Welcome to Cuffy's Corner of Rascal Flats. When Cuffy came to me he was just a wee lad of a coon, eyes just starting to open. He had been found clinging to his dead mother in the attic of a house belonging to a young, kind couple. Wanting the little guy to live but knowing that they could not provide him the care that he needed, they gave him to the native animal re-hab center where i worked as a volunteer. It was love at first sight for both of us. There is nothing more precious than a ball of baby coon! Reminding us of a baby bear, we named this little ball Cuffy, after the California State Bear. As he grew it became clear to me that Cuffy would not be releasable. He was born with a catarac in one eye and had a bad hip. I have to admit, even though I wasn't happy about his physical problems, I was thrilled to know that he would forever be a member of our family.

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As you can see in his pictures, Cuffy was a full member of our family. He was never caged, punished or left alone. While the pictures are very cute and makes having a raccoon for a pet look like a lot of fun let me say this. Cuffy did not adapt to us, we had to adapt our lives totally to him. Raccoons are very intelligent, curious, destructive to house hold items, and into everything. They cannot be trained or punished like typical domestic pets. They are territorial and very aggressive to strangers so we gave up our friends and social life for the entire time that Cuffy lived.

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There are very few people that have the time and patience to have a pet raccoon. Once they are tamed they cannot be released back into the wild because they do not possess the skills that are needed for survival.

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We had the time to devote to Cuffy as I was retired and our children were basically all grown. The love that we received from and felt for him is not comparable with any other animal that i have ever been around. Cuffy was our child. His passing left a big hole in our lives and hearts.

music: "Since I Met You Baby"

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