This experience led them to establish their own rehabilitation centre in 2018. A couple in New York , US, have turned a heartbreaking experience with two baby raccoons into a mission to rescue injured and abandoned wildlife. Paul and Sarah Bookbinder have spent years nursing raccoons back to health and helping them return to the wild.
The couple also honour the animals they care for by engraving their names on rocks placed in a garden, including those that die before they can be released.
The collection has grown so large that Sarah said they are having to redesign the garden to make room for more stones.
Nine years ago, the Bookbinders were asked to care for two abandoned baby raccoons, known as kits. Paul, a veterinarian who specialised in treating cats and dogs, agreed to help, despite having little experience with raccoons. The couple temporarily housed the animals in their bicycle shed while searching for a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. They named them Stanley and Laurel and quickly grew attached to them. However, unable to find a facility with space to take them in, the couple watched both kits die within days. (Also Read: At Nanjing University in China, students call strangers as part of a popular course to build confidence ) The experience left them determined to prevent other raccoons from suffering the same fate. They later sold their house to live on the property and devote more time to their work. Spring is the busiest season at the centre, when wildlife officials, veterinarians and members of the public bring in orphaned, sick or injured kits. As the raccoons grow, they move to outdoor sheds where they learn to forage for natural foods, including nuts, eggs, worms and crickets. The aim is to help them develop the skills needed to survive independently rather than become accustomed to humans. The couple generally release the animals in late summer or early autumn, when they begin avoiding people and show signs of independence. The centre also provides permanent care for around two dozen raccoons whose injuries or disabilities prevent them from surviving in the wild. Not every animal can be saved. Paul and Sarah sometimes lose raccoons to illness or severe injuries, making the work emotionally difficult. “We always tell each other that we’re not the ones that matter.
Since then, the couple estimate they have helped more than 800 raccoons, including young animals needing intensive care and those unable to survive independently in the wild. In 2018, they established the Charles N. Gordon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on a 53 acre property in Earlville, New York. Sarah bottle feeds the babies with specially formulated milk, sometimes preparing more than 200 bottles a day. The raccoons are the ones that matter,” Paul told The Washington Post. (Also Read: Dubai man brings collection of 53 old iPhones to Apple Store while picking up 2 new foldable phones )
The couple have sacrificed holidays, family gatherings and sleep to care for the animals, according to The Washington Post . “There’s an intelligence behind their eyes that, once you connect to that intelligence, it’s not like any other animal,” Sarah said.
