It is important to know that a raccoon living inside your attic, porch, shed, or garage will almost always have babies with it

If you find a raccoon (or any other animal) living in your attic, shed, porch, or basement, and you are concerned, contact Wild at Heart right away and we will help you! We will work with you to find friendly ways to help you prevent wildlife from moving in and what to do if one has already taken up residence.

The Wild at Heart Wildlife Refuge Centre in Lively is seeing increasing numbers of orphaned raccoons this year. People are finding raccoons nesting in their attics, garages, sheds, porches, and under their decks and will remove the mother from their property by trapping and relocating her. Almost always at this time of year the homeowners will then find a litter of babies or "kits" afterwards and will bring them to our centre. This is a preventable issue that we see every year. It is important that people know about the harm they are inflicting when they relocate raccoons without looking for babies first. Always call us before taking any action. There are humane and safe ways to remove mothers and their kits.

This year, the influx of orphaned raccoons started earlier than usual with four litters having already been brought to our centre. These babies become orphaned because of human intervention. When people relocate raccoons, they often don’t realize that that raccoon may have been caring for babies. Many people will not find any babies until after they have relocated the mother. They will then bring us the babies with no possible chance of reuniting the family back together. This causes much stress on the mother and the babies, and can be fatal to the babies if they are not found in time.
. We want people to know that there are safe and effective ways of preventing wildlife from nesting on your property. Always call Wild at Heart first before taking any of these steps. We can help you assess your individual situation and find solutions:

1. Wildlife, just like humans, will live in areas where they have access to their basic needs: food, water, shelter, and space. Many sheds, garages, and attics are perfect shelters for raccoons to nest if there are holes where they can get in from outside. The easiest way to prevent raccoons from living in your space is to block entryways to sheltered spaces so that the raccoons will have to find somewhere else to nest in the spring. Call Wild at Heart first before you do this to ensure that you are not trapping any wildlife inside.
2. Relocating is often not an effective way of solving a wildlife issue. Most times, when you relocate a raccoon to a different area its chances of survival are reduced by over 50%. They are put into an unfamiliar place and do not know where to find food, water, and shelter. They also have to fight for space in an area where another animal has already established its territory. In addition, when you relocate a raccoon, another raccoon is likely to move into the same place because you have provided them with opportunities for shelter.

If you find a raccoon sheltering on your property, remember that there is a good chance at this time of year that is has a litter of babies so call Wild at Heart if you are concerned. We will work with you to find safe and effective solutions to benefit everyone involved: (705) 692-4478 or email us at mail@wahrefugecentre.org. Click Here for more on “What to Do If…” you come across wildlife that you are concerned about.

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