It all started when Amelia, our 35+ year old capuchin monkey, went out to sun herself on our deck. There was a bloodcurdling scream and Alison ran out to the deck to discover Amelia locked arm in paw with a raccoon twice her size.

Amelia has lived with us longer than both of our human children and we do tend to consider her as just another - albeit hairy and very short - kid. So, Alison did what any mom would do under the circumstances: ignoring her own personal safety, she faced off against the raccoon, grabbed Amelia, and with a few swift kicks, yanked Amelia away from the furious tussle. The raccoon retreated into the bushes adjacent to the deck.

At first, Amelia appeared physically unscathed, though clearly emotionally traumatized by the encounter.

(Imagine yourself sunning lazily on your deck - never having actually seen even a picture of a raccoon - and then being attacked by such a creature, more than twice your size.)

Once we noticed that the attacking raccoon was actually a young mother defending her three babies - actually three wriggling balls of fluff, cozily ensconced inside a 5gallon planter - we were somewhat reassured as to her motive for the attack. Given that raccoons are nocturnal creatures, an aggressive raccoon launching a midday attack is almost guaranteed to be rabid - this raccoon, on the other hand, appeared to be a perfectly healthy mom, in the act of defending her young, as any typical mom would do. Of course, you can never tell for sure.
It was only when, upon closer inspection, Alison discovered what appeared to be a tiny bite mark or scratch on Amelia’s leg, that there was renewed cause for concern.

A certified veterinary technician and a registered nurse, Alison did what one would consider to be the responsible thing to do - she called the US Department of Agriculture to ask for advice on the protocol for a post-bite prophylactic vaccine for small primates.

Wrong move.
(To be continued…)