A raccoon boot camp in Mississippi teaches abandoned kits survival skills
The rescue teaches abandoned kits to dig, swim and avoid traps, and 76 raccoons have been raised there so far this year, staff said.
- In Pass Christian, Mississippi, Woodside Wildlife Rescue trains orphaned raccoon kits for wild survival, having raised 76 animals so far this year alongside other indigenous wildlife.
- Former merchant mariner Paula Woodside, Founder, opened the rescue in 2019 after rehabilitating a baby raccoon aboard her ship; Director Raquel Priest now utilizes the rural property for unique learning excursions.
- Staff teach survival skills using a 'drill sergeant' approach, mimicking danger calls to send kits up trees to safety while kits practice digging for food and fishing in shallow pools.
- After six months of training, Woodside and Priest host a graduation ceremony featuring a roll call and Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" before kits are released onto the property.
- For the staff, releasing the animals is "like watching your children leave home," Priest said, as they prioritize seeing kits "prosper and go and be the mischievous creatures they were meant to be.
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Raccoon boot camp in Mississippi teaches survival skills to abandoned kits
PASS CHRISTIAN — Muddy, sweat-soaked and occasionally bloody, the dedicated staff at a Mississippi wildlife center are drill sergeants. And their soldiers? Baby raccoons. Welcome to raccoon boot camp, where the goal is to help sick or injured animals learn to survive in the south Mississippi wilderness — a skill set they would have learned from their mothers, most of whom died or were separated from their kits by storms, traffic accidents or oth…
Algemeen Dagblad
destentor.nlIn the American state of Mississippi, dozens of young raccoons are undergoing a very special training. At Woodside Wildlife Rescue, rescued raccoons are being groomed for the rugged life in the wilderness. Many of these youngsters have become motherless due to storms, traffic accidents, or other tragedies.
In This Boot Camp, the Recruits Are Baby Raccoons
Muddy, sweat-soaked, and occasionally bloody, the dedicated staff at a Mississippi wildlife center are drill sergeants. Their soldiers? Baby raccoons. Welcome to raccoon boot camp, where the goal is to help stick or insulted animals learn to survive in the wildness—skills they would have learned from their mothers, most...
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