Raccoons and Restoration

Yesterday, on its Facebook page, the Hudson Police Department reported the rescue of two baby raccoons that had fallen from the roof of a house on Allen Street.

The baby raccoons fell from a nest that was behind the plywood covering the cornice at 212 Allen Street.

This morning, the plywood, installed decades ago probably to "modernize" the house, was removed to reveal the same bracketed cornice found on the other three houses in the row still intact below. We have the baby raccoons to thank for this unveiling!

This row of houses is of interest because they were built in 1867 by local builders Avery and Hildreth. As were several other houses in Hudson that were constructed that year, they were  built "on spec." The lot on which they were built was owned by pioneering local photographer Frank Forshew, who probably also had a financial interest in their construction and subsequent sale.

Regarding the raccoons, Gossips learned that the mother raccoon and another of the kits had been trapped in the neighborhood a couple of days earlier. Left alone, the two babies probably ventured out to look for their mother and try to find food and tumbled to the ground. Although it's unlikely they will ever be reunited with their mother, the kits are safe with a wildlife rehabilitator in Livingston.
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