Rancho Raccoon - Clients

Our Clients

Here are a few of our success stories.


	Zachary was found wandering in Golden Gate Fields, with an injured front leg. He spent a few days recuperating in this small pen with a “disabled” ramp, then joined a crew of other raccoons his age. He was successfully released in the fall with his pod.

Petal, Petunia, Popo and Jack, our Alameda babies, were dehydrated and emaciated when they came to Rancho Raccoon. Before long, they were too fat for their basket! That didn’t stop them from piling in.

	The Count, an adult raccoon, was hit by a car in Berkeley. Heroic passers-by picked him off the side of the road and brought him to our main site in Oakland. With much rest and good nutrition, followed by a regimen of physical challenge, he recovered fully and returned to live his natural life.

Raccoons must learn to climb like monkeys! They are naturally arborial, and have skeletal and muscular adaptations that help them stay safe in high trees.

	Screeches was found wandering alone in a park, and thankfully rescued by a kind passer-by. He weighed less than a pound and could never have survived on his own. Weaning raccoons are often given pieces of fruit as one of their first solid foods.

Young Daisy and Desmond playing with a bay branch. Raccoons eat bay nuts, as well as acorns, manzanita berries, huckleberries and many other foods found commonly in the Bay Area. We provide our foster raccoons as many natural food sources as possible, to teach them foraging skills.

	Raccoon Pool Party! We help our foster raccoons learn to forage in streams by providing pools filled with twigs, leaves, rocks and tasty morsels! Here the raccoons dabble to find live crayfish.

One of 2010's first orphaned raccoon babies, Tiny Tim turned out to have a very unusual disability. As he grew, we realized his back legs were not working normally, and in fact, did not work at all! Radiographs (x-rays) showed that his spine was either fractured or congenitally unusual, resulting in paralysis of both back legs. Normally, this would be a death sentence for a baby raccoon, since raccoons who cannot run and climb are easy prey for cars, owls, coyotes, dogs and bobcats. This particular baby, Tiny Tim, is among the luckiest of raccoons. Read More...

Photos by Shelley Ladd, Megan Isadore, Terence Carroll