Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Help! We caught 2 little baby raccoons in our garage and don't know what to do with them.?

I'm guessing they are about 6 weeks old. I would think they are too young to be on their own, but no sign of mom. We have them in a cage and they are eating some cat food. Should we let them go and hope they'll find their mom tonight? Or are they too young to survive on their own (if the mom was killed)?Help! We caught 2 little baby raccoons in our garage and don't know what to do with them.?
Yes, DO let them go. The mother was likely closeby, as is the case 99% of times someone finds an 'abandoned' young animal.





You are doing them no good by keeping them as pets.Help! We caught 2 little baby raccoons in our garage and don't know what to do with them.?
Call a local Animal Rescue (Not Animal Control but one that says wildlife rescue). You can also call your local Humane Society. We take orphaned animals in all the time and get them to where they'll survive on their own with little human contact (because if they get used to humans they won't fear them and both can end up hurt). They will pick them up or you can bring them to them - they will get them to learn to eat and find food on their own and then release them back into an unpopulated by human area.
i obviously have no idea where you live but most cities or counties at least have a wildlife rescue program. you can contact you local animal control to get the number. they are dedicated to rehabilitating wild animals and letting them go. the mother may not welcome the babies back if she is still alive.....also it is very very unusual for mother raccoons to leave their young outside of the den. makes me think they were moving and the mother may have been hit by a car or some such. try the wildlife rescue. good luck.
You need to let them go, because mom is probably nearby, and if they are still around in the morning, call fish and game dept. Not the humane society, they deal with domestic animals. I used to work for a humane society.
Call your local animal control or game and fish people. They will know what to do. Keep a look out for mom as she can get very upset if she sees her babies caged. She should come around close to dark. She may have hidden them there during the day to keep them safe
I would definitely turn them in to animal control just in case the mother is NOT around. they will be cared for until they are mature enough to live in the wild once again.
call the humane society
definitely let them go...they'll be ok and plus they are wild
PLEASE, do NOT keep them! Raccoons are high risk rabies carriers! Not only do many carry rabies, they can also carry distemper and a parasite that attacks the central nervous system (I don't remember the name of it, sorry). The parasite is incurable, so is rabies. The parasite is passed through their stool, which means you are at risk every time you clean their cage!


Although they are too cute right now, they won't be in a few months, as they get older. Coons become very agressive. If you get bitten, the ONLY way to test the animal for rabies is to kill it and cut the head off, to test the brain tissue.


Also, if you raise them, then let them go, they may go up to people for food and such, because they are not afraid. The people they go near may think they are sick, not knowing they were hand raised, and they may kill the coons. This happened to my neighbor, who (stupidly) picked up a baby raccoon that walked right up to him. The baby had to be killed to test it for rabies and it turned out that it was actually fine. If he hadn't touched it, or it hadn't been hand raised by someone, this wouldn't have happened.


The mother coon is probably around somewhere. They don't tend to stay right with the babies all the time. They go off and hunt alone. Put the cage outside tonight and leave it open. Most likely, the momma will come and take them away. Meanwhile, DON'T touch the coons with your bare hands, or anything they have pooped on or anything they put their mouths on. You can catch rabies if they get their saliva in a cut on you skin too. It doesn't have to be a bite. Please, let them go, where they belong.
hehehe u should totally eat them!!!! lmao! jk, that wouldn't be nice. i think you should buy a little bottle and feed them cuz my friend had a pet racoon but the only bad thing was when they get bigger and u didn't tame them enough, they can get mean but as long as u work with them, it would be fine. also, they tend to try and run away alot. either keep them or let them go. if u let them go, chances r they will die cuz they're babies without momas...
If i was you i would keep feeding them till i know there old enough to survive on there on. . .maybe 10 or 12 weeks!


Good luck

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