A video to make you go "awww" and a personal story

This really touches me because I have experienced first hand what it is like to raise wild animals and then release them into the wild. You don't normally get the chance to see them ever again, and generally, they wouldn't remember you anyway. And for this to be a lion....an animal so large and generally seen as being aggressive....and for them to be told that there was no way he would remember them....

Yes, I'm touched. I remember one particular raccoon that I had raised and released. I don't mean just bottle feeding from infant state or wiping butts with warm water to stimulate the area so they could, um, do their thing. No, I mean even doing things like buying feeder fish and teaching them how to fish out of a bird bath. Picking wild blackberries and exploring unknown territory together.

One time while they were out by themselves, she climbed up a tree and got stuck. It wouldn't have been a big deal because they'd been out by themselves for large chunks of time before at that point, but there was a storm coming and she started getting scared. She was up there crying and fussing.....and then I started crying. I got my parents out there (yes, I was a "mere teen" at the time) as well because I really wanted her down and in my arms. I could only climb so far up the tree myself and after quite a while of finding new foot holds and begging her to just come down a little further to reach me (she kept trying to reach....makes me want to cry just remembering). Eventually, my dad switched me places and was able to get high enough to reach her.

She was my Baby Girl and oh how I miss her dearly.

What makes the story stand out from other animals I raised and how it relates to this particular story is that I had released her on our own property out back. Where we lived at the time, it was way out in the middle of no where (you could barely see the two nearest houses out in the far distance. We were surrounded by fields and way out back there was a pond, trees, and blackberry bushes, etc, so it was ideal.

Raccoons are night creatures, so there is no reason I would ever stumble across her, especially after she returned completely to her wildness. Long after she was gone, though, I was out back doing something....probably feeding the rabbits or a similar task. And there she was, halfway up a silo pipe. She was scurrying up and I said "Baby Girl?" She stopped and just looked me. We held eye contact for much longer than you can imagine and much less than what it actually felt like. I said a few more words of comfort and she walked on up the pipe, only looking back once, as I walked away to finish what I was doing. I don't remember if I cried at the time, but I know I've been reminded of the occasion more than once. She remembered me. I was her mama and unless you've ever felt a deep connection to your pets before or experienced what it's like to raise a living being like that, then you can't possibly know what I mean. I know there are many parents out there that would scoff at the idea and even shake their heads at the idea that animals are anything like human beings, so it's impossible to connect the two.

If you've been there before, though, you know. And I know.

And that video up top? It doesn't even begin to describe the feelings. Regardless, though, isn't it beautiful?

Here is another video. The beginning is the same so if you can skip through it if you'd like (I didn't want to, heh), but the end has some different footage.