Sea Slug, the youngest, with Tommy behind her.

It’s been a surprisingly busy fall here at the Ranch.  We have an unusual number of babies still in care here at the end of October.  Normally all our young animals have been released by now and are well into their fall gorging on acorns, berries, nuts and other fine gleanings.

Back in late August we got in two youngsters brought by a family who cared so much about the little ones that were born under their deck that when the mother didn’t come back and they needed a place to bring up the babies, they insisted the babies return to their natal home for release.  That’s seldom an option for us, so we were delighted to send the juvenile raccoons back to their new home.  They are thriving with some support from this kind family.  They’re already spending more time independently ranging around and finding their own food.

And we still have four babies of sizes varying from 4 to 6 pounds!  One of the young raccoons was found tied to a tree in an Oakland front yard.  The people who had him weren’t able to handle him by the time he was a three-pounder, and probably didn’t know what to do with him.  Thankfully a neighbor called Animal Care Services, who picked him up and brought him to us.  The rope around his neck was tight, and soon would have impaired his breathing, so we were relieved to get him in time.  He wasn’t thin, but did not have the best nourishment, so his fur is not quite as thick and glossy as it should be.  Worst of all, he was without other raccoons, and was a frightened and very unhappy baby.  As soon as he was put with the other two raccoons, that changed immediately.  He is now a bouncing, cheerful juvenile and his fur is improving.  Meanwhile we got one more new youngster, and the two boys and two girls enjoy life like any group of wild young things.

Scout meets a fern.

These youngsters will be with us for a couple more months, until they too are released to be wild and free.

Many thanks to Cheryl Jimno of Rusty Hook Bait and Tackle in Pacifica, who lost no time in saying a big yes to a request for donations of fish.  Thank you, Cheryl!  We’ve been blessed with much help and aid from humans this year.  Look for our yearly newsletter in January if not before, to hear more about it.

Best regards, Megan

Hi Folks,

The beautiful, healthy and HEFTY juveniles will soon be released.  I asked them to pose for some family portraits before their big adventure, and here are the results:

In the Sun

Down in Front!

Family Portrait

Late Summer, and the Raccoons Grow Apace!

Many of our beautiful, healthy young raccoons are getting close to release age.  They spend their days napping on tree limbs, in hollow tree trunks, and even on the shelves in their rehabilitation pens.  They’ve become adept at finding spiders, jumping at moths, getting their own blackberries from the prickly bushes, and checking oak trees to see if acorns are ripe yet.  It’s a little early here for acorns, but they know that one day the ripe acorns will sustain them.   Meanwhile, they take full advantage of all the handouts they receive from their foster families, and grow rotund and sleek.

Three juveniles peer suspiciously from 15 feet, safe from dogs and humans!

A Very Happy Beginning for Two Orphans

Last week I got a call from some kind folks who found two very small raccoon babies crying in their yard.  A raccoon had made a nest nearby, and was bringing up her brood under the interested eyes of the homeowners.  One night she didn’t come home, and soon the babies, who are still nursing, came out crying.

Nancy and Jerry, the homeowners, gathered the babies up and began calling rehabilitation centers.  This time of year it can be difficult to find a center with room for more raccoons.  After a few calls, they found us, and thankfully we have space for these two little ones.  Nancy, Jerry and their two sons piled into the car with the raccoons in a box at 8 at night and drove over an hour each way to deliver the very hungry, very frightened babies to us.

Here are the babies, much more cheerful after a few good meals.

Warm and safe!

These are the luckiest babies of the season, because not only did they find fosterage, but Nancy and Jerry are happy to have them return to their original home for release.  Thank you, Nancy and Jerry, and everyone who looks out for the wild things!

Here’s an article I wrote recently, with advice about living with gently with our wildlife neighbors.

Megan Isadore, a wildlife rehabilitator with Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue (YUWR), is the owner of Good Riddance! Wildlife Exclusions, LLC.  We exclude wildlife from areas where they’re causing problems, and keep them out.  We use no toxic substances and do not kill or harm wildlife.  Part of our proceeds supports YUWR.  Email megan@goodriddancewildlife.com, phone 415-342-7956.

Our spring-green hills are turning summery gold, and wildlife babies are growing fast.  Consequently, our furred and feathered neighbors are extra-hungry.   Recently, my human neighbors have been frustrated by raccoons breaching their trash defenses in order to dine, leaving behind an almost human-sized mess.

Spraying white vinegar on the bins, placing rocks or bricks on top, and appealing to raccoons’ sense of civic responsibility do not work.  Bungee cords work.  Two bungees work better than one, and if you have especially pesky raccoons, three bungees may be necessary.

Cross one bungee from side to side, secure beneath the rim on each side.  Stretch the second and third bungees from back to front and hook over the handy round plastic pieces.

Bungee technique!

Raccoon-proof garbage!  My bungees work so well that I occasionally find raccoon-sized tooth marks in the rim of the bin, but never do their grabby little fingers reach inside.

Steve McCaffrey, a manager at Redwood Empire Disposal, assured me that while our doughty trash collectors would prefer bins not be bungeed, they would rather take bungees off the bins than find trash scattered around.  He says if your trash is left behind with an anti-bungee trash-gram, call Redwood Empire, and they will return for pick-up.

Pet Doors and House Guests

I receive calls almost daily on the wildlife hotline asking how to keep opossums, skunks and raccoons from using pet doors.  There are two ways to do this.  One, close and latch your pet door at night.  Two, purchase a radio-controlled pet door that only opens for an animal with the associated collar.  If you must leave the pet door unlatched, at least pick up food after your animals have eaten, so wildlife doesn’t find anything if they do come in.  Raccoons, skunks, opossums, and rodents consider any opening an invitation to enter, dine and den.

If possible, keep your pets indoors at night.  Pets are much safer in the house at night, and wildlife is safer from your pets.  Particularly in spring, please watch your cats if they go outside.  Fledgling birds often spend a couple of days on the ground being encouraged and fed by their parents before they’re able to fly well enough to escape cats.  Wildlife rehabilitators spend thousands of hours and precious resources caring for baby wildlife caught by cats.   Cat bite wounds almost always cause infections, reducing the survival chances of the animal bitten.

Wildlife Orphan….or Kidnap?

Another common question: if humans touch a wildlife baby, will its parent take it back?  Thankfully, yes.  Wildlife parents are no more likely to discard a baby that has human-scent than a human parent to dump a baby who smells like a bear.  Do, however, be wary of kidnapping wildlife babies!  Mother deer and mother rabbits park their babies on lawns, in doorways, in clearings, in flowerpots, you name it, while they forage for food.  The babies have no odor, so they don’t draw predators, and they sit and wait for the mama to return for them.  If you find a rabbit or fawn lying quietly, do not disturb it.  Instead, check back every few hours to see whether it’s gone.  If a baby cries incessantly, there is a problem and you should call your nearest wildlife rehabilitation center for advice.

Baby raccoons, on the other hand, seldom go out without their mothers, and if you see a raccoon baby alone for more than an hour or so, call your local wildlife rehabilitation center.  Try to put a laundry basket or a box over the baby so that it stays in place while you find it help, or until its mother returns.

Skunk babies wander a little bit…..so if you see a little skunk toddling around, observe it.  If its mother doesn’t find it, or it doesn’t return to its den, approach it SLOWLY, put a laundry basket or box over it, and call a rehabilitation center for advice.  If you move very slowly and stop for a minute if a skunk stamps its feet, you’re unlikely to be sprayed.  For extra precaution, hold a beach towel or blanket between you and the skunk, so that if it does spray, it will hit the towel.

Always wear gloves when handling wildlife, for your safety and the animal’s.  If you are bitten or scratched by a rabies-vector species (bat, fox, skunk, or raccoon), that animal will be euthanized and tested for rabies, whether or not it shows symptoms.  Any mammal can get rabies, as well as harbor parasites and other diseases.

Evicting wildlife from attics, basements, walls and crawl spaces should not be done without expert advice at this time of year, because most wildlife denning in these areas are nursing mothers.  If you evict a mother and close off her egress to the den, the babies will die slowly and horribly.   The mother will frantically attempt to get back to her babies, often causing a great deal of damage, and the dead animals will smell worse than you can imagine for weeks, and attract maggots.  If you have a mother denning in your home, call me or another wildlife rehabilitation center for advice on excluding her along with her babies, in a way that helps her survive with her family intact.  It’s illegal to trap and relocate wildlife, and it is no favor to the animals.  Finally, it won’t solve your wildlife problem, as there are always more wild animals to enter holes left unplugged.

While raccoons, opossums, skunks and squirrels sometimes cause a headache or two, they are truly among our most interesting and harmless neighbors.  Problems with wildlife are almost always solved fairly easily.  We humans have tools, and some of us are almost as smart as the animals themselves!

Bay Area Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers

WildCare (San Rafael)  415-456-7283

www.wildcarebayarea.org

Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue (Oakland)  510-421-9897

www.yuwr.org

Ohlone Humane Society Wildlife Rehabilitation (Fremont) 510-797-9449 http://ohlonehumanesociety.org

Sulphur Creek Nature Center (Hayward)  510-881-6747 http://www.haywardrec.org/sulphurcreek.html

Lindsay Wildlife Museum (Walnut Creek)   925-935-1978

www.wildlife-museum.org
International Bird Rescue Research Center (Cordelia)  707-207-0380

www.ibrrc.org

Rescued Orphan Mammal Program (San Francisco)  415-350-9453

www.sfromp.org

Hi Folks,

All the raccoons and humans survived the July 4th festivities very nicely.  My 8 growing babies all got chicken bones from a barbecue at my friend Todd’s house, so it was a big night for them.  Nobody set our woods on fire with fireworks, nor was there more than one very loud bang to frighten the raccoons.  They’re a pretty confident crew anyway.

The 8, from 4 different litters, range in age from 9 weeks to 11 weeks.  All are beautifully healthy, as are Jack and Amy’s big six.  The Sweeties, as the Six are known at their house, will be ready for release in another month, and we are seeking an excellent site for them, with water, lots of frogs, crayfish, oak and bay trees, huckleberry, blackberry, nut trees and if we are really lucky we’ll find some old wild apple trees to help them through the fall.  Releasing in the fall here in Northern California is a good deal for the raccoons, since the weather is still warm, and many of our fruits and nuts bear into December and even January.  And of course there are insects year round, so there is always something for raccoons to eat.  We will provide transition food for the raccoons, since they would normally be with their mothers through this winter, we do what we can to help them along.

Here are a few photos of the 8 smaller raccoons’ pen….it’s got jungle gyms made of tree branches, swings, a swimming pool, a slide…..as well as pine cones, shells, rocks and other fun toys to play with.  They’ll never have it this easy again!  All the young raccoons get live crickets and crayfish to help them learn that dinner runs away, and sometimes dinner even fights back!

Hi Raccoon Friends,

We are bursting at the seams with raccoon clients.  June is usually our busiest month, but June is not even half over, and we’ve already cared for 16 raccoons, 3 squirrels and one mouse.  

Fifteen raccoon babies are in care now.  Our newest orphans are two very beautiful young 2.5 pounders, who were dropped off anonymously at the Oakland Animal Shelter.  They were probably victims of an extermination, but we will never know.  They were obviously very well-cared for by their natural mama, with beautiful coats and a gorgeous layer of fat on their bodies.   Our milk substitute grows beautiful raccoon babies, but the ones who are with their mother longer always have more heft than our foster babies.  Raccoon mothers rule!

The two new kids are having a little trouble adjusting.  They sometimes awake crying with fear at being in a new place and with strange raccoons.  The group of 6, including Peanut and Nutella, are very sweet and welcoming, and have accepted the new babies into the group.  Thank goodness!

The whole crew is now outdoors, and getting used to their new pen.  Photos soon; just at the moment my hands are full with the 8.  

Last night another baby arrived in care at our Oakland site, dehydrated and emaciated.  We believe his mother was trapped and relocated, and that there may be other babies left behind.  Unfortunately we aren’t able to get to the property to find others.  Lila (Yggdrasil’s director) is working hard to ensure the new baby survives, but we aren’t yet sure if he will make it or not.  Every hour he lives and gets nourishment is a plus, though.  If all goes well he will join me on Wednesday.

Please, Fans of Rancho Raccoon, talk to your friends about volunteering.  We are desperately in need of more foster care volunteers immediately.  It’s one of the most fun things one can do for the summer!  Check out our website at www.ranchoraccoon.org, and Jack’s photos and videos through www.raccoonery.com.

Best regards, Megan

Here is the Peanut, who came to us from San Leandro, with his new pod-mate, Peanutella…..both are getting along very well, and don’t seem to notice each other much.  Peanut’s eyes have just opened in the last week, and little Peanutella has another week at least until her eyes open.

Both are doing what little raccoons do best:  eating, sleeping, eliminating and growing!  

Peanut, on the right, is bigger than his new sister.

and…..

Snoozing happily.

Check out the big(ish) five on their first walk outside their pen.  Jack, our intrepid volunteer and photographer par excellence, has made some lovely mini-movies of the babies as they grow.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iMDFR5q4lg

And our new baby is doing very very well.  His eyes have opened, and tonight he will get a new sister to be with him.  We never raise raccoon pups alone, as they need company of their own kind to properly socialize.  Raccoons learn best from their mothers, and second best from each other!

Hi Everyone,

Our tiny singleton raccoon graduated today, and went to live with Rancho volunteer Shirley, a retired nurse practitioner who will provide her tiny charge and his future pod-mates with a caring and stimulating environment.  The little guy, rescued by Dana and Brad, has gained almost 1/3 his body weight since he’s been rescued, and contracted a little eye infection even though his eyes are not open yet!  Baby raccoons rub their paws and claws over their faces when they’re tiny, and sometimes get an infection in their still-closed eyes.  It’s something we take care of with warm water soaks, and watch carefully to see that it goes away quickly.  I was just on the verge of taking him to the vet, when the infection drained appropriately.  He’s now a completely normal, healthy young fellow.  Hurray for young raccoons and their amazing immune systems!

We feel very lucky to have Shirley, a highly-skilled nurse, as his foster care provider.  I will soon be looking for pod-mates for this infant, whose eyes will probably open within a week.

Here’s Shirley with the baby.  Don’t forget, if you find injured or orphaned wildlife, always handle with gloves in case of  parasites or disease.  Even though there are almost no cases of raccoon rabies found in California on a yearly basis, raccoons are still considered a rabies vector, along with bats, fox and skunks, and we must all wear gloves when handling those species if there is any chance they may have rabies.  If there is a chance, and a human has handled them, they will be euthanized and tested.  Currently, euthanization and testing brain tissue is our only way of identifying rabies.   Because rabies is fatal to both humans and animals once contracted, it’s an issue that we take very seriously.   

Meanwhile, the first five siblings are doing extremely well, and have moved outside into their rehabilitation pen.  This is another graduation, and now their foster parents will concentrate on giving them the most stimulating environment they can, to help them grow into capable and confident juvenile raccoons.  Next post, I’ll have some photos of the Big Five!

Best regards, Megan

Helloooooo Raccoon Fans!

As some of you know, I’ve started a business to help support Rancho Raccoon and our wildlife center, Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue.  I’m pleased to report that after a great deal of paperwork, tool-and-equipment buying, midnight-oil-burning, and a little bit of tooth-gnashing, Good Riddance!  Wildlife Exclusions has not only been born, but is toddling along.  Please tell your friends….if you have difficulties with wildlife neighbors, give me  call at 415/342-7956.  We use our knowledge of wildlife habits and needs to gently and ethically exclude them from areas where they are causing problems.  We don’t trap and relocate, and we use no toxic substances.

Our first job couldn’t have been more heartening.  Dana and Brad called Yggdrasil to report finding a tiny raccoon baby left behind in their driveway after a mother had taken away another baby.  Raccoon mothers (and most wildlife mamas) almost always return for their babies, so we recommended they put the baby in a warm box with a heating pad under it, and let the mama take the baby during the night.  Dana got up every couple of hours all night to re-activate the auto-shut-off heating pad….now that is dedication!  Unfortunately, the mama did not return, and I went over to pick him up in the morning.  

The little raccoon was just a little dehydrated, and very hungry!  He’s about 10 days to a couple of weeks old, and seems quite healthy.  He is giving me quite a time, as he doesn’t really like any of the human baby bottles I’ve offered him.  Most raccoon babies don’t have much trouble nursing from human bottles, but this one is a bit….recalcitrant.  However, I happen to have the two little squirrels, so have been feeding him successfully from the same smaller bottles the squirrels get.  No worries, that little guy is determined to be as fat as he possibly can.  Fatness is something raccoon babies are very good at maintaining, given half a chance.

Dana and Brad are wildlife heroes….thanks to their good work, that baby is just fine, and will soon have a pod of youngsters his age to cuddle and grow with.

No photos of the new kid tonight, I’m afraid, as by the time I was ready to take them it was a little too dark and we don’t use flash with wildlife.  However, for a big treat, check out volunteer Jack Gesheidt’s photos of his foster raccoons:  

Photo:  Jack Gescheidt www.jackphoto.com

Pretty soon our new little guy will be holding his own bottle!  Jack and Amy’s babies were the same size as our new guy when they arrived, and now they are the fattest, rollingest, most contented little hipsters known to the raccoon world.  Hurray for raccoons!

For more of Jack’s raccoon photos, visit www.http://jackgescheidt.shutterfly.com/raccoonery

Best regards,

Megan