When a blind raccoon was being fed by a human, he thought he’d bring along his two bodyguard kittens to get a bite too. An Illinois resident named Eryn had been feeding a blind raccoon in her yard for five years.
She could tell he was at least partially blind because he would walk into things and was afraid of the wind, high grass, birds, and snow.
She was convinced that he didn’t have rabies or distemper as he would have died within those five years if that was the case. She assumed there was something wrong with his tapetum lucidum,
Reciprocity
His eyes would flash green during the day. Every day for five years, the raccoon would always scamper out of the woods and wait for Eryn to feed him.
Until one day, he brought along some unlikely friends. The raccoon appeared in her yard, flanked by two black kittens.
Eryn believed that the cats acted as his bodyguard, or seeing-eye cats, and in turn, the raccoon helped the kittens to find food.
“The raccoon was around for at least five years before the kittens magically appeared in the woods,” Eryn told Love Meow.
Eryn caught the three amigos on camera during the raccoon’s morning breakfast at her house. The video showed the kitten escorting their blind friend back into the woods after their meal.
They’d keep him walking in a straight line when he would veer off. Amazingly the raccoon lived a very long life for a blind raccoon but passed away about a year after his appearance with the kitties.
The next chapter
“A blind/handicapped raccoon surviving at least five years is pretty long time. He was a miracle,” Eryn said.
Eryn wanted to make sure the kittens would be well taken of without their blind raccoon friend. She decided that it would be best to try and tame them, which they were not happy about.
After many scratches and blood being drawn, Eryn eventually succeeded in winning their love and trust.
“They now live inside with our other cat Squirt. They officially became ours on December 14, 2014 when we got them fixed and chipped,” Eryn said.
Eryn could have just left them some food outside and gave them an outdoor shelter. However, she admittedly needed these kittens in her life.
“Turned out that I needed the black kittens as much as they needed me. Taming them helped me slightly cope with the loss of my mom and my 15-year-old cat within nine days of each other,” she said. “Before mom came down with the flu that ended up sending her to the ER, she said that she wanted to keep the kittens… (and) didn’t want them to get cold.”
Eryn says her black kitties are very different than any other cats she’s had. They love to play fight and use their tail a lot for communication. Maybe it’s something they learned from their old pal, the blind raccoon.