New Westminster may be on its way to becoming the Brooklyn of Vancouver and it appears to be attracting families of all types, even the furry kind.
A mother raccoon and her five offspring have moved into the backyard of a home along Fourth Street. Darren Cardinal said the raccoons are living in a large bush at the back of his Queen's Park property.
According to Yolanda Brooks of the Wildlife Rescue Association in Burnaby, raccoons typically have litters of two to five young, also known as kits.
"I have a female raccoon that lives in a cedar tree at the back of my garden who has produced five-strong litters for the past three or four years. We've also seen a female around the grounds of the (rescue) who seems to produce two kits a year," she said.
Brooks added it's common to see raccoon families nesting in the Lower Mainland this time of year and that they usually prefer areas with lots of trees and bushes.
"The mother lives up high in the trees with the kits because it is safer and as they get bigger she will take them out for trips to explore and find food," she said. "By the end of the fall the offspring will be quite big, will be able to fend for themselves and will leave the area to find their own territory."
For those hoping to catch a glimpse of a family of bandits, Brooks recommends keeping an eye out for them around dusk or dawn and during the night, but added people should not feed the creatures as this could encourage them to stick around after nesting season.
"There is plenty of food around for them and raccoons are extremely intelligent omnivores, so they won't go hungry. They eat everything from worms, birds eggs and frogs to nuts, small mammals and fruit," she said.
As a precaution, Brooks said it's a good idea to keep garbage cans secure.
For more information, visit www.wildliferescue.ca.
