It was a pretty successful nature walk, especially since it took place in the not-quite-wilderness behind the Onset VFW.

Last Sunday, Vincent Sylvia took his grandsons John Sylvia, 5, and Vincent Gomes, 13, on a nature walk behind the Onset V.F.W., and they saw nature all right. In fact, they found four baby raccoons!

"It was crawling right over there" in the grass "squeaking," said Vincent about "Little Joe," the most adventurous member of the litter. Vincent quickly alerted his grandfather and cousin, and they found the three other raccoons nearby cuddled on the remains of a cardboard box.  The mother was nowhere to be found.

The three came back the next day to find the raccoon kits still alone and less active than the day before. They moved the cardboard box into a site sheltered from the rain and returned with milk.

"We used a booger unplugger to feed them milk," said John (a booger unplugger is a rubber bulb syringe)

Every day since, they have returned to check on the kits and feed them milk and, Wednesday, a little cat food.

"John's been very committed to feeding the raccoons," said John's mother Tiffany Lange.

John has been very worried about the raccoons, which he has named "Little Joe, Cocoa, Roscoe, and Coconut," said his mother.

Vincent said he a saw an adult raccoon, which he assumed was the mother, killed on the road, and John began listing off the possible dangers to the raccoons- starvation, coyotes, domestic dogs.

But they recognize the danger of handling the kits - even though the baby animals are cute enough to cause even the coldest heart to melt. Everybody has been careful to wear gloves or cover their hands when touching the animals, and there is a ready supply of antibacterial hand sanitizer.

John, however, is not concerned.

"I love nature," he said.

Wareham Animal Control Officer Carlton Wood said that this is the time of the year when many raccoon kits are found by humans.

"People are cleaning out their attics, opening up sheds and garages to get their lawnmowers out, opening up summer homes," he said.

Most of the time, the mother will be in the process of moving her babies one-by-one when these discoveries occur, so Wood wraps the kits in a towel and places them in a laundry hamper.

"Nine times out of ten, I'll check back and the mother will have found them and moved them," Wood said.

He was glad to receive the call said that John and his family had basically done just what he would have.  He often receives calls where things have gone awry, especially when raccoons have nested in a chimney and people try to "smoke them out..." (think about it: baby animals, fire, and gravity.  Not good). These events can bring everybody from the fire department, the environmental police, animal control and, sometimes, even interior decorators.

But Roscoe, Little Joe, Cocoa, and Coconut were lucky.  Wood picked them up on Thursday and got them into a rehabilitation facility.  He said that when they are ready, they will be returned to the wild.

"These guys actually made it through."