A Raccoon Boot Camp in Mississippi Teaches Abandoned Kits Survival Skills
The rescue has raised 76 kits this year, teaching them to forage, swim and avoid predators before release.
- In Pass Christian, Mississippi, Woodside Wildlife Rescue trains orphaned raccoon kits for wild survival, having raised 76 animals so far this year alongside other indigenous wildlife.
- Former merchant mariner Paula Woodside, Founder, opened the rescue in 2019 after rehabilitating a baby raccoon aboard her ship; Director Raquel Priest now utilizes the rural property for unique learning excursions.
- Staff teach survival skills using a 'drill sergeant' approach, mimicking danger calls to send kits up trees to safety while kits practice digging for food and fishing in shallow pools.
- After six months of training, Woodside and Priest host a graduation ceremony featuring a roll call and Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" before kits are released onto the property.
- For the staff, releasing the animals is "like watching your children leave home," Priest said, as they prioritize seeing kits "prosper and go and be the mischievous creatures they were meant to be.
12 Articles
12 Articles
A raccoon boot camp in Mississippi teaches abandoned kits survival ski
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) — Muddy, sweat-soaked and occasionally bloody, the dedicated staff at a Mississippi wildlife center are drill sergeants. And their soldiers? Baby raccoons. Welcome to raccoon boot camp, where the goal is to help
A raccoon boot camp in Mississippi teaches abandoned kits survival skills – WTOP News
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) — Muddy, sweat-soaked and occasionally bloody, the dedicated staff at a Mississippi wildlife center are drill sergeants. And their soldiers? Baby raccoons. Welcome to raccoon boot camp, where the goal is to help sick or injured animals learn to survive in the south Mississippi wilderness — a skill set they would...
In the coastal town of Pass Christian in the US state of Mississippi, a wildlife rescue center is raising abandoned raccoon cubs and teaching them the skills needed to survive in the wild.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
