Do Raccoon's make good pets??

[greg1983]

Here is a video of my friends. I think if you bottle feed them from day one you are good but other wise not.

[hrama803]

[RENOG]

[Rockerchick]

[brownhornet]

this video is funny...

[20DYNAMITE07]

My dad had one when he was a kid. The mother got hit by a car so my Grandparents adopted the pup/kit whatever they're called.

It was fun, and it liked everyone in the family but when it got to be about 2 years old it started getting nasty to strangers and bit a friend of theirs through the ankle. So that was the end of Cooner's life as a pet.

Cooner was released not long after that a few miles from home. He had always foradged and knew how to care for himself, so his transition was a smooth one.

[VILESTENCH]

I read somewhere that raccoons kept as pets lose all of their natural instincts when let back into the wild.

My friend's mom had one when she was growing up. She said he was fun, but he would destroy everything.

[Rockerchick]

I read somewhere that raccoons kept as pets lose all of their natural instincts when let back into the wild.

Most animals will lose most of them if they are raised by humans from small babies. They are given food by people and never have to hunt for it. They don't know to fear humans, or other predators. They will keep some instincts, but once a critter has been heavily hand raised, its hard to release them.

My parents have been rehabbing wildlife for over 20 years now. Its hard not to want to cuddle and play with every baby animal, but if you keep contact to a minimum, they can be fine out in the wild again. Sure, some need to be bottle fed, but once they can eat on their own, contact is very, very minimal. Rarely are animals kept alone. Racoons can be tough because they can get attached, but usually once you throw them in an outdoor cage with other raccoons and only see them when you feed them, they'll get nasty. Put some live fish in a big water bowl and make sure they can catch them. They'll put live mice and things in flight cages for owls to make sure they are good to go too.

[VW1.8Tsunami]

I didn't get the reference until I watched the video