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Virginia Beach wildlife refuge to be featured in National Geographic Wild documentary

Posted at 6:22 PM, Mar 03, 2015
and last updated 2015-03-03 18:22:50-05

Virginia Beach, Va. (WTKR) - A Virginia Beach wildlife refuge will be featured in a National Geographic Wild documentary airing this weekend.

In July 2013, crews from National Geographic Wild spent two weeks filming raccoons at Evelyn's Wildlife Refuge for the "Backyard Bandit" documentary.

"It's about raccoons and how they co-exist with the humans and how they've learned to adapt to living with humans," refuge President Evelyn Flanges told NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo Tuesday.

Flanges hopes the documentary will help dispel some of the myths she says are often attached to the much-maligned backyard creature.

"I hope that people can see and open their minds and realize these animals are here and you’re not going to get rid of them so why don’t we try to learn to get along with them."

All the staff at the refuge are treated with pre exposure vaccinations for the rabies virus and all the rehabilitated raccoons are vaccinated against rabies prior to being released.

The "Backyard Bandit" documentary will air on National Geographic Wild on March 8 at 9 p.m.

You can learn more about Evelyn's Wildlife Refuge here.