'Sopping Wet, A Bit Cranky': Raccoon Rescued In Peninsula Waters

FOSTER CITY, CA — The San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department and the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA helped save a small raccoon from drowning on Monday in a lagoon in Foster City.

The baby raccoon was likely crossing a bridge with her family near Catamaran Park when she fell into the water. The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA received a call from a resident who spotted the raccoon in the water. The animal shelter then called the fire department, which sent a boat and a few staff to help with the rescue. Together, both agencies rescued the raccoon using a net and brought her to shore.

The raccoon was evaluated at PHS/SPCA’s Wildlife Care Center in Burlingame and she was not hurt other than “being sopping wet, and a bit cranky,” according to Buffy Martin Tarbox, the communications manager for PHS/SPCA. She was returned to her family, where Tarbox said her mom “seemed to be giving her baby a reprimand for all the fuss she caused.”

According to Tarbox, raccoons can swim, but this little one was trapped in the lagoon. One side of the shore was too far for her to get to, and the other had a levee wall that would’ve been too far for her to climb.

The animal shelter said that the animal rescue didn’t compromise the availability of engines for human emergencies, as the San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department has two engine companies stationed in Foster City.