At Woodside Wildlife Rescue in Pass Christian, Mississippi, a unique program affectionately dubbed "raccoon boot camp" is underway, aiming to equip orphaned and injured baby raccoons with the survival skills necessary to thrive in the wild. The center, founded in 2019 by Paula Woodside, addresses a critical need for animals separated from their mothers due to storms, accidents, or other traumatic events.
Woodside, a former U.S. merchant mariner, established the rescue after rehabilitating a raccoon found aboard her ship. The facility now raises dozens of kits annually, with 76 admitted so far this year, alongside other native wildlife. City animal control and concerned citizens frequently bring in raccoons in need, which Woodside and Rescue Director Raquel Priest attempt to reunite with their mothers or bring to the center.
Young raccoons initially spend several weeks indoors, receiving bottle feedings until they are vaccinated and ready to transition to outdoor enclosures. These enclosures are situated on the rescue’s 20-acre property, a landscape featuring meadows, forests, ponds, and a nearby river, providing an ideal environment for training.
Woodside and Priest actively teach the kits by demonstrating essential foraging techniques, such as hiding worms in the dirt for them to find. They also show the raccoons how to access seeds from pine cones and acorns. The kits learn to recognize danger through a shrill trilling sound, mimicking a raccoon's alarm call, prompting them to flee to trees for safety, with a whistle signaling that the danger has passed.
Training extends to aquatic survival, with the raccoons practicing fishing in shallow pools and learning to swim in a pond. This skill is particularly vital in the hurricane-prone region of south Mississippi. Additionally, the kits venture into wooded areas to practice evading predators, learning to move between trees to avoid detection by birds of prey and to escape ground-based threats like snakes.
A final lesson involves a volunteer trapping the raccoons, simulating a dangerous encounter to encourage avoidance of traps and humans. This process aids in the natural weaning process from their human caregivers.
After approximately six months, when the kits are deemed ready for release, the rescue hosts a "graduation ceremony." Accompanied by Edward Elgar’s "Pomp and Circumstance Marches," each graduating kit's name is read, followed by a blessing for their journey as they are released into a different section of the rescue's property. For kits that do not survive, a separate ceremony is held to scatter their ashes.