Saskatoon's Bandit Ranch Rehab readies baby raccoons for the wild

Hayley Hesseln started taking care of raccoons several years ago. Since then she has nurtured almost 100 animals and prepared them for the wild. 

Her idea for the Bandit Ranch Rehab developed over time after a chance encounter with a bat a few years ago.  

Her dog had found the animal alive. Hesseln, who is associate professor at the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan, took it home. Friends told her she should euthanize the animal, but instead she found a someone who rehabilitates bats. 

After that Hesseln started volunteering with the Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan. Through those connections she eventually realized there was a need for someone to look after raccoons in Saskatoon.

"I'm really a big fan of all animals, but little these guys they're so smart and so loving," Hesseln said. 

Orphaned or abandoned

Most of the raccoons, some only a week old, come to Hesseln starting in May. That's the time of year when people discover raccoon nests in their attics and garages. If the mother moves out, it's usually with her kits. But sometimes one or two are left behind. 

Sometimes the mother has been shot or run over.

The kits come to her home where she weighs them, hydrates them and keeps them warm. Initially they stay in big Rubbermaid containers. Eventually they graduate to indoor dog kennels and then to a pen in her garage.

After that, they are taken to one of three rehabilitation sites in the province to spend the winter, and are released into the wild in the spring. Hesseln is currently fundraising to expand the outdoor pen at one of the facilities which is just outside of Saskatoon.

Clever creatures

One of the things Hesseln loves about raccoons is their intelligence.

She and her sister built a pen this summer and put a latch on the gate with a little string on it so she should get back out.

"One little guy he was watching me close it. It took him one time, so I closed it and he opened it," Hesseln said. "And then he did it three more times."  

By the time spring comes around, when we go into the pens, they're likely to growl at us and run away, and they develop a healthy fear of humans- Hayley Hesseln

She had to put a lock on the gate.

The animals also use their thumbs and fingers to their advantage.

"They like to stick their fingers all over the place. They like to reach into places and explore. They like to sort through my hair," Hesseln said.

She noted that their sense of touch is one way they determine what to eat.

From tame and cuddly to fearful and ready for the wild

Although Hesseln begins by being in very close contact with the animals, eventually they become afraid of her. 

"All little mammals need to be cuddled and held and nurtured," she said.

But once they live outside, their natural nocturnal habits kick in and they rarely see their handler. 

"By the time spring comes around, when we go into the pens, they're likely to growl at us and run away, and they develop a healthy fear of humans."

The raccoons are taken to private land owned by people who volunteer to take them, and land that makes suitable raccoon habitats.

Although she knows nature can be harsh — anything can happen to the animals in the wild — Hesseln said it's hard to say goodbye when it's time for their release. 

"You always wonder if you're doing the right thing."