In south Mississippi, a wildlife centre is conducting a unique rehabilitation program to prepare orphaned and injured baby raccoons for life in the wild. Woodside Wildlife Rescue, located in Pass Christian, operates what its staff describe as a “raccoon boot camp,” aiming to teach essential survival skills that the young animals would typically learn from their mothers.
The rescue was founded in 2019 by Paula Woodside, a former U.S. merchant mariner, after she rehabilitated a baby raccoon found aboard one of her ships. The centre now cares for dozens of kits annually—in 2026 alone, it has treated 76 raccoons alongside other native wildlife. Animal control officers and local residents often contact Woodside or the centre’s director, Raquel Priest, when they find raccoons in distress. The team either attempts to reunite the kits with their mothers or takes them into their care when reunification is not possible.
Newborn raccoons begin their recovery indoors, receiving bottle feedings and vaccinations against diseases common among domestic cats and dogs. As they grow stronger, the kits transition to outdoor pens on the rescue’s eight-hectare rural property, which features meadows, dense forest, ponds, and a nearby river. This natural environment allows Woodside and Priest to conduct hands-on training excursions, teaching the kits vital behaviours through demonstrations and mimicry.
The young raccoons learn to forage by digging for hidden worms and cracking open pine cones or acorns to access seeds. They are also taught to respond to danger calls, mimicking raccoon alarm sounds that prompt them to climb trees for safety. Fishing in shallow waters and practicing hunting techniques, including live quail pursuits, further enhance their ability to thrive independently.
Swimming lessons are a notable part of the program, reflecting the region’s vulnerability to hurricanes and floods. The raccoons are encouraged to swim across ponds, guided by caregivers in kayaks, ensuring they develop confidence in the water. Additionally, the kits are taken into forested areas to practice quick escapes, darting between trees to evade predators such as birds of prey and ground-based threats like snakes.
An important stage of the rehabilitation involves a simulated trap experience conducted by volunteers, distinct from their regular human caregivers. This exercise helps the raccoons develop wariness of humans and traps, essential for survival after release. As the animals mature, they naturally become less reliant on their human caretakers.
Approximately six months after admission, once the raccoons demonstrate adequate survival skills, they participate in a formal release ceremony at the centre. The staff plays Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” as they call out each animal’s name. A reverend blesses the raccoons’ journey before they are released into a different section of the rescue’s forested land. For animals that do not survive, the staff conducts a separate service to honor them.
Woodside and Priest describe the process as bittersweet, likening the release to “watching your children leave home.” Their ultimate goal is to see the raccoons grow into healthy, wild animals capable of resuming their natural roles in Mississippi’s ecosystems.