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Anonymous
Raccoons are really great! Does anyone here have one as a pet?
>> Anonymous
I used to know someone who rehabbed them for some wildlife program. She let me play with them after she'd had them for a few weeks. Even though they were wild, they were really sweet once they got used to you. They are awesome. And their hands are silky and human-like. But they escaped their cages all the time and came in through her doggie door and wrecked the place on a regular basis. But sometimes she'd come home and they'd be sitting on the couch waiting for her eating cookies or something.
>> Anonymous­­­­
>>263198

>But sometimes she'd come home and they'd be sitting on the couch waiting for her eating cookies or something.

d'awwwww
>> Anonymous
Can you make them a pet?
>> Anonymous
>>263212
Yes, but they'd be so difficult to care for. They're like monkeys, or really strong ferrets. They get into everything, they love to break shit. But they're fucking awesome, and I'd probably put up with it to have one.
>> Anonymous
I'm suddenly reminded of the memoirs of a zookeeper who took care of all sorts of abandoned animal babies and hurt creatures. He had to take a raccoon in their home for about year or so. The little bastard figured out how to flush the toilet, so it started flushing down anything it could find, starting with toilet paper and ending with the contents of the laundry basket. And it would do this every time it got into the toilet. The whole family were really relieved when they got rid of it.
>> Anonymous
Read the book Rascal.
>> Anonymous
>>263311
i read that book!!!!!!!! aww!
>> Anonymous
>>263311
My first thought apon seeing this thread.
>> Anonymous
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I FUCKING LOVE RACCOONS. They come to my porch to eat. Pic related; it's me.

I've also obsessed over and heavily researched the idea of one as a pet, but it would only be remotely possible once I'm out of college and have a house of my own.

>>263198
They should not be kept in cages. They're very intelligent, it would be like locking you in a closet.
>> Anonymous
>>264482
Make sure they don't have rabies!
>> Anonymous
>>264485

Raccoon rabies is almost entirely an east coast phenomenon.
http://www.pawsplace.org/files/raccoon_cases_of_rabies_2001.gif

The CDC and state departments of health in my state and neighboring states show no incidences of rabies in raccoons within 200 miles of where I live in the past five years (as far back as I could get records for) despite hundreds of suspected raccoons being tested.

Also, since I am mostly behind the door and do not have them cornered, they're response to being frightened is to cringe or run away, not to bite in defense. Only symptomatically rabid raccoons are aggressive towards larger animals, and they spend their time wandering in psychosis, not looking for food.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>>264550
>they're response to being frightened
shit
their*
>> Anonymous
http://youtube.com/watch?v=g3Tuhamsmis&feature=related
>> Anonymous
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264482 here

HOLY !@&#% CHRIST

I just went to the patio and the mother raccoon that I sometimes hand feed had brought her entire family! Five little babies! This is the first time I've seen them.
>> Anonymous
>>264608
That's so cool.

By the way, does the flash on your camera phase them in any way?
>> Anonymous
They're actually spies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljlso5NT6rA
>> Anonymous
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>>264612

Here's the funny thing. Raccoons are very sensitive to sound and smell, but changes in light never scare them. New raccoon visitors will jump or run away when I try to open the sliding door ever so slowly to take a picture, but when I have lighting setup outside and I suddenly turn it on while remaining unseen from inside, they don't even budge with 500 watts in their face. I guess it's because no natural predators emit light.

For these pictures of the family I opened the door and curtains all the way (very carefully) and used my dad's 1000 watt flood lights that I had inside to help light the area in addition to my camera's flash. Every time I moved too fast the babies would stare at me and cower behind the flower pots, but the lights didn't bother them.
>> Anonymous
>>264620
That one to the left looks frightened
>> sage
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>>264482
The "cages" were bigger than my dining room (sort of like the photo, but taller). They were made of chain link and buried two feet into the ground so they couldn't dig under. They still managed to get out sometimes, although she never figured it out.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
>>265024
D'AWWWWWWWWWWWW!
>> Anonymous
>>265155
I know. Raccoon kits are the most precious creatures on Earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STH7tE5FRts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EH_qWObG1I
>> Anonymous
If you want a pet that shuns interaction in favor of sleep during the day and causes nothing but mischief at night, go save a doomed cat from an animal shelter somewhere. Judging by the time stamps on these posts (no raccoon discussion from midnight to 8:17 EST) you guys aren't anywhere near as nocturnal as a raccoon, so they will only cause you heartbreak.
>> Anonymous
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>>265186
I'm not sure to what degree it happens, but pet raccoons revert to a less nocturnal sleep schedule. The real difficulty is, like you said, their mischief and destructive tendencies. As well as difficulty finding a vet, legality issues, aggressiveness during mating season, unpredictability, maintaining their extremely complex diets to help curb obesity, etc.

It's not recommended, but for the very very very devoted it's possible to keep one as a pet, which is why I'm considering one in the future :3