Stumped for what might be killing a dying raccoon, a Maple Ridge veterinarian tried naloxone. The critter was instantly revived, and going haywire in his office.

It was brought to him by one of the many Maple Ridge residents who get wildlife visitors.

Maple Ridge resident Ashley Bennett said a clan of raccoons lives under her back deck and frequents her back yard – a couple of mothers, each with four offspring – and Bennett's own four kids love to watch the playful varmints. She calls her place "The Raccoon Saloon," but has strict rules about no feeding, and no touching.

"We get to enjoy quite a few of them, and my kids adore them," she said.

So the Albion resident she was worried when on Nov. 8, two of them were completely unconscious – not moving, not responding to the screen door slamming, or even her tickling their heads.

She called Dr. Adrian Walton at the Dewdney Animal Hospital. He first referred her to the Langley-based Critter Care Wildlife Society, which deals with wild animals, but they were not open.

She called Walton back "like a weenie, crying," and he said to put the smallest one in a box and bring it in.

Bennet packed it up.

"It flopped lifeless into the box," she said.

Walton examined the lifeless animal in his office. It's gums weren't bleeding, so he ruled out rat poison. He took a swab from it's eye, and examined its skin, eliminating poisoning by other toxins such as antifreeze.

Walton feared the worst.

"It was just out of it," he said, and its heart rate was down to a low 40 beats per minute.

"We're going to lose this thing," he thought.

The raccoon's symptoms were those of an overdose, and on a hunch, that's what Walton decided to treat, using naloxone.

Bennett was not in the office when Walton gave it the shot, but she heard the result.

"No kidding, 30 seconds later you could hear it growling and the sound of glass breaking, and chaos," she said.

Walton reported it was like the scene in the Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction, when the dying Mia, played by Uma Thurman, gets a shot and is brought screaming back to life. The animal was literally bouncing off the walls.

"The next thing I know, I've got a raccoon rampaging around the office," he said, and he was kicking himself for not caging it first.

After a few minutes of trying to shoe it into a cage, the little raccoon went in of its own accord, and even pulled the door closed behind it.

Bennett said other raccoons showed symptoms of having been drugged, but they recovered without treatment.

Based on the success of the naloxone, Walton speculates the raccoons may have gotten into illicit drugs that were left out, or perhaps found prescription opioids that had been thrown in the trash.

He was grateful to Bennett for recognizing something was wrong, and helping the animal.

"Ashley is the true hero," he said.

Walton offered a word of caution about raccoons – injured or healthy people should not try to touch them. Although they are cute, and thrive in urban environments, they are wild animals that can be dangerous, and need to be handled with protective equipment.

"I've had them bite through my gloves," warned Walton, and he compared the threat level from an ornery raccoon to that of a 200-pound feral dog.

They can also be the host to parasites that cause severe illness in people.

"Don't touch them, contact Critter Care," Walton advised.