Stratford man surprised by raccoons in green bin

It's not what you expect to find when you open up your greenbin.

Kevin Colesthought something was amiss when he heard scratching coming from inside his Waste Watch compost bin at his home in Stratford P.E.I. on Wednesday morning. When he opened the lid and looked down he saw three baby raccoonsstaring up at him.

"They got in the can, they couldn't get out."

In the past, Coles has watched the mother raccoon stand on the can's wheels and use the handles to climb up, and then useher snout to get in.

"I've watched the mother 'coon do it all the time. She just gets up on the wheel and in she goes."

He figures the cubs did something similar.But once inside there wasnothing for themto grab onto to get back out.

Thebabies, whichColessaid wereabout the size ofNerfball,looked pretty sheepish when helifted the lid.

There was no signof the mother.Colessaid if there had been he would have been a lot more cautious getting so close to the cubs.

Cubs marched back into woods after being freed

"I wouldhave knocked the can over, and not betakingpictures."

Colesgently tipped over the bin with the open lid so the little onescould get out. He said the minute they were free theymarchedstraight back intothe treesto their den in the woods behind Coles' house.

People commenting on the Facebook post called them "trash pandas," and pests and said Coles islucky they didn't leave a mess.

But Coles doesn'tsee them as a problem.

"I don't mind them. I think it's pretty cool that they're around," he said.

"The compost is going to the dump. I don't feed them, but I don't tie down the cans."

Coles said his sons get a kick out of watching for them from the window every night kind of like nature TV but in their own backyard.

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