15 Northern Raccoons are currently in CROW’s care. All are infants, requiring bottle feeds, enriching activities, and around-the-clock care.

CROW’s two youngest raccoons (patients #25-2519 and #2520) just received their first round of vaccinations. These specific shots will help the kits fight an assortment of feline and canine diseases, including distemper. Over the next few weeks, they will receive booster vaccinations to ensure their antibody levels provide adequate protection.

Because of maternal antibodies, some vaccines can only be administered once the raccoons are old enough and meet certain developmental requirements. In other words, the presence of the mothers’ antibodies in the baby could hijack the vaccination and prevent the baby from building immunity themselves. So these two have to wait a bit longer before being vaccinated against rabies. They are scheduled to receive their final vaccines at the end of August.

These 2 male kits were brought in after the finder suspected they were orphaned. Though it can be hard to tell if baby animals are truly orphaned (as parents may leave them alone for hours at a time while foraging for food) the finder hadn’t seen the mother for 2 days and brought the kits to CROW out of caution.

It is always best to keep a baby animal with their parents, as parents are the best teachers! However, when that is not possible, CROW can intervene. At CROW, the raccoons have regular tub time where they can practice natural behaviors such as foraging and washing of their food. Raccoons wash their food in order to increase the sensitivity of their hands—helping them better understand what they’re touching.