Those Darn Raccoons

text and photo : Norma A. Hubbard (October 2012)
I am sure most of us in the valley have a love-hate relationship with raccoons (Procyon lotor). Who can resist those cute bandit faces and those tiny hand-like paws? I know I love them, but they are also incredibly annoying when they raid my birdfeeders, break my birdbaths (partly my fault for using pottery ones) and destroy some of my flowers.

This spring I found a mother raccoon with three kits in my garden shed, which isn’t surprising since they like quiet, dark places. I didn’t have the heart to evict them then, but as they grew I started making noise and generally letting them know it was time to leave, and eventually they did. However they did not go far, just into the woods behind our house, and when the mother raccoon got injured, she came to our backyard to die. I am sure she wanted us to take care of her family which was down to two kits. Sadly we buried her and then wondered what to with the babies. I knew they were too young to be on their own, but I didn’t want to capture them either. I wanted them to stay wild animals.

Eventually between local residents, Google searches, and a several calls to Urban Animal Advocates, I decided what to do – assist feed them. Assist feeding is apparently common with wildlife and is exactly as it sounds: provide food to help the animal live. Since mid-August I have been leaving dog food out for my “pets.” I was told not to let them see me putting the food out, yet this has proven harder than one would think. They wait for me and more than once my evening bandits have come to the front door asking for food! Each night I move the food more into the woods hoping they are learning to forage on their own as well. When spring arrives I hope they are able to survive on their own.

While I might jokingly call them pets, they are not pets, they are wild animals. Like any wild animal, they can be dangerous and they can carry disease. Currently the Quebec government has been trying to control the spread of rabies from other areas, like the US, by distributing more than 700,000 vaccine baits in the Montérégie. Also during October they plan to capture raccoons alive, vaccinate them, and then release them. They have placed cages in our area, and if you should come upon any cages, please leave them alone and especially do not attempt to release an animal from these cages if found – the cages are checked daily by professional wildlife teams.

A few things to note, while raccoons do sleep more in winter, they do not truly hibernate and may be active if the weather is mild or they are hungry. They often den in family groups which is why I am happy my sibling raccoons are still together. So as always, my philosophy is we need to share our space with our local wildlife. Love them or hate them, those darn raccoons are part of our area and, after all, they were here before any of us!