Odie, the Raccoon

A family who had recently moved to California from Oklahoma voluntarily surrendered Odie to Critter Creek. In Oklahoma owning wildlife as pets is legal. In fact they had purchased Odie from a licensed raccoon breeder complete with papers. As Odie grew older she became more difficult to handle. The family wasn't able to give her the run of their home anymore and their young son was more often at risk of being bitten. By the time they learned pet raccoons are illegal in California, they were beginning to see the tragedy of their situation. They were still very attached to Odie, but the problems of wildlife pet ownership were becoming painfully apparent to them.

Odie now lives with us. Prior to Critter Creek, she had been kept indoors all of her life, so her first week at Critter Creek in her outdoor cage filled her with mixed emotions ranging from fear to utter delight. Creating facilities like this to save such a pet from being euthanized is expensive and puts a strain on our resources. No one wants to see an animal pay such a fatal price for the folly of humans, yet few are willing to donate to help care for her for her entire lifetime.

Odie

Now Odie is a veteran at splashing in her water tub, pushing her water nozzle, digging in her sand pile, and climbing into her den box when she has had enough play and is ready to sleep. She has grown a beautiful coat of fur to protect her against the cold of winter. Despite all of these natural behaviors, she still remains very friendly with people-totally imprinted; after all, she was bottle-fed even before her eyes were open by humans rather than her raccoon mom. How sad to never see your real mother because someone wants to make money selling you as an adorable baby pet.

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