Twins Double the Fun: Two Fur Balls Join the Family
Twins double the fun!
The Family adopted an orphan raccoon every summer.
One spring they found two masked fur balls
and that was the best year yet!
A true read-aloud pet story for littles.
Reggie and Rascal Raccoon were born in May.
At least, that’s when the Family found them.
Two furry “masked” babies, curled up in a little nest, snuggled together.
The nights still got a little cool, so Dad put a straw bale over their nest to keep them warm.
But every day Brother (6), Sister (9) and Big Sister (she was in 8th grade) checked on them.
They made sure they had water and food.
Reggie and Rascal loved puppy chow.
Spring became summer, and the fur babies learned their names.
They loved to play hide and seek with the Family.
The masked twins were double the fun!
Get the Masked Twins Watercolor Print here. ⇒
Then something happened.
Big Sister fed her chickens at the same time every morning.
She threw the corn out on the ground and the pretty red hens pecked it all up in minutes.
One day Big Sister noticed something. One red hen didn’t appear at breakfast. Where was she?
Big Sister called and clucked, she searched the hen house, she searched behind the barn.
All day the Family kept looking for the hen.
But she was gone.
A few days later another red hen was missing.
Big Sister bit her lip and wondered. She told Dad.
Dad’s smile went away. He was sad.
“It must be Reggie and Rascal,” he said.
Because he knew that’s what raccoons do. They like to hunt and catch their food.
“Reggie and Rascal will have to go,”
Dad quietly told the Family.
They talked about it for a few days, and prepared their hearts to let the little brothers go live in the wild.
One evening Dad and Big Sister were ready, although they weren’t happy about it.
They called the pet raccoons.
This time Reggie and Rascal didn’t come.
The Family searched and searched, but could only find Reggie.
So they tucked Reggie in the pickup with them and drove to a little river a few miles up the road.
Because raccoons like rivers. They always wash their food before they eat.
Dad and Big Sister watched as Reggie explored the new place, running in and out of the grass, having fun.
It was hard to go home and leave Reggie, even if he seemed happy.
The next day they brought Reggie more dog food to make sure he wouldn’t get hungry before he learned to hunt for his own food.
They called, and Reggie was high up in a nearby tree.
Reggie scrambled down the tree and came to say hi in his raccoon way.
Then he ran off into his new home again.
Twins Double the Fun.
The next day the Family found Rascal, and took him to be with his brother.
They parked the pickup on the bridge and called Reggie.
Again he came scrambling down his tree when he heard them.
Then he saw Rascal standing beside them.
Reggie dived into the river, and swam straight across to the end of the bridge,
because this was the fastest way to his brother, whom he hadn’t seen for a couple days.
Reggie and Rascal quivered with excitement.
They stood up on their hind legs and wrapped their “arms” around each other in a big furry animal hug.
The hug lasted a long time.
Then the two happy raccoons ran off around the river bank
and climbed Reggie’s tree together.
The Family believes they are still out there, living happily beside the little river, in their home in the tree.