She looked so different.
Last month, a homeowner in Nova Scotia, Canada, was stunned when she noticed an unusual bald animal holed up in her backyard.
“[My husband] went out to feed the cats, and it was hiding behind our generator box behind our house, and it kind of just came running out and scared the life out of him,” the homeowner, Jamie Forgeron, told CBC News.
According to CBC News, Forgeron and her husband feared the strange animal might be sick, so they took her to Hope For Wildlife, a local wildlife rehabilitation center.
“You may be wondering what kind of animal came in,” the rescue wrote in a Facebook post about the animal. “We’ll give you a bit of a hint: Without her fur, you can’t see her trademark facial mask.”
It turns out, the hairless visitor was actually a northern raccoon. The frightened little girl was suffering from a condition that caused her to lose her fur.
“[She] has a condition called alopecia — or, more simply, hair loss,” the rescue wrote in the post. “She’s actually completely bald.”
According to Hope For Wildlife, though this condition is often caused by “parasites, mange or fungal infections,” the raccoon seems to have relatively healthy skin.
Luckily, this raccoon, now affectionately named Rufus, according to CBC News, has had no trouble making friends with other rescue raccoons.
“Our bald raccoon patient has been accepted by the other raccoons,” Hope For Wildlife wrote in another Facebook post. “I guess if you’re naked then it’s good to have a lot of furry friends to surround you and keep you warm on cold nights.”
Rescuers are still trying to figure out what, exactly, is causing Rufus’ alopecia. It will take some time before they determine whether or not she can go back to the wild.
“Under good supervision and good diet, [she] may grow back some of [her] fur and [she] may be releasable,” Hope For Wildlife founder Hope Swinimer told CBC News.
Whatever the case, Rufus certainly doesn’t have to worry. For now, she’s happily bunking with lots of other rescue raccoons, who love her just the way she is.
