A young racoon who ended up stuck in a compost bin on the West Shore is back on its feet thanks to the help of BC SPCA’s Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre.
Wild ARC assistant manager Tara Thom said they received a call from a Langford resident who discovered a female racoon alone in their unsecured compost bin last week.
“This isn’t very common, but when it does happen it can be a messy situation,” said Thom. “She was old enough to be on her own but she was a bit fiesty. She did not want to be handled by humans.”
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While most racoons are able to escape with the placement of a ladder or large stick, this one – estimated to be about a year old – wasn’t able to figure it out by herself.
A similar situation took place in Saanich in late October when a mother and her three full-grown offspring were rescued from a townhouse dumpster by Saanich Animal Control.
Wild ARC sent two staff to rescue her, and brought her back to their Metchosin-based site. Thom pointed out they made an exception to respond to the rescue as they have began hitting their slower months in the year.
Staff were able to give her a temperature-controlled oil bath to deal with her sticky, matted fur from the compost.
Staff kept her in their care to monitor to see that she was eating properly, as she was a bit underweight. Thom said the young racoon has since been released back into the wild where she hopefully will know what to do.
ALSO READ: VIDEO: Four racoons rescued from Saanich dumpster using neighbour’s trellis
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