In loving memory of little Jacob the Raccoon...

We rushed little Jacob over to the vet this morning with high hopes. He looked so cute curled up in the blanket asleep and it was all we could do to not pick him up and snuggle him. The vet's assistant took down all the information while we waited for the vet to finish up an appointment and we were surprised to learn that as part of her raccoon rescue efforts she names and tags all of the rescued raccoons before releasing them back into the wild when they are old enough - with all the names for each year starting with the same letter. Coincidentally this year's letter is "J" so Jacob was perfect (Sharon was also thinking about Jeremy, which would also have worked - but settled on Jacob). After a brief examination, the vet found that Jacob was very dehydrated as he was not old enough to "drink" from a bowl of water, and that he had distemper, which is very contagious and incurable in raccoons. Best option was euthanasia. We feel really bad but know that we did help by providing Jacob with a warm comfy bed for his last night and with a much more comfortable "ending" than he would have had in the wild. When I was younger I thought about becoming a vet as a career, and mentioned to the vet that it was situations like this that made me take a different path - but the vet said that the other 11 baby raccoons that she is currently raising still have a chance because of what she does, and she knows that she is helping Jacob also, so in the end it is very rewarding all-round. Good-bye Jacob, we miss you.