Raccoons

People who find baby animals often think that the animal needs help and they usually want to take them to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Most of these babies are under the watchful eyes of their parents and often should be left alone. It is important to realize that a baby animal's best chance for survival is to be raised by its natural parents.

Only the parents can teach their offspring everything they need to know about food selection, predator avoidance, and socialization. Wildlife rehabilitators can only approximate these conditions at best. It is therefore imperative that you make every effort to reunite the parents with their wayward children before considering removing the orphan from the wild.

Do not attempt to raise an orphaned wild animal by yourself. Please call a wildlife rehabilitation center near you for advice before picking up a baby animal.