It isn’t often you will see one of these nocturnal creatures out and about during the day. If you do, there is usually something wrong and sadly, I suspect that is the case with this raccoon.
When I first saw it, I was of course a bit excited to get the opportunity for some pictures. As I snapped away though, it was clear something wasn’t right.
It never even looked at me, never showed any fear. It was completely non-aggressive and just didn’t look okay. Given its symptoms, I suspect it was suffering from distemper.
While I understand things like this are part of nature and I have certainly seen some gruesome stuff, it doesn’t make it any easier, especially given that the poor thing was suffering. I talked to a ranger about it and they were going to investigate and handle accordingly. :'(
