UNDATED (WSAU-WXPR) — They look cute, but DNR officials say leave baby raccoons alone because they’re probably doing just fine.
DNR officials report getting flooded with calls this time of year of abandoned baby raccoons, known as ‘kits’. Wildlife biologist Dianne Robinson is chair of the “Keep Wildlife Wild” campaign.
She said, “Well meaning people often times may discover racoon kits playing during the daytime and mistakenly think that those kits are in trouble. Provided the racoon kit looks healthy and is not obviously sick or injured, the best action is to generally leave those kits alone.”
Wildlife rehabber Cheryl Diehl offers some tips if you see the kits.
“Just watch, observe for a while. If they’re crying a lot, if they look sickly, really weak, or whatever, then the best advice would be to call a rehabilitator and talk about all the details of the situation and then we can go from there,” said Diehl.
Robinson says the DNR website has a list of licensed rehabilitators in the state. For more information, search the DNR website, dnr.wi.gov, for “Keep Wildlife Wild”.
