Baby raccoons will leave their den after about 10 months. After that, the raccoon can function on its own. Most raccoons will be ready to venture on their own at around 8 to 12 months. They will usually leave their den in early spring. It can happen that the baby might be abandoned, but not on purpose. There are a lot of factors that can cause this. Especially in cities where death is quite common. Raccoon deaths by traffic is an unfortunate by-product of wildlife thriving in cities.
If you do see abandoned baby raccoons do not jump to help immediately. Instead, you will need to make the difficult choice to leave them for the night. The mother might come back. Distressed baby raccoons will scream and squeal for their mother to come back. It might be difficult to resist, but in most cases, the mother does come back to the baby. It can happen that the mother might be out foraging for food or nesting materials.
Call Raccoon Control to have it picked up by specialists in wildlife control so it can be brought to a rehab centre.
Make sure to keep the baby raccoon at a temperature (101– 103ºF/38.3–39.4 ºC). Trying to feed a cold baby raccoon will result in death. Warming the baby raccoon fast will result in organ failure.
When you often find orphaned raccoons there is a big chance that you will find them dehydrated. A good homemade dehydration formulation can be made from 1 pint of boiled (or distilled) water – 1 teaspoon of sugar – 1/3 teaspoon of salt or a good alternative is the beverage brand Gatorade. Once again make sure that the baby is at a stable body temperature before giving something to hydrate.
Before starting to feed the baby raccoon, make sure that it’s warm and calm before giving it formula. Start the baby raccoon out on KMR (kitten milk replacement formula by PetAg) Infant Formula – KMR. 1 part powder to 2 1/4 parts distilled/filtered water. This is important because it may harm the fragile baby raccoons. Never give whole milk, raw eggs, or honey to baby raccoons this can cause a digestive bacterial infection.
Baby raccoons should be fed 5 times a day. If the raccoon does not take a bottle yet go to a pet store and buy a nurser bottle or a baby bottle with a preemie nipple. Heat the formula up to its body temperature (101– 103ºF/38.3–39.4 ºC).
Now that you know what to do when a baby raccoon is abandoned, you will need to call in some help. Keeping raccoons in Canada is illegal and is strongly advised against. To call in help, contact the technicians from Raccoon Control to have them picked up and brought to a rehab centre. Technicians have the experience and the skill to take care and safely transport the baby raccoon to the nearest centre!