Lizzie came to GCWR in late May as a six week old raccoon,  frightened and in pain with a broken front leg.  She had been on a driveway for two days before a concerned citizen called us. We took her to Companion Veterinary Clinic. Dr. An Labarre X rayed her and determined that the leg had to be pinned, She called in Dr. Bonnie Coyne, an orthopedic specialist and a pin was used to set the bone. There was a very real possibility that the pin could work its way out of the bone and through the skin.

If this happened in the wild she would not survive. We asked Fish and Game for permission to keep her as an educational animal and permission was granted. Lizzie lives with me as an animal ambassador. She goes to schools, civic groups, the Nature Center and various other organizations along with Aaron Bendavid, Spud the Great Horned Owl and Otis, the Screech Owl, to teach the public about our native wildlife. Lizzie was 4lbs. when she came to us and she is close to 20lbs. now and still growing. She does very well at presentations, but to keep her handleable I bring her into the house every day for at least 2 hours. I started out keeping her in much longer, but to keep sanity in the household, I try to keep it at no more than 2 hrs. I can't stress enough the difference between a domestic and a wild animal. When she is with me I can't take my eyes off her.  She wreaks havoc, will steal anything that is not nailed down,  along with some things that are. I have had to put all cookies and crackers in "Lizzie proof” jars. She can open any cupboard in the house. One day I happened to take my eyes off of her for a second, and she disappeared. I went downstairs and there she was, sitting up like a bear, arms wrapped around a very large tri tip roast that was in the fridge defrosting;  going to town on it as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Lizzie is a joy and we all love and respect her as our ambassador, but as far as being a good pet; on a scale of one to ten, she is a one. She is exceptional, not every wild animal would do well in captivity. I must say she seems content. We wouldn't keep her if we thought she didn't have the quality of life that she deserves.