Spring in the Sonoran Desert brings with it the blossoming of the trees, cacti, and a plethora of new babies. Nature and its circle of life tend to have a huge affect on the ultimate survival of newborn in the desert. Quail, seen with 15 walnut sized babies trailing them through the desert, are observed a month later with only one or two half grown youngsters. Similarly, Bobcats, rabbits, ground squirrels, rock squirrels, and even rattlesnakes rarely have all their spring babies reach maturity.
This past week, there was a rare find of 5 baby raccoons under the floor of a greenhouse. The immediate reaction from 1st Response Wildlife in a situation where baby raccoons are discovered in an area that is inconvenient for the homeowner or a business is to try and find the mother. The next step is to capture the mother, collect all the babies, and relocate the “family” safely to a location where they will have a chance to survive without creating a nuisance.
Unfortunately, in this case, there was no mother to be found in or around these babies and they were taken to Forever Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center. (www.forever-wild.org). Again, what makes this story unique is that a family of baby raccoons usually consists of 2-4 cubs. Routine calls to 1st Response Wildlife for raccoon family removal from attics, chimneys, under a residence, or porch, yields a family of juvenile cubs whose numbers have already been reduced due to predation, lack of food, or a litter which originally only had 3-4 members.
In this instance, it is quite clear that these cubs were from a large litter, had not suffered any predation or apparent reduction in number, but lacked a parent. Bringing them to Forever Wild will have a great outcome because, after inspection and placement in a near natural habitat, most likely, they will all survive, without loss to predation, and, once they can fend on their own, will be released back into the wild.
Below are a few pictures of the cubs at Forever Wild. The first is of the 5 cubs and the second is one cub with the owner of 1st Response Wildlife.
Here is a close up with the owner of 1st Response Wildlife showing one of the cubs.
We are pleased to report the cubs, after inspection, are all in good shape, are receiving special individual attention at Forever Wild and are all expected to reach full maturity before release.
If you discover a family of raccoons in your attic, under your porch, under a shed, or hear noises in your walls, please do not hesitate to give 1st Response Wildife a call.
Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife
Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517
Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7. Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!
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