Watch Wilmington Animal Control Save Four Baby Raccoons

WILMINGTON, MA -- Wilmington Animal Control Officer Christopher Sullivan was on his way to work Friday morning when he got a call to pick up a dead raccoon. It was a typical start to a typical day for Sullivan...until it wasn't.

After he collected the body from Church Street he got a call from Billerica-based North East Wildlife Animal Rehabilitation Coalition inquiring about the raccoon. That group had gotten a call from Lisa Dahlquist who was concerned about the raccoon and worried it may have been a mother raccoon she had been watching the previous day.

"On Thursday afternoon I noticed two tiny baby raccoons had fallen out of the den that the mother had secured in a hollow tree on our property. I became very concerned as they were exposed to many dangers just lying on the ground as they were too young to climb back into the tree. I could see the mother napping in the den and was a bit concerned as to why she would just leave them on the ground," Dahlquist said. "I watched and waited for a few hours and after it became dark we were able to witness mom carry each baby back into the den. It was amazing to watch and we were relieved that they were back with mom in the den and out of danger and the elements."

But when she saw the dead raccoon on Route 62 Friday morning, she became alarmed. That's when the call to Sullivan was placed.

The nest was 15 or 20 feet above the ground, and Dahlquist and Sullivan had no way of knowing if the babies were still there. So they called the Wilmington Fired Department, who were able to lend heir thermal imaging camera to the effort. The firefighters climbed the tree to confirm that there were indeed four baby raccoons in the tree.

A woman who works for Billerica-based North East Wildlife Animal Rehabilitation Coalition -- and don't anyone ever tell you there's a "normal" day when you work for a nonprofit -- climbed the tree and lowered them down to Sullivan, who put them into a carrier. The Coalition will rehab the babies until they are able to be released into the wild.

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Photo by Wilmington Animal Control. Video by Lisa Tucci Dahlquist.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).