple was very impressed by an acrobatic raccoon’s stunning rescue of its baby.
We love it when the man says, “That is the will of a mama right there,” because he’s spot on! That mama raccoon was not about to let that baby fall, and we’re sure that the baby learned a lesson, too!
Viewers of ABC News’ video left more than 500 comments, and people were impressed by the raccoon’s tenacity. @Amy shared, “That raccoon mom is a true hero, showing the strength and determination of a mother’s love.” @Kate Crawford Sanger added, “That’s that adrenaline mom rush!” @Nate Ridgely had our favorite comment, “So the ‘mom gets super strength to pick a car up off of a baby’ isn’t just limited to humans? Moms are badass regardless of species!”
Related: Woman Finds Adorable Baby Raccoons ‘Spying on Her’ and It’s Cuteness Overload
Are Raccoons Good Mothers?
Some animal species (like cuckoo birds, sharks, and hippos) are terrible mothers, which made us wonder if raccoons are or if this mama raccoon’s actions were just a one-off. According to the Wildlife Removal blog, raccoons are great mothers.
“Raccoons are excellent mothers. They take great care of their babies. When the babies are young, they stay in a nest while the mother raccoon goes and forages for extra food to make enough milk to feed them.”
We’re guessing the baby in this video was probably at this stage, “After about twelve weeks, the young have grown large enough that they start to follow the mother outside of the nest area (the nest is usually in a tree hollow or an attic) and outside, where they learn from her how to forage for food, and where are the best places to go.” This baby found out where not to go!
The article goes on to say that the babies are weaned by 16 weeks. The youngsters often stay with their mom for up to nine months before finally starting life on their own.