Disabled Wildlife

Disabled animals don't realize that they are handicapped: "I want to tell you a little bit about special needs raccoons (wildlife) and our disabilities. I have several handicapped raccoons, some are blind, and some are amputees, deaf and six with neurological (brain damage) from mild to severe.

While working with these animals all these years I have come to the conclusion that we are a lot like them except it's harder for a human to accept disabilities and overcome them. The difference I see is their uncanny ability to adapt to their disabilities so fast and not sit in a tree or den feeling sorry for them self's or holding a grudge against people places or things that caused their pain.

Over the years I have seen a raccoons in the wild living with eye's ripped out and legs missing or completely broken, but yet they adapted and continue their life. There are two kinds of pain we suffer, mental pain that no one can see and physical pain when we loose a limb, or go blind or deaf.

Does a animal have the same pains, do they have PTSDs when a coon hunter chases them through the woods at night to try and kill them for sport. Do they have PTSDs when they almost get hit by a car or hit and survive? These are my questions because I suffer from wounds and PTSDs, and I finally found the secret that makes living with this not a burden.

I spent 27 years as a military man and not once in those years was I able to sleep a complete night, I never got more than a hours worth of sleep, my wife used to wake up finding me in a corner or under the bed, I found gun shots, cars back firing and popping balloons would make me drop grabbing my air weapon. But now its better I can sleep at least three hours and my pain doesn't hurt as bad now. These raccoons with special needs help me as much as I do them, or maybe just me, they have taught me to adapt to my disabilities. So to watch them as happy as they are even though they are missing something shows me I can do the same. There is a high rate of military suicides, watch for new behaviors that are not normal for your loved one such as; Psychiatric problems 1. depression 2. dissociation 3. panic disorder. Self-destructive behavior. Clusters: avoiding reminders, reliving events, being on guard and Physical complaints. To me the key is animal therapy. I have worked with animals on and off for the last 38 years, I have learned a lot, for instance raccoons are like mini humans. Their socialize and behavior is extremely close to our own. As parents they are extremely maternal they teach their kits at a young age the same as we do, protect and survive these creatures have a lot of human tendencies. So the next time something happens to you check out the animals around you and see how they deal with life, it's a lot tougher than ours."