Hayley Hesseln describes herself as a step below a crazy cat lady – she’s a crazy raccoon lady.

Hesseln is the owner of Bandit Ranch Rehab, Saskatchewan’s only rescue centre dedicated to raccoons.

"It’s a little bit chaotic at times," Hesseln told CTV News.

"They’re fed six times a day. I’m up at 7 a.m. to feed and they get their last meal at midnight. It’s just constantly washing bottles, preparing food, cleaning and laundry."

Hesseln feeds the raccoons fruit, chicken, milk and eggs. Each week Hesseln goes through 15 dozen eggs.

She started Bandit Ranch Rehab in her home after volunteering at Saskatoon’s Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation, and agreeing to take-in “a couple” raccoons.

"We were only getting five or six a year. This year alone, I’m up to 65," Hesseln said.

Orphaned baby raccoons are brought to Hesseln by people all across Saskatchewan.

The babies first live in her home, getting bottle-fed milk. Then, they move into boxes in her garage, eventually graduating into cages in her backyard.

Once the animals get older, they go to an open area she owns outside of the city – and they learn to live in the wild.

"We’ve got a huge area of natural trees and bush that’s fenced in. They have very little human contact and they become nocturnal," Hesseln said.

The animals eventually get released in the place they were found.

Hesseln urges homeowners to humanely remove pesky raccoons

Hesseln, a University of Saskatchewan professor, partially blames the spike in her raccoon intake on people’s behavior to the animals.

"People are intolerant. More mothers are being shot and run over, and I’m getting more babies," she said.

While Hesseln knows some people view raccoons as pests, she urges homeowners to think twice before killing a raccoon – as the animal is crucial to Saskatchewan’s ecosystem because of their place in the food chain. Raccoons eat shrubs, mice, pigeons and insects.

For people trying to get rid of raccoons, she suggests playing loud music, turning on lights or leaving out ammonia-soaked rags.

She said if people’s behavior towards raccoons changed, her back yard wouldn’t be so busy.