re: Owning a pet raccoon questions

Rabies incoming

We managed to trap a juvenile raccoon when I was a kid, and my Dad thought we could tame it.

He tried handling it with welding gloves for a few days to try to get it to calm down and not try to rip our faces off. Did not work.

After day 3, we all just told him leave his cage door open so the little bastard can roam free. It didn't take him long to split.

Get a dog.

keep in mind they are illegal to keep as pets and in general, no non-domesticated animal makes a good pet.

That being said my parents owned one when they were in college. They pulled a litter of them out of the walls of my aunts house and kept one. It sounded liked they loved the little bastard but they said he was a real pain in the arse. They are pretty smart, and dexterous, which translates into getting into a lot of shite.

Said he would just knock shite over for fun and broke a TV once. They came home from a night out once and found him laying in the bathtub belly up. said once he saw them he just started chattering because he knew he fricked up. He got into and ate a whole bottle of chocolate flavored ex-lax tablets.

Ultimately they had to find a home for him because they were living in college married couple housing with rules. one of which was you know, no racoons as pets! An AC repair guy went into their unit by mistake. Apparently the little bastard lunged out form under the bed and grabbed the guy by the ankles. Freaked him out and he told the supervisors.

So, if you ever find yourself adopting one for whatever reason. know you are getting a mischievous toddler with the ability to climb and equipped with sharp teeth and claws. Some have good dispositions. Ive known others who have had them and they can be a little unpleasant in the demeanor (they will bite and claw the shite out of you).

What did the damn skunk do to be dragged into your raccoon assault story? "Guilty by association" is wrong, sir.

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This may sound insane to some of you country boys but some people have racoons as pets. I've wondered if anyone has any experience with this? Are they good pets? Will they get along with other animals like cats or dogs? Will they actually use a cat litter box to use the bathroom?

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My parents live on a 7 acre farm and had a pet raccoon when I was in college. She was tiny when they got her and they bottle fed her until she could move on to puppy chow (which she loved). Eventually, she started sleeping outside on top of our German Shephard. I kid you not...she thought she was a dog, and she would shadow that dog everywhere she went.

As a pet...she was weird. They have certain things they can be neurotic about...like, my mom couldn't have anything in her hair. If she had any kind of beret, the raccoon would climb up on the back of her chair and start trying to rip it out.

Wish I could remember more...that was about 30 years ago...but I loved that freaking animal.

This guy has tamed dozens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofp26_oc4CA

Have an old email buddy who raised one, but he kept it outside. If dogs chased it, it would run up onto his shoulder. He let it roam in the country side until it disappeared.

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They are extremely destructive animals. I had one get on the roof of my porch and tear into the house to get into the attic. Took a while to get him out, all the while I was petrified it would come down through the air vents. My contractor set up cameras and a trap in the attic with catfood in it. At first, the coon just stuck his paw through the trap and scooped up all the food. Finally, got rid of him.

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I have not had a coon in the attic but I did have some squirrels. Those little bastards were bad. And smart. Used live traps and they would never go in.

Finally I sat up there with a pellet rifle and took them out. Over a pile of corn.

When they are young and small, they are great.

They start make huge messes when they are full grown.

Illegal in Louisiana