Would a raccoon try to comfort a lonely friend?

We think the answer is Yes, and we think this video proves our case.

It was a snowy night here in Austin (we don’t get to say that very often) and a teddy bear of a raccoon was sitting alone beside the water bowl. We don’t know what he was doing. Sitting and thinking about life? Whatever it was, he did it for quite some time.

A second raccoon wandered up the trail to the bowl and paused when she saw the teddy bear. They exchanged a glance, and #2 went over to say hello. The teddy bear was friendly but unmoved; he looked lonely, yet he seemed unenthusiastic about having company.

So the second raccoon moved away and, seemingly unsure of what to do next, and perhaps a little concerned about the teddy bear, she stayed for a while. She folded her hands into her tummy fur and sat there in the snow.

The pair shared an awkward minute or two, and then that was that, raccoon #2 headed off toward the creek.

We don’t know what was going on, but we’ve watched this video about 100 times and we think it’s one of the sweetest things we’ve ever captured on our cameras. It truly seemed that raccoon #2 wanted to comfort her teddy-bearish friend.

#texasbackyardwildlife