Orphans come to us because their mother was killed deliberately (shot or trapped) or accidentally. While raccoons are considered pests by many, the damage we as humans do to their habitat is far greater than that they do to ours. We believe everything has a place, and that’s why we are committed to giving them a second chance.
Baby raccoons start out around 100 grams and eat up to seven times a day. They are fed 5% of their body weight so they don’t over eat – babies love to suckle and can easily eat too much when being bottle fed. They nurse more frequently with their mothers, but eat less at a time. If the cubs are overfed, they tend to get diarrhea and bloat; both conditions can lead to death.
Our raccoon milk comes from Fox Valley Nutrition in Arizona and is formulated especially for raccoons. Cubs are kept in small containers or boxes with heating pads set to low under only half the container. Cubs cannot regulate their own temperature and must be kept warm (although not too warm). Their eyes and ears are closed and they must be stimulated after each feeding.
Raccoons put on weight daily and must be weighed to ensure they are getting the correct amount of nutrition. As they get bigger, they continue to eat 5% of their body weight at each feeding, but they begin to eat less frequently. At about 250g, they eat only five times per day.
Raccoons’ eyes open at 21-22 days. They don’t see very well but start to become much more active and must be moved to a larger container such as a dog kennel. Once their eyes open, they start to urinate and defecate on their own and don't need to be stimulated. However, their blankets need to be changed more often! At this stage, we start to wean the cubs by introducing tasty foods such as mushy bananas. Raccoons love sweet food! Some food is left in the their kennel between feedings and they eventually learn to bowl feed.
The cubs become much more active and require bigger kennels and start to learn how to climb once they reach about four-six weeks old, or 300-550 grams. We provide them with natural toys such as logs, small stones and pine cones. We also gradually introduce new foods such as boiled eggs, other soft fruits, cooked sweet potatoes and little pieces of cooked chicken.
When the raccoons are eating well on their own, we gradually reduce bottles from four times per day down to none, all the while providing food in bowls. We also begin to introduce small fish into their diets and other natural foods (shell fish, clams, etc.).
The Bandit Ranch is really my house in the city and I accommodate the raccoons inside when they are small. As they grow and require more expansive accommodation, they move to bigger pens in my garage and eventually outside where their cages contain small water pools, hammocks and plenty of climbing opportunities.
Wild raccoons raised in captivity could be set free at about four-five months. We generally get most of the cubs in late May through to early July, meaning that release should take place in October. However, the relatively harsh winter in Saskatchewan means that the young raccoons would not likely survive on their own with a hard release. Therefore, we overwinter all our raccoons and release them when the snow melts and conditions are more favourable: typically in April or May.