On a weekday morning I received a radio call to talk to the manager of a child care centre on the property. Upon arrival I found a nice young woman name Meredith who advised that there was a raccoon spotted inside the centre.

Weeks earlier, footprints had been seen and holes began developing in the ceiling as it chewed the corners out of the tiles to peer into the rooms below. It was thought that it was able to enter the centre via a hole in the wall due to construction on the outside of the building. A trap was set by pest control but nothing was caught so everyone assumed that sealing the hole fixed the problem.

On this morning however, Meredith told me that while the kids were sitting down to eat their morning snack, the little bugger stuck his head down through a hole in a ceiling tile and made eye contact with them. The room was evacuated but I knew that the walls didn't continue above the drop ceiling and that the critter was free to roam wherever he wanted.

Since it's very likely the landlord's fault that this trash panda had entered the centre via a Landlord construction project, I immediately called pest control to have them double time it down while we knew it was home.

Within 20 minutes Pest control arrived in the form of Jake. Jake was a young man who smelled like the last animal he wrangled. The smell was interesting and had hints or skunk and urine. He had brought a large cage and a can of Tuna which he kept on the dash to keep warm. He was quickly and discreetly ushered in to do his thing. He put the cage up inside the drop ceiling on top of a wall for support and said to call him as soon as it's in the cage.

When asked how we'll know if it's in the cage he smiled and said "don't worry, when it happens, you'll know". His response was reassuring but really made me wonder what we were in for.

Approximately 30 minutes later I received a radio call to return to the centre because they believed that the raccoon was in the cage. I attended to find Meredith electric; her eyes were lit up like a child trying to get away with something. I could hear it; banging, screeching, scratching, hissing. The kids had been removed from the area and paid surprisingly little attention to us.

Meredith explained that the first parents would be in to pick up kids in 30 minutes and she needed it gone yesterday. I volunteered as tribute. I had seen Jake set the trap, I knew what the cage looked like, and I knew of places I could hide a raccoon for a while until his return. If I could just get it out of the ceiling and into a closet then we wouldn't have to tiptoe around anymore.

I grabbed the nearest ladder and headed up with unshakable confidence. I pushed the tile up to see a set of the biggest, beadiest, angriest eyes I have ever seen. Worse, he could reach through the cage with his filthy little paws. I was shook.

Jake was called and was given instructions to park in the back and call me when he arrived. In the meantime, the beast was beginning to claw through the ceiling tiles by reaching through the cage. The weight was taken by the wall it was sitting on but because of the length of the cage, the ceiling tiles on either side were imperative for balance. We were concerned that the cage was going to fall through if he clawed up anymore of its supporting ceiling tile, so it was braced with an extendable squeegee pole which I must say was an impressive improvisation.

I had a moment with the raccoon where he looked down through the cage and demolished ceiling tiles right into my eyes as if to plead for mercy. Perhaps praying to whatever raccoon gods could turn back time or get him out of this mess. I wasn't mad, I was just disappointed and I think that hurt him more.

Jake arrived within 30 minutes and again was escorted into the space quickly and discreetly. He was caviler about retrieving the animal. He used a pair of channel locks to keep his fingers away from the cage and pulled it out of the ceiling in no time flat. Unfortunately, a parent arrived to pick up their child just as the cage was coming out. Meredith came vibrating down the hallway hissing as us to keep it down and close the door.

We waited while the parent collected little Johnny unaware of the events which were taking place 20 feet away. I wondered how the large holes chewed into the ceiling tiles went undetected for so long by parents. When you have a child you obviously look down a lot.

Once the parent was gone, we tossed a blanket over the cage and ran out of the centre down to the getaway vehicle. Jake said that they are supposed to kill raccoons captured in urban centres but he takes them out of the city and releases them on his own time. Jake seemed like a good guy, maybe that scent of skunk and urine is actually just his cologne he wears because of his love for animals. We'll never know.

The ceiling tiles were replaced, the hole was repaired and the parents were none the wiser.

What did I learn? - There were many people on scene who were educated in their own ways. Jake couldn't look after preschool aged children, Meredith couldn't secure the building, and I sure as hell couldn't remove a raccoon from the ceiling. Any one might be able to do a job but, if you have an expert with experience, knowledge, and tools, the job because so much faster, safer and easier.

Also, child care centres will do anything to keep operating and not let parents know what's going on inside.