В долине Комок спасатели спасли почти 30 детёнышей енотовидных собак в этом году

MARS has rescued almost 30 raccoons this year in the Comox Valley Published 1:33 pm Thursday, August 13, 2026 MARS Wildlife Rescue has saved almost 30 raccoon kits this year. As of Aug. 13, MARS has 27 juveniles in its care. “These orphaned cases ranged from the mother was confirmed dead (body found at rescue location), or abandoned for over 48 hours,” said Natasha Davies of MARS. “One of these cases is that the mother was relocating five babies; she came out and took four individually back to another den, but never returned for the last after 25 hours.” The youngest of the raccoons this season was two weeks old. Its eyes were closed, and it was completely deaf. It would not have survived alone without care and intervention. Davies said the juvenile raccoons will be released at the end of September when they are speedy enough to evade predators, can climb well, and forage for food while being fearful of people. “We want our raised raccoons to be scared of people so that once released into the wild, human wildlife conflict is massively reduced,” said Davies. “Friendly raccoons do not have a success rate in the wild; we enrich our raccoons with greenery, toys, climbing structures, pools, and feeding enrichment. We also provide visual barriers around their enclosure to ensure they are not watching people, as this would desensitize them to human presence.” The raccoons’ instincts kick in pretty quickly, Davies says, and after one week of being outside during the pre-release conditioning pens, they are avoidant and afraid of humans. Two adult raccoons have also been rehabilitated and released back into the wild this year. As in most cases, both adults came to MARS in a much worse state than the kits. “The biggest reason for adult raccoons coming in is sadly high-speed vehicle impacts, or attacks from either other raccoons or from dogs,” said Davies. “We receive many calls about raccoons with rat traps stuck on feet, which can lead to amputations or infections.” Raccoons are moving closer to towns in the Comox Valley due to people feeding them in backyards. Davies says this is making the raccoons more reliant on people. It is also causing the raccoons to become more vulnerable. In captivity, raccoons are messy. Davies says the raccoons at MARS go through over 60 eggs per day. The raccoon pens are cleaned twice per day. When they were in the MARS ICU, the pens were cleaned three times a day. “Raccoons are potential carriers for roundworm and other parasites, so we use bleach-based cleaning protocols to keep everything as clean and as safe as possible, for both our critters and our caregivers. Raccoons need proper enrichment in care in order to develop properly and to ensure they learn important skills needed for survival in the wild. It is a full-time job to raise these critters and is not for the faint of heart. Most, if not all, of our staff have experience being diarrhea’d on by baby raccoons at one point or another,” said Davies. The raccoons are also microchipped at MARS. Any raccoons admitted are also scanned for microchips to see if any of them are returnees. If the raccoon was previously in the care of MARS, they will be released in the same area they were released in initially. MARS does not name any of its patients, especially raccoons. They are given a number on arrival, which is their identifying code for their stay. “Naming critters encourages emotional attachments, and we do not want our caregivers to bond with raccoons as it promotes a friendly interaction. We encourage our caregivers to growl and snarl at raccoons, making themselves as big and as visibly intimidating as possible. It sounds mean, but it is key to survival post-release,” said Davies. MARS spends hundreds of dollars for raccoon-specific formulas when they are young. When they are older, Davies says they spend hundreds of dollars on eggs and vaccines for them. “They are not the cheapest by any means,” she said. It is illegal to own a pet raccoon in British Columbia, or any native wildlife species. Trapping and relocating raccoons is also illegal. Davies offered four points to better protect Comox Valley’s raccoon population. – Stop feeding backyard raccoons and ensure bird feeders are out of reach (bird feeders with metal poles are harder to climb) – Secure garbage – Make sure rat and snap traps are secured (MARS receives lots of calls regarding raccoons with traps stuck on their feet) – Secure crawl spaces, attics, under decks and sheds during the fall and winter. They make ideal raccoon dens.