08/12/2025
This is the face of a very ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ผ๐ป who was unfairly and unexpectedly taken from her home. This isn't uncommon, it happens all day every day around the country because so many have been raised to see these beautiful creatures as ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ฅน๐ก๐ชฐ
๐๐ฒ๐'๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ.
Repeat after me:
"๐น๐จ๐ช๐ช๐ถ๐ถ๐ต๐บ ๐จ๐น๐ฌ ๐ฝ๐จ๐ณ๐ผ๐จ๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ถ๐ต๐ป๐น๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐น๐บ ๐ป๐ถ ๐ต๐จ๐ป๐ผ๐น๐จ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ต๐ฝ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ฌ๐ต๐ป๐บ."
When we visited the homeowners who trapped the albino raccoon this past weekend, I feel like there was a lot of information we were able to give them, up to and including visiting ourselves to help, to show them that they could coexist well on their beautiful property with the amazing wildlife. They really are lucky to call that land home (both the humans and the animals).
Now I want to share some of that information with you.
๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐๐จ. They generally can occupy the same space without consequence, especially if everyone is healthy and fed.
๐ฆ If you have a large piece of land, you can ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐ to encourage raccoons to eat farther away. One of our sub volunteers, Denise, is a master at creating safe spaces for wildlife on her property. Dog food is healthier for raccoons than cat food as a general rule of that's all you have.
๐ฆ You may have heard that Raccoons are normally only outside in the daytime for two reasons. 1. They have babies or 2. They have rabies. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ 1979, ๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ in this instance. This is a great reason to leave them be because they are grieving mothers who will go crazy missing their babies if they are separated. There are other reasons they might be out in the daytime, so it's not really cause for alarm.
๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ก, ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐ smells like ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง and ๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ in natural form or essential oils (or even coyote urine if you are desperate- ๐๐ข๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐๐/๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ง), and lights and sounds such as a ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ-๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐๐, or even periodic ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก๐จ. If they experience these things they will grab their babies and high tail it out of there. You have to give them time to find a new den if they don't already have one.
๐ฆ If you do feed your own animals outside such as cats and dogs, ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ to discourage raccoons from looking for leftovers.
๐ฆ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ก ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐ because you don't want them to become dependent on you as a source for food. This will kill them when they no longer have your handouts available to them and they don't know how to hunt for themselves any longer. Keep this in mind, nobody is invincible or can guarantee forever.
๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ช๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ฎ yourself, you have 24 hours to release it on a piece of land in the same county where you have been given permission. The problem with this is ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ because they don't know the new area at all for food, shelter, or how to avoid predators.
๐ฆ ๐พ๐ฌ ๐พ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ฌ๐น ๐น๐ฌ๐ช๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฌ๐ต๐ซ ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ป๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฐ๐๐จ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ถ๐ญ ๐จ ๐ท๐ฌ๐น๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ป๐ณ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐จ๐ณ๐ป๐ฏ๐ ๐พ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ซ ๐จ๐ต๐ฐ๐ด๐จ๐ณ ๐พ๐ฏ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ด๐ท๐ณ๐ ๐ป๐น๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ ๐ป๐ถ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฝ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ต ๐พ๐ฏ๐จ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ป๐ป๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐จ๐ต๐ซ ๐พ๐ฌ'๐ฝ๐ฌ ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ป ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด.