Become an offsite caregiver

Interested in becoming an offsite caregiver for Gordon Wildlife’s orphaned raccoons? Click the button to take a short survey to introduce yourself.

Over the past 5 years, Gordon Wildlife has donated hundreds of hours behind the scenes in research and repeated discussions with the DEC trying to design revisions to the NYS RVS rehabilitation regulations that will attempt to fix what has shown to be a deeply flawed system. There simply aren’t enough licensed rehabilitators available to care for the number of raccoons in need.

It has felt like trying to move mountains, but we are thrilled to announce that progress is now being made.

For the spring/summer season of 2026, Gordon Wildlife has been granted exclusive permission from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to employ a pilot version of a proposed “offsite caregiver program” for people interested in working with RVS species.

This program will allow individuals to care for orphaned baby raccoons (in the bottle-feeding stage) in their own homes, under the supervision and direction of Gordon Wildlife. Participants will be licensed under Gordon Wildlife, and will not need to go through an independent registration, inspection or licensing process.

This will be a carefully controlled trial period. We will train you and be regularly available for assistance throughout the process. Once the animals are no longer at the bottle feeding stage, they will be returned to Gordon Wildlife for pre-release and ultimate release.

Applicants must be vaccinated with pre-exposure against rabies and have a lockable room in their home away from pets and unauthorized people. We can discuss further details via email.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, email info@gordonwildlife.org

Note: Gordon Wildlife has applied for grants to help offset the costs of vaccinations and caging and necessary supplies, but we are not yet sure of our availability to contribute funding to the costs associated with care until grant decisions are announced.