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Anonymous
>>120371
This is not true. Virginia C. Holmgren, author of "Raccoons: In History, Folklore and Today's Backyards" says that it is okay to feed raccoons when one does not overdo it. Stehpen Harris and Phil Baker, authors of "Urban Foxes", are even going so far to suggest feeding foxes because it can be so much fun to watch them and it can help them to survive; just like feeding birds. They also say, that you shouldn't feed them too much because they should search for food at various places to not become dependent of you.
>>119878
There are rabid raccoons, that's true. But the danger is overrated extremely. There are less than 10 deaths in the whole U.S because of rabies in a year and most of them are caused by bat bites. Furthermore, rabid raccoons are known to not get aggressive but passive and hide in their den. Raccoons which act weird and look terrible in their face (i.e. rabid) are much more likely to carry distemper, which is not harmful to humans. Thus, if you are always careful at first when dealing with wild raccoons and check out their behavior the chances of being bitten by a rabid raccoon is almost nil.
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