Summer and Fall of 2011 – 18 orphaned raccoons from a very young age. All but two of them were released. Raccoons require a lot of care, as they develop very slowly and take a long time to reach an independent stage. In the wild, some raccoons will stay with their mom through their first winter. 
Although they do not hibernate, they will seek shelter in the den they were raised in until mom kicks them out the following spring to raise a new litter.
These photos show two of this year’s raccoons being released back into the wild.
Some objects, like this rock, they are experiencing for the first time. At first they are timid, but they quickly adapt to the environment around them.
These raccoons have a nice thick fur coat and extras stores of fat to give them the best chance of surviving their first winter on their own, since mom is not around to help.
All photographs are courtesy of Ashley Kramer, Student Intern.
I have been feeding raccoons in my back yard for years. Have even been able to pet tiny babies. Last night a brown young raccoon showed up to eat. It had white tuffs of fur on either side of face, snout seemed long and pointy. Tips of ears were white, tail was light brown with dark brown rings. It was not afraid, I think it was from the litter last year I had been petting. Is a brown raccoon unusual?
Hi Lori,
Raccoons can come in many shades of brown, grey and black. Sometimes we even see ones that are so light that they look blonde!
We STRONGLY DISCOURAGE you from both feeding raccoons and touching them. Offering them food may seem beneficial, since it provides them with nutrition, but in the long run it is severely detrimental to their survival. It teaches them to associate humans with food, and raccoons that hang around humans are considered to be nuisance animals or possibly rabid since a loss of fear of humans is not normal. When that happens, Animal Control Officers are usually notified to euthanize the animal. All animals (especially wildlife) can carry diseases that are contagious to humans, and raccoons specifically have two diseases that can be fatal! We encourage you to observe wildlife from a safe distance and minimize your interaction with them. An appropriate fear of humans and a natural diet that is foraged for in the wild will give these raccoons the best chance at survival. Its the healthiest thing for both you and the raccoons.
Dr. C
dr.C,,,,,just curious,,can u tell me when the last time a coonie show’d up with these so called deadly desease???being a vet,,,,u should know they get that desease only if bitten by another mammal w/that desease,,,furthermore they are not contagious until the very last week to 72 hours of that desease…..Furthermore this whole malarcy of not feeding.Well we live in wisco,lived in polands springs though,,,anyways are lovely d.n.r. had the same theory about are deer,,,don’t feed the deer they will get c.w.d.since people had stopped feeding deer it got a whole lot worse,,the deer do not have the nutrition to repair themselves..So we said tough and started feeding again,,,well we have had over 25 healthy deer now in our little area and not 1 case of cwd since we started feeding again,,hmmmmm kinda blows there ,”theory” out the window,,just fyi .mary
Hi Mary, Dr. Cartoceti just left us to start his residency at UC Davis in Pathology. Check out the post on the front of our webpage that gives more info. We will miss him so very, very much.
The Center veterinarians have, sadly, seen some of the diseases that Dr. C wrote you to you about. This year is no different. Raccoons are the most amazing and wonderful of beings. We are quite partial to them too. At the Center, we want people and wildlife to interact, we just want to make sure interaction is safe and appropriate for both animal and human. We especially want to dispel myths about raccoons and stereo-types that end up hurting raccoons. It is a tough balance. People will not protect what they don’t know, but understanding healthy boundaries of obtaining that knowledge can sure be a challenge. Thanks so much for getting in touch. If you want to talk in more detail, please email our new wildlife veterinarian Dr. Adamsky at newildlifecenter@gmail.com He will respond to you as soon as possible. Thanks again for opening up an important conversation. Have a good Wednesday. Best, Katrina E.D.