Advice needed on wilding a raccoon

[raccoonmom]

I am supposed to be getting a raccoon this evening that is pretty much tame. I don't know for sure the age or the gender yet. I do know that it is about full grown, comes in and out of the house, plays with the family's 5 dogs, and lets them pick it up and pet it. The family is supposed to call me back this evening and I will get all the particulars.
So my question is has anyone on here dealt with a coon like this? and I would appreciate any advice. I do know that there is a chance that this coon will never wild out and that it will have to be destroyed. I have some ideas but if never hurts to have a few more heads in on it

[MissDolittle]

Sounds like you are in for some fun!

To answer your question, yes, a coon like this is releasable but it takes a lot of rehabilitating first.

The most important thing is that the raccoon has other raccoon buddies to learn how to socialize and ranking, an outside habitat where he can learn the necessary skills like fishing for example, and all that with no contact to dogs and humans. They only get to see the human during feeding time and daily checkups.

That has worked for me so far, but I do not have that much experience with such situation either. Only had 3 "pets" to rehab for release so far.

But I'm also a member of a yahoo group of raccoon rehabbers, please feel free to join us there! These folks have a lot more experience than I do and might be able to hook you up with another rehabber who already has buddies to teach your newby. Just click the link and join us!

[raccoonmom]

Well so far I don't think she will be too much trouble to wild out. Since I got her Sunday morning I haven't seen her out of her bed. She is coming out sometime during the night to eat and drink though. The day I got her I wormed her and that was the closest I got to her. If she sees me she starts giving me a nasty glare and if I get too close she starts to snarl soundlessly.
She is about 9 months old and very small. She is a good weight but my guess would be 10 pounds or less. Her appetite is pretty small to what I thought it would be.

[raccoonmom]

Well I needn't have worried about her wilding out at all. She is the perfect wild coon. She sleeps all day and comes out at night, has never shown any interest in me at all, has even growled at me a couple of times. If you get to close to her bed she gives you that silent snarl that if you weren't watching you'd miss entirely.
So when spring comes I'll make sure she is up to fishing and send her on her way.

[MissDolittle]

That's great progress! Just keep in mind that you can't release her alone. It's a death sentence.