A tiny raccoon was found on the side of the road and life didn’t look too bright for him, even after rescuing the odds didn’t seem to be in his favor since they couldn’t find any place for him in the nearby wildlife rehabs.

Little Hands was just a few weeks old when he was found all alone on the side of the road. It was early June, and all the wildlife rescues and rehabilitators in the area were already at capacity.

“When you ask what you should do with [an orphaned raccoon], they say, ‘Leave it alone and let nature take its course,’ or ‘You can take it to a vet and they will have to euthanize it,’”

A kind woman Nikki decided to do everything in her power to save that little animal, but she was working long hours and wasn’t home for a good period of time. She asked for help from her retired mother who for sure would love a sweet baby raccoon.

“The first time she bottle-fed him and he looked up at her, she just kind of melted,” Robinson said. “She treated him very sweetly early on because they like to be touched a lot. So she created a bond with him, even knowing he’d go back to the wild at some point.”

They decided to call the animal Little Hands and Nikki’s mom and the animal have been inseparable since then.

The sweet raccoon recovered during the next few months all thanks to Nikki’s mom’s efforts and finally, he was ready to get back in the wild.

“They get a soft release and go out on her property and live under the deck for a bit, and she’ll leave food out until they wander off and find their own way,” Robinson said. “But Little Hands remained friendly with the whole family and he was very kind and sweet with us.”

Little Hands is grateful and he visits the woman that took care of him from time to time even though it’s been roughly three years since they first met.

“Every day, she sits outside and waits, and even when they’re grown up, they’ll visit her and she just lights up and she just loves it,” Nikki said. “He wanted his snuggles, then he’d have his food and wander off.”