Babies
After several months of hard work, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center staff and volunteers have successfully released all of the orphaned Raccoons that we raised this year!
Raccoons are orphaned for a variety of reasons: Some lost their mom to a car crash, others, when she was live-trapped and taken far away. Lost and alone, these poor babies wouldn’t have stood a chance on their own, but thanks to your support of our Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, we saved 72 orphaned Raccoons this summer!
Babies at the Wisconsin Humane Society
During their stay in our Wildlife Nursery, orphaned Raccoons are initially bottle-fed several times a day and their habitats are cleaned multiple times a day.
They are vaccinated and given veterinary care as-needed. Gradually they are weaned and moved to outdoor habitats. Outdoors, they get plenty of exercise, get used to outdoor conditions and they are given daily enrichment exercises. Wildlife staff and volunteers are careful not to over-handle the Raccoons so that they are wild and have a healthy fear of humans when they are released.
Releasing the Babies!
On release day, the Raccoons are transported to the country where they are released on private land with prime Raccoon habitat.
They spend their first several minutes in the wild climbing trees, playing in streams and sniffing out their new environment. After months under the compassionate care of humans, the Raccoons strike out on their own; healthy, well-fed and armed with the instincts that they need to survive in the wild.
