Children at Stepping Stones Early Learning Center in Knoxville got an up close look at wildlife today. Three young raccoons were separated from their mother after she managed to get inside an outdoor pipe under a drain in the Stepping Stones lawn. The raccoons posed no danger as they first looked at their mother through the pipe before going one of the trees in the Stepping Stones lawn. Director Pam Mahoney says that they contacted the DNR about the situation. The DNR told her Friday morning that they didn’t want to interfere yet as they felt the mother was capable of getting out from the pipe herself.