One night, in Indiana, RJ the raccoon tries to steal food from Vincent, a bear that has stockpiled for his hibernation. However, Vincent wakes up and catches RJ, and the food is destroyed in the ensuing confrontation. Angry, Vincent gives RJ an ultimatum: he will hunt down and eat RJ if the food is not replaced in one week. RJ agrees and realizes he needs help to pay Vincent back.

The next morning, a family of woodland animals, consisting of ornate box turtle and leader Verne, hyperactive American red squirrel Hammy, striped skunk Stella, North American porcupine parents Lou and Penny, and children Spike, Bucky and Quillo, and Virginia opossum father and daughter Ozzie and Heather, awaken from their hibernation on the first day of spring. They find that much of the forest they lived in has been turned into a housing development, which is separated from the little forest remaining by a giant hedge. The animals wonder how they will forage for enough food for the following winter. RJ meets them and encourages them to traverse the hedge and steal food from the humans. Despite Verne's concerns, the animals join RJ in stealing and stockpiling human food, not knowing he intends to pay off his debt. Gladys Sharp, the neighborhood Home Owners Association president, takes notice of the animal problem and hires exterminator Dwayne LaFontant to get rid of them.

Verne tries to return the food to avoid Dwayne. RJ tries to stop him, but the food ends up destroyed due to an encounter with the excitable dog Nugent. Verne tries to convince the family to not listen to RJ, but inadvertently insults their intelligence in the process, angering them and causing them to leave him in favor of RJ. That night, Gladys has Dwayne cover her yard in animal traps, including an illegal contraband device called the De-Pelter Turbo which turns the entire yard into a death trap when activated.

Verne apologizes to RJ for his actions and reconciles with the other animals. On the night before the moon is full, RJ sees that Gladys has bought a massive stockpile of food and enlists the help of the animals to invade her home and steal it. Hammy successfully disables the De-Pelter Turbo while Stella steals the collar of Gladys' Persian cat Tiger, which enables entry into the house's pet door, by posing as a cat and seducing him. The animals stockpile another wagon full of food, but right as they are about to leave at sunrise, RJ sees a can of chips called Spuddies and becomes determined to get them, as Vincent specifically requested them. While trying to justify his effort to get the chips, RJ lets slip his true intention for the food. At the same time, Gladys comes downstairs and finds the animals. Stella sprays the entire house and alerts Dwayne. RJ manages to escape with the food, while the others are caught by Dwayne, who takes them away in his truck to euthanize them.

RJ gives the food to Vincent as promised, but as he sees the exterminator truck driving off, he feels remorse for his actions. Determined to save them, RJ sends the food wagon careening into the car, knocking out Dwayne and freeing the animals, but enraging Vincent. Spike, Bucky, and Quillo take control of the car and drive it back home, and RJ rejoins the family after Verne convinces the others to forgive him. They crash the truck into Gladys' home and return to the hedge, but are attacked from both sides of it by Vincent, Gladys, and Dwayne. RJ manages to come up with a plan. He gives Hammy an energy drink, making the squirrel hyperactive enough to move at warp speed, which he uses to go and reactivate the De-Pelter Turbo, and RJ lures Vincent into leaping over the hedge to get him. But he puts on Verne's shell, protecting him from Vincent's jaws, and Verne pulls him out with a fishing line. Vincent, Gladys, and Dwayne are caught in the De-Pelter Turbo, resulting in them being blasted with a massive dose of radiation (which somehow manages to be seen in the observable universe) and trapped in a cage left in the ensuing crater.

Vincent is captured by animal control and shipped off to the Rocky Mountains, while Gladys is arrested for possessing the Turbo, and Dwayne is chased by Nugent while attempting to escape. RJ joins the woodland creatures' family permanently as well as Tiger, who remains in love with Stella even after learning she is a skunk, as he cannot smell. The animals' food storage is quickly replenished by Hammy, who finally finds the nuts he stored before the previous winter.

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