Raccoon on the Roof

Less than a foot outside the window of our appartment there is a tree that functions as a squirrel highway with two way traffic from and to the roof. Two days ago, a huge furry thing came climbing down. When I stuck my head out the window, the raccoon looked up at me, like "what 'r you lookin' at?". Yesterday we saw it again, climbing up.

This morning, when I got home from the dentist, I saw a pest control van parked in front of our building. I parked the car, and when I passed the storm drain I saw a small and unhappy raccoon sitting there. It didn't run, just sat there. I asked the guy from the pest control van if he was here because of the raccoon on our roof. He confirmed that, and added that he "had taken care of it". Helpful as always I pointed him to the little one sitting near the storm drain. He thanked me and said he would see to it.

To say that the scared face of that little furry creature has been haunting me since would be an exaggeration, but I did feel some unease. The pest control guy had just "take care of" its mother, and now I had betrayed it. I try to tell myself that it probably had no chance to survive without its mother and that at least it wouldn't painfully stave to death. Not real comforting for this vegetarian...