# raccoons



## mkirby (Feb 24, 2009)

I've thought for a bit about keeping one as a pet...what's more badass than a pet that dives better than you?
But its illegal to own one in most states without special permits and bullshit, illegal altogether in most states. do you think I could get away with it?


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## Geoff (Feb 24, 2009)

at our old camp in the greenbelt in South Austin there were familes of raccoons that lived in the trees and they would come down to camp at night and steal things, or just lick our pots and pans clean. they came down when we were still awake a couple times. they were pretty cute but i didn't dare get near them.


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## Angela (Feb 24, 2009)

I've lived in spots where raccoons would sit up in the trees and screech all night fighting with each other, so I don't really have that fond of feelings for them. But if you really want one try putting out a havahart trap and seeing if you can catch a baby. They really are more ornery than cats though, they will hoard everything they can get their little hands on and get into EVERYTHING. I once had to run one out of a place I was camping in when I came back and found it perched on the pillows on my sleeping bag.


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## finn (Feb 24, 2009)

There is a somewhat nonserious thread about scheming to catch baby raccoons earlier on, but I have a feeling that unless you thrive on chaos, these guys would be a handful. Since they actually have hands with thumbs, they can get into even more mischief than ferrets. Ferrets will tear a place up, annoy the cat and pester the dog into grumpy resignation (or in case of the cat, misery), food (especially the kind they can't digest properly because they will eat it anyway) have to be put into hard containers, doors have to be kept closed, and you shouldn't be very sentimental about physical objects either. I shudder to think about what you've have to do with raccoons.

I do find them cute, but I wouldn't want to live with them.


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## bote (Feb 24, 2009)

My friend had a full grown pet racoon that he raised from little. 
One day, he heard his neighbour yelling his name (they had adjoining yards) so he went over to see what was going on. The neighbour was on one end of a broom and the raccoon on the other end, like tug-of-war. The neighbour said he had watched the racoon trying to open his sliding glass patio door, so he grabbed the broom to shoo him away, but when he went after him, the raccoon just grabbed the end of the broom and started trying to pull it away from him.

My friend also had a timid dog that the raccoon would torment, he used to sneak up and grab the dog's hind legs, the dog would take off, and the raccoon would ride him right around the house, hanging on to his haunches.


#14 r.i.p.


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## sharks77 (Feb 24, 2009)

hahaha i can just see that raccoon riding that poor dog around, thats so funny.

one of my friends had a raccoon as a pet for a while, the mother got run over or something and they found it as a baby by the road and adopted it, she said it was like a cat only smarter and more mischievous, but it was really cool. she had to keep it in the yard outside at night and one night it got out or something and got run over by a car though so that sucked.


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## stove (Feb 24, 2009)

That, Bote my friend, is hilarious (dog and raccoon).

A friend of ine used to have a skunk. It was WICKED cute, and totally fuzzy and adorable. Of course, she had his scent glands removed young, and after that, he was just like a small fuzzy ferret (she had a few of them too), but MUCH better behaved.


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## sharks77 (Feb 24, 2009)

yeah ive heard of people having skunks too but i think theyre illegal mostly too


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## mkirby (Feb 24, 2009)

You've all given me a lot to think about...


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## Angela (Feb 24, 2009)

ArrowInOre said:


> My dad grew up on a cherry farm here in Willamette Valley. He had several off beat pets as a kid on a woods surrounded farm. Skunk, squirrel, crow, garden snakes, raccoon, and even a opossum once..(By the way, possums are not native to the USA. They were brought over as food and pets. YEE-fuckin-UCK..



Who told you they aren't native to the USA, they are just not to the western states which they were imported into for food. There's also some similar types of critters that are native to Australia and New Guinea but their not the same species. 
When I lived in Arizona for awhile many years ago I was so tempted to try to catch a baby ringtail, they are so cute and I've heard that they make really good, cat like pets.


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## Dmac (Feb 25, 2009)

i have known 3 people with pwt racoons. yes they are cool. yes they make some wierd and trippy noises. and yes they can to quite effectionate.

they also are mostly nocturnal and will keep ua up.
they will get into absolutely everything! they can open latches, doorknobs any cupboard boor, fridge door (and child locks will do nothing but get them more interested in getting it open) closets and the toilet, they will just make a fucking mess of everything. what they don't eat they will spread all over the place!

being a wild animal, most states (where the coons naturally range) will not allow them as pets without a special permit and a fuck load of shots. 

you would be better off with a desented skunk or a hedgehog. the skunks are almost like a cat, but not anywhere as graceful or agile. and nether will destroy your house.

my one friends coon, managed to work the grill off of the cold air return, and it kept them up for days as it thumped and bumped in the ductwork all night!

if you do get a coon, please post the pics of what it does to your place! we could use a good laugh!


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## Angela (Feb 25, 2009)

A little off the topic but does anyone know anyone that's ever kept a ringtail as a pet? And by ringtail I do not mean a raccoon, I mean the lemur looking critters that live mostly in the southwest. I've heard that they use to be kept as pets for rodent control and their also called miner's cats but I've never met anyone whose had one.


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## Dmac (Feb 25, 2009)

the "ringtails" that you are thinking of are also known as "polecats". like old yosimite sam used to say, "dirty sneakin' polecats"!
they are everybit as cuirious as coons, but their front paws are not as agile/nimble. so they can't manipulate latches and hasps as well, but they still try!

and yes the miners had them around for pest control, but i think they just realized it is easier to live close to people, like feral cats or dogs do, for the easy food. i have seen people walking them on leashes, i would guess it depends on just getting them very young, so they grow up thinking you are mommy.


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## katiehabits (Feb 25, 2009)

in victoria bc i heard you can "foster" baby raccoons for the wild animal SPCA. you're only allowed to keep them for a certain amount of time and then you have to release them into the wild again because like in the states you can't keep them as pets. i think it's kind of cruel to capture a wild one and it would probably fuck shit up for ya.


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## Richard57 (Feb 25, 2009)

it seems they make good pets, from what everyones saying. but if anyone triesd to give you shit about it, id say, hell, it just follows me around. and keeps me company. i dont think its considered a pet if its not on a leash, or they cant prove it to be. but im not animal control, so who knows


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## Angela (Feb 25, 2009)

dmac66 said:


> the "ringtails" that you are thinking of are also known as "polecats". like old yosimite sam used to say, "dirty sneakin' polecats"!
> they are everybit as cuirious as coons, but their front paws are not as agile/nimble. so they can't manipulate latches and hasps as well, but they still try!
> 
> and yes the miners had them around for pest control, but i think they just realized it is easier to live close to people, like feral cats or dogs do, for the easy food. i have seen people walking them on leashes, i would guess it depends on just getting them very young, so they grow up thinking you are mommy.



The curiosity doesn't surprise me since they are related to raccoons. Of course my cat would probably get into alot more trouble too if she had hands. I've been curious about the ringtails every since I lived in Arizona for awhile and I was working in Grand Canyon national park. I would see them at night, poking their little heads up over the rim of the canyon looking curiously at people with those huge eyes they have. Occasionally they could also be found in the stockrooms of the store at night where they'd gotten in. People have told me that their very tame if you get one when their still a tiny baby but like I said, I've never actually met anyone who had one. I don't really have any urge to personally grab one though anymore because I don't think they would like to travel and I've already got a cat that doesn't live with me most of the time because she doesn't like to travel.


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## veggieguy12 (Feb 26, 2009)

I understand why you like raccoons - I love 'em too, they're my heroes! - but do you really want to domesticate one of the most badass creatures to still get by despite civilization's intrusion into all things wild?
Just make a free friend, try to track and observe one who roams your area, but don't take one captive.


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## syphilust (Feb 26, 2009)

mkirby said:


> ...what's more badass than a pet that dives better than you?



i dunno, how about a wild animal that lives free for itself and is not leashed to a hairless monkey?
i suggest not taking out your angst at being bowed by civilization out on a wild creature who has the privilege to be so. I dont want someone telling me what to do/eat/be/see/sleep so I doubt he/she would either.

if you really want to be badass i'd suggest liberating a raccoon from a zoo, especially a shitty roadside zoo and freeing it to the wild if you have the need to be "mother" to one.

this zoo (Discovery Wildlife Park) is bad and hundreds of others like it (no security either...) - i have it on good authority the way they "train" the raccoon (and others - bears, skunks, etc) is through terrible food practices & drugs & shitty cages...


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## Speedy (Feb 26, 2009)

syphilust said:


> i dunno, how about a wild animal that lives free for itself and is not leashed to a hairless monkey?
> i suggest not taking out your angst at being bowed by civilization out on a wild creature who has the privilege to be so. I dont want someone telling me what to do/eat/be/see/sleep so I doubt he/she would either.
> 
> if you really want to be badass i'd suggest liberating a raccoon from a zoo, especially a shitty roadside zoo and freeing it to the wild if you have the need to be "mother" to one.
> ...



Well said dude. domesticated animals are kinda fucked up. No animal was ever really meant to be a pet. The only way I could justify having a pet, would be if it was taken from someone who treated it like shit


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## outskirts (Mar 14, 2012)

Angela said:


> I've lived in spots where raccoons would sit up in the trees and screech all night fighting with each other, so I don't really have that fond of feelings for them.


Nothing ruins a good nights sleep quite like those masked bastards fighting with each other all night and rummaging through your camp stealing and breaking shit.


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## hshh (Mar 14, 2012)

i was in daytona beach florida last year. i woke up to thinking a cat was walking on me behind an abanoned motel... i open my eyes and its a huge raccoon sniffing my face! i threw it off of me, it just stared at me with cute sad eyes and i ran into the street barefoot freaking out. after about a half hour it ventured a little ways away after sniffing out my gear and i grabbed my shit and ran


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## Earth (Mar 15, 2012)

Got racoons frequenting the grounds here, along with skunks and other critters....
The more the merrier


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## Eager (Apr 5, 2012)

Adopt a cat or dog or rat; don't enslave a wild, free animal so you can fulfill some bullshit dream of having a raccoon as pet because you think its punk or kitschy or whatever the fuck. Want to hang out with raccoons? Sleep in the woods with a bag of trash, and see how long you last.


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## Earth (Apr 5, 2012)

Completely agree. 
Its one thing if wild animals frequent where one lives, but it is always wrong to remove them from their natural habitat....


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## Shakou (Apr 6, 2012)

My friend, Dunkin, has a pet raccoon named Macy. He found her in his dad's barn when she was just a few weeks old, apparently abandoned by the mother. So he raised her, initially with the intent to let her go, but that didn't happen LOL! She's essentially like having a dog on crack.


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## Pheonix (Apr 7, 2012)

I've looked into buying a full-blooded wolf once, I found a farm in OK that breeds, raises and sells, wolves, coons and skunks (even albino skunks). The skunks and coons where reasonably priced but the wolves were around $1200. Eventually I found a free dog on craigslist that is almost 50% wolf. I think a quick google search for "raccoon breeder" would help to find your future buddy.


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