The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Raccoon

For those of you who crave a good mystery...

The caller I spoke with over the phone reported that she had seen the neighborhood children in her yard with an animal that turned out to be a baby Raccoon. When she questioned the girl who had it, the girl said it was from her Grandmother’s house. A man came to get the girl and told her to leave the Raccoon, she couldn’t have it. The child and man walked away while the woman tried to ask them about the Raccoon. We always try to re-nest Raccoons, but obviously she had no idea where it came from so she was kind enough to bring it to us from Muskego.

Later that day a man and woman came in with a baby Raccoon. The woman worked at a local veterinarian’s office and one of the vets had brought 2 baby Raccoons in and asked his staff if someone wanted them. They had cared for them for a few days, but now they were going on vacation and didn’t want them anymore. But there was only one baby now. The man was very indignant that someone had stolen one of the babies. I have never had a report of a stolen Raccoon before. He said he kept them on his porch in a kennel cab and one disappeared between feedings. Raccoons are great escape artists and we have had them release themselves from kennel cabs. But a toothless baby was pretty young for such a life of crime and besides, it wouldn’t escape and then lock its sibling in. The man demanded to know if anyone had turned in a baby Raccoon. We admit many baby Raccoons this time of year but no one had “turned one in as missing”.

But- wait.

I checked my admission record for the Raccoon left by the unknown child. Same town. Same street . Hmmm, I think we have a match. When I related parts of the conversation the woman had with the child, the man knew which child she meant from the neighborhood that lived part-time with her Grandmother nearby. The child had watched him feeding the babies earlier and had apparently come back and taken one later. So the siblings were reunited and the mystery solved.

I did explain to the man and woman that it is illegal to keep wild animals (not to mention ill advised unless you enjoy having your home torn up by a wild animal) unless they have the proper licenses from the DNR. They thought because a vet had given the Raccoons to them that it was ok. Even veterinarians must have wildlife rehabilitation or other wildlife licenses to possess wildlife. We will be contacting this veterinarian’s office to educate them on the subject and also to let them know that we are here if they or their clients have wildlife issues.

-Guest Blogger L.R

Memorial Day Weekend Marks the Beginning of Summer

Memorial Day Weekend marks the beginning of summer. People are picnicking in parks, grilling out with friends and family in their backyard, boating on the local lakes. What goes on at Wildlife In Need on Memorial Day weekend? I had so many phone calls Saturday that when I was talking to one person, the machine took 2-3 more calls.

Saturday we admitted:
1 infant Raccoon
2 infant Mink
4 infant Eastern Cottontail
1 infant bird
1 infant bird
1 Goldfinch
1 infant Raccoon
2 infant Mallard
2 infant Mallard
1 infant Raccoon
1 infant Raccoon
1 juvenile starling
1 infant bird
1 infant bird
1 infant Common Grackle

Sunday we admitted:
1 infant Raccoon
1 infant bird
4 infant Raccoon
1 adult Baltimore oriole
2 infant Woodchuck
1 infant Eastern Cottontail
1 infant American Robin
1 adult Eastern Chipmunk
2 infant Woodchuck
1 juvenile Mourning Dove
1 juvenile European Starling
1 infant bird
12 infant Virginia Opossum
2 infant Virginia Opossum
1 infant Raccoon
1 adult Eastern Cottontail
1 infant Blue Jay

Monday we admitted:
1 adult Common Grackle
1 infant bird
1 infant Blue Jay
1 infant Woodchuck
2 infant Woodchuck
2 infant Woodchuck
4 infant Mallard

* Infant birds are songbird babies I can’t identify in the office. Don’t be alarmed, Animal Care staff can identify these UFOs (unidentified flying objects) but I haven’t gotten those updates yet.

And a special thank you to Officer Pavlovich from the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department for rescuing the 4 Mallard ducklings from the median of I-94 near Grandview Boulevard in Waukesha. He even transported them in the back of his squad car to the Center. They were so cute sitting on his back seat I wish I had brought my camera! Law enforcement officials usually deal with human emergencies and the ducklings were a traffic hazard. But we often get calls from law enforcement agencies on wildlife issues as they too care about wildlife. It’s June, here’s to a Wild Summer!

Guest Blogger L.R.

Frolicking Fawns

Few things in nature are as cute as a week old fawn, but sometimes nature isn’t always pretty. As mentioned in a previous post the best thing to do if you see a fawn sitting alone is to resist the urge to interfere. Mother deer will frequently leave their fawns for several hours at a time as they are not strong enough to keep up with her as she forages. Unless the baby is showing obvious signs of distress you can be certain that the mother will return, perhaps closer to dusk when she feels it is safe to do so.
Because we have received a large number of calls regarding fawns in the past couple of weeks I would like to take this opportunity to expand on the discussion of what to do when you encounter these situations. First, we have an idyllic image of deer dashing through forests and grazing in wide open fields, but it is actually quite common to see deer in town, especially in quite, grassy subdivisions. It is also quite common, believe it or not, to find a fawn resting in your front flower bed one day. Don’t worry, in nearly every case the mother of this adorable creature with the biggest, wettest eyes you’ve probably ever seen will come back. Having helped raise deer for the zoo in my hometown when I was in high school, I can understand the urge to want to take up and care for this helpless babe, but its best chance at survival is to stay with its mother.
This is the case with all baby animals but with deer we face another issue: in Waukesha County (as well as many other Wisconsin counties) chronic wasting disease regulations do not allow the rehabilitation and rearing of deer. Remember, if a fawn is abandoned it will show clear signs of distress like running around and crying continuously. Even though we can’t raise them here, if they are exhibiting these behaviors for a long period of time (several hours or more) and they are young enough that they allow you to capture them, then they are too young to survive on their own and the outcome will be their starvation or a predator.
We want what’s best for each potential patient we take in and that means keeping them with their natural parents in their natural environment in as many cases as possible. If you have questions about a fawn or any animal that you think needs help, please contact us or a rehabilitator in your area before you do anything else.