Orphaned raccoon kits get a second chance at life at a Mississippi wildlife sanctuary's 'boot camp'

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026.

Woodside Wildlife Rescue in Pass Christian, Mississippi, raises dozens of orphaned raccoon kits each year, teaching them the survival skills they would normally learn from their mothers. Founded by Paula Woodside, a former merchant mariner, the sanctuary has already raised 76 kits this year alongside other native wildlife. Woodside established the rescue in 2019 after rehabilitating an orphaned raccoon she found aboard her ship. Municipal animal control officers and local residents alert the team whenever an orphaned or injured kit needs help.

Most kits arrive after their mothers were killed in storms or road strikes, leaving them with no survival skills whatsoever.