TERANGO

Hello, this is Terri, Freds' wife.  The first thing I'd like to say is: Never touch a wild animal!  God has blessed me with special insight and understanding of animals. Also, Terango was a orphan about 4-5 weeks old when we got him. He was thrown into a garbage can and left to die. Someone found him and, long story short, I ended up with him.

  We had a big ferret cage our friend lent us to keep Terango  in. He was inside for a few months. I had to feed him often, waking up in the middle of the night to give him his bottle. Just  like having a baby at home! I would sing him lullabies to get him to sleep. He was so sweet! Actually, he still is.

We finally made a large cage outside for him, with his ferret cage attached to it. He loved being outside on the porch. We had large branches for him to climb, a kiddie pool filled with water, (raccoons love water), all the comforts of home!  He would still take a bottle, but learned to eat on his own.. cat food plus peanuts and grapes in the water for him to 'fish' out. He loved to suckle on my finger,  purring loudly the whole time. Oh yes, raccoons purr! So do baby squirrels.  He would follow me closely as I walked him around the yard. He finally climbed a tree, and promptly got stuck in it! Out came the ladder to rescue him!

As he got older, he would be out  of his cage more often. He learned to climb a tree and get down by himself. We live on a canal, so he 'fished' near the waters edge, but I have yet to see him actually swim in it. They are excellent swimmers and fishers! We moved his cage out to the yard, and left the cage open most of the time. Finally, he stopped using the cage altogether, so we dismantled it. A successful wildlife rehabilatation, thank God! He still comes to the porch some nights, eating the peanuts and grapes I leave out for him. Yes, I can still pet him and feed him by hand. But I do not pick him up! He is very large and very healthy and still very gentle. He has never bitten me or scratched me on purpose. He does not get into our garbage either. He went through the winter without any problems. Now it is getting warmer, and I hope to see him more often.  Yes, I love him very much, and am very thankful God allowed me this wonderful experience with Terango. I am also very thankful to God that Terango is healthy and happy out in the wild!

Fred named him Terango after he saw 'Hurricane'  a movie from the '40's about someone named Terango who was imprisioned unfairly, and was always trying to escape. Terango the raccoon loved to escape from his cage, so we thought that a fitting name! May God bless us all as we continue on this jouney we call life, escaping from sin and the devils' clutches into the safety of Gods' Arms! Thank you for reading this . Remember, as you look at the pictures, to click on each one to enlarge it. Some of them are really sweet!   Love, Terri