a skunk called Stinkerbell.<\/a><\/p>\nRaccoons are some of her most common take-ins, and she usually tries to rehabilitate them and return them to the wild.<\/p>\n
The four kits were hardly the first young raccoons she\u2019s rescued. In almost every case, they end up at her rescue because their mothers have died.<\/p>\n
When Saunders snagged Karma, he got to thinking it might have been a rare stroke of luck capturing an entire raccoon family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put the pieces together and figured out that her babies might be the ones out there at Broken Bandit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Reunion At Broken Bandit<\/p>\n
The moment of truth came when a cage containing the female was placed next to a cage with the kits inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first they were aggressive,\u201d Wyer said.<\/p>\n
But recognition came quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was some cooing, and little chirps coming from those cages, because the babies realized who it was,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The reunited raccoon family took shelter at Broken Bandit until the kits were old enough to forage.<\/p>\n
Then all five raccoons were taken to a remote location and released back into the wild, Wyer said.<\/p>\n
She considers it her most touching rescue story of the year, because it\u2019s so rare to see an entire raccoon family get a second chance.<\/p>\n
The story of Karma and her babies is special \u201cbecause it\u2019s not the typical one,\u201d\u00a0Wyer said. “You never get that sort of fairy tale ending with a mom and babies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like we never, ever get to see the mom (raccoon) again, so this was a pretty special one.”<\/p>\n
![\"Kamra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Karma-and-babies-12.30.25.jpg\")
Kamra is a mama racoon that got into trouble when she trashed someone\u2019s vehicle in Cheyenne. She was reunited with her four offspring at the Broken Bandit animal rescue east of Cheyenne. (Courtesy Patricia Wyer, Broken Bandit Wildlife Center)Critter Catchers<\/p>\n
When it comes to animal control, raccoons fall into a gray area.<\/p>\n
Municipal animal control departments won\u2019t touch them because they\u2019re wild animals, not pets like dogs and cats.<\/p>\n
Wyoming Game and Fish Department won\u2019t deal with them either. They\u2019re not among the wild species the agency manages.<\/p>\n
Wildlife agents also generally respond only to calls involving large animals that show up in town, such as moose or mountain lions.<\/p>\n
When it comes to raccoons, skunks, squirrels and other such animals, people rely on the services of critter catchers like 307 Pest.<\/p>\n
Saunders takes a humane approach; he live-traps animals with the goal of returning them to the wild.<\/p>\n
As Saunders sees it, he\u2019s only being fair to the wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe animals were here before we were, and we\u2019ve encroached on their property,\u201d\u00a0he said. “We\u2019ve unintentionally ended up providing them with food and shelter..<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do cause damage to homes and such, but they\u2019re just trying to survive.”<\/p>\n
Karma\u2019s devotion to her kits didn\u2019t surprise him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaccoons have a very strong motherly, maternal instinct,\u201d\u00a0he said. “They will accept their babies back, whereas skunks will usually abandon their babies if they get separated or the babies are moved or disturbed.”<\/p>\n
Even so, he takes lost baby skunks to Wyer whenever he can.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe does her magic with them, raises them and releases them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Raccoons Aren\u2019t Just \u2018Trash Pandas\u2019<\/p>\n
The situation with Karma and her kits might have been avoided if the homeowner was better informed and had been more patient, Wyer said.<\/p>\n
Female raccoons frequently move their young from place to place, and hide them when they go to forage.<\/p>\n
If people find baby raccoons on their property, they should encourage their mothers to come get them and move them elsewhere with disturbances like \u201cflashlights and noise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Though they might have a bad reputation as \u201ctrash pandas,\u201d Wyer said raccoons are handy to have around.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey eat pests like insects, wasps, rodents and snakes. They keep those populations under control,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will also clean up roadkill carcasses,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Raccoons can aerate soil by pulling up small patches and help spread seeds in their droppings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re basically nature\u2019s clean-up crew,\u201d Wyer said.<\/p>\n
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patricia Wyer has seen many animals come and go at her wildlife rescue center near Cheyenne. Her most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-380012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Kamra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Raccoons-1-12.30.25.jpeg\")
Kamra is a mama racoon that got into trouble when she trashed someone\u2019s vehicle in Cheyenne. She was reunited with her four offspring at the Broken Bandit animal rescue east of Cheyenne. (Courtesy Patricia Wyer, Broken Bandit Wildlife Center)Is That The Mama?<\/p>\n