Rescuers capture hairless raccoon

A virtually hairless raccoon caught near the Dry Gulch USA camp has caused quite a stir for a Claremore animal rescue.

"This is the first time I’ve ever had a mange raccoon. The very first time I saw her she did look odd,” said Annette King Tucker, president at the Wild Heart Ranch in Claremore.

"She looks like a little demon. She’s freakish. But you look at the feet, and you look at the snout and eyes, and if you just focus on the skeletal structure, then it’s definitely, no question, a raccoon.”



Mange is common in dogs, but this is the first time workers have seen a raccoon with it, Tucker said. Mange is treatable and the raccoon isn’t in pain. Workers expect hair regrowth to start in 30 days and look normal in about four months.

Others weren’t so easily convinced. Some have angrily called the rescue and argued against Tucker’s identification.

"I have a lot of people calling me, arguing that it’s a chupacabra,” Tucker said. "We’ve been doing this for 14 years and have 15,000 wild animals here, and I’ve never had anything that’s been considered a mythical animal.”