Katherine Burnet, St.Andrews, Scotland

My name is Katherine and I arrived at Critter Care in June for a 2 month stay. During
my stay I was lucky enough to bottle feed 9 baby raccoons, syringe feed 9 skunks
(which I shared with another intern), syringe feed 5 cottontails and look after a mum
and baby raccoon with another intern.
The work and animals
As I arrived in June, baby season was in full swing and it was only a couple of days
after my arrival that I got my first 4 baby raccoons. Soon I had another 5 raccoons to
add to that number. Baby season is definitely a busy time, and to begin with, my first
feeds in the morning were around 6.30am and my last feed was around midnight. A
typical morning before the 8.45am morning meeting consisted of feeding my skunks and
raccoons, cleaning out their kennels, filling in feeding cards and washing bottles/syringes.
At the morning meeting the daily ‘To-do list’ was read out and included things like
lawn-care, painting, maintenance around the property etc. There are also several boards
with assigned tasks such as, for example, laundry, cooking chicken and morning clean.
During baby season the days are long, and evening clean normally finished around
8/9pm, after which we were off. During the week you have 2 non-consecutive days off
but you still feed your animals and clean their enclosures on your days off. Even though
the days are long and sleep is not something that anyone receives a lot off, it is worth it
to see the babies you care for grow bigger and stronger.
My skunks on solid food.
One of my baby raccoons in their outdoor enclosure.
During my stay I gave oral medications to skunks, drew up vaccinations, wormed
raccoons and restrained raccoons for their vaccinations. I was also able to participate in
rescues and 2 releases. Releasing my 9 skunks was a really rewarding experience as I
and another intern went from feeding them every 4 hours when they first arrived, to
weaning them and seeing them big enough to be released. The raccoons are released
either in the fall or the following year, and so my raccoons were still at Critter Care
when I left, but it was amazing seeing them go from a kennel to a room to being big
enough for an outside enclosure.
In my last couple of weeks at Critter Care I was assigned a mum and baby raccoon to
look after with another intern. The adult raccoon required a daily injection when she
first arrived and to begin with they were kept in a room, before being moved to an
outside enclosure for a few days and then released. It was incredible being able to
witness the protectiveness a mother raccoon has for her baby.
Critter Care had their annual 2-day open house while I was staying there and although it
was extremely busy in the run up to open house, and extremely hot, it was a brilliant
experience to be a part of. It was fun to interact with the public and share knowledge
on the animals we had been caring for.
Open House
Life at Critter Care
Living quarters at Critter Care consist of 2 basement rooms and 2 cabins, one shared
kitchen and one shared bathroom. As the water supply is low, interns have a 5-minute
shower every second day, either on odd or even days, and are assigned a laundry day
for personal laundry. The food at Critter Care is all donated but you can also go with
produce on your days off and buy your own food if you want anything extra. When you
first arrive, there is definitely around a 2 week adjustment period, getting used to how
things work and where everything is and getting to know the other interns. The interns
at Critter Care are from all over the world and it is great meeting so many new people
from so many different places.
Days off
Even though when I first arrived any free time on days off was used to sleep, towards
the end of my stay the outside raccoon enclosures were on general population, meaning
that you didn’t have to clean them or give the raccoons food plates and potty change
on your days off. This meant there was more time to leave the site during the day.
Langley town is only around a 20-minute drive from Critter Care and has various shops
and there is also beautiful scenery around Critter Care, including a regional park.
My cottontails
Overall, even though baby season is exhausting and there is little free time it is
worthwhile to see the animals you spent your time caring for grow and become
releasable. I recommend Critter Care to anyone with a love of animals and who is
willing to work hard!