{"id":754382,"date":"2026-06-22T21:09:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T21:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754382\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T21:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T21:09:26","slug":"video-baby-raccoon-rescued-after-following-woman-on-wascana-trails-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754382\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Baby raccoon rescued after following woman on Wascana Trails"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dell said Avery did not touch the raccoon and instead called the WRSOS Wildlife Helpline for advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did the right thing by phoning our helpline, and she followed our instructions to the letter,\u201d Dell said.<\/p>\n

The young raccoon was weak, skinny and covered in ticks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was absolutely covered in ticks,\u201d Dell said. \u201cShe noticed that when she first saw him, and just really weak, so he\u2019d probably been without his mom for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dell said raccoons are usually strong mothers, making it unclear why the young animal was alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very good mothers, so we\u2019re not really sure why this one would be out on his own,\u201d she said. \u201cThey usually have several young at a time, so we can\u2019t even speculate why he would be out in the middle of nowhere like that all by himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The raccoon, believed to be about five or six weeks old, was eventually taken to Bandit Ranch Rehab<\/a>, a licensed raccoon rehabilitation centre in Regina.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Hank the Tank, an orphaned baby raccoon found alone at Wascana Trails near Regina, rests in a blanket after being rescued and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation centre. The young raccoon is recovering after being found weak and covered in ticks. (Wildlife Rescue Society of Saskatchewan\/Submitted)<\/p>\n

There he was given a new name: Hank the Tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is doing really well,\u201d Dell said. \u201cHe was put on medication for all the ticks, and they got most of them off of him, and he\u2019s eating well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dell said Hank is now playing with other baby raccoons at the rehab.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a happy ending to the story, because if it weren\u2019t for her walking that day and knowing what to do, he wouldn\u2019t have lasted much longer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dell said wild animals approaching people for help happens more often than many people realize.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do seek people out for help,\u201d she said. \u201cEven adult wildlife will do it quite often.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dell said WRSOS often hears from people who have wildlife show up near homes, including foxes, coyotes and beavers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeavers do it, too,\u201d she said. \u201cWe quite often get calls about displaced baby beavers approaching people for help, and pulling at their legs, trying to get their attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Hank\u2019s case, Dell said the young raccoon was doing the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was pawing at her runners while she was standing there, trying to get her attention,\u201d Dell said.<\/p>\n

WRSOS operates the province\u2019s Wildlife Helpline from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the year. Dell said the organization fields dozens of calls a day, especially during the spring and summer months.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very invested in wildlife in this province,\u201d she said. \u201cThey love wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, Dell said many calls involve fledgling birds learning to fly, as well as young animals that may appear orphaned or injured.<\/p>\n

The key message, she said, is to call before touching or moving wildlife.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust please call us before you pick up wildlife,\u201d Dell said. \u201cPhone us first before you pick anything up or assume that it needs help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hank is expected to remain in rehabilitation until the end of the summer, then be released back into the wild near where he was found.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get raised to a certain age in captivity and then released back to the wild,\u201d Dell said.<\/p>\n

Dell said young raccoons may look cute and friendly, but that changes quickly as they grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey hit teen years, things change very quickly,\u201d she said. \u201cAt that age, they really need to get back out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dell said Avery did not touch the raccoon and instead called the WRSOS Wildlife Helpline for advice. \u201cShe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-754382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}