I hope not for the racoons’ sake. Have you ever seen videos of racoons as pets? They are obese and lethargic.
I hope the alligators don’t try to domesticate themselves.
I worked for a number of years in an old steel mill located on a river. Never saw a mouse or a rat there the whole time.
But oh the raccoons! I usually took the night shift (pay differential). Those rascals would jump out of nowhere. Sometimes I think they did that just for their own amusement.
At least they wash their hands ,LOL
They’re a lot smarter than possums.
The bobcats around here seem to be on a path of domesticating themselves. There is a large overlap in behavior between them and the feral alley cats, some of which have domesticated themselves.
We’ve had ‘training raccoons’ through here. They lived a pretty good life, though they have their own quarters OUTSIDE.
‘Jennifer Cooniston’
‘George Cooney’
‘Rocket’
All have lived long, happy lives as semi-domesticated raccoons. We keep them around so the Treeing Walker Coon Hound pups can ‘smell’ them and figure out what they’re supposed to be tracking in the woods.
No critters were ever harmed.
One of my neighbors loves animals, so much so that he feeds the birds, feral cats, deer, and raccoons. He had a particular feral cat that he really liked. A raccoon made short work of that cat. Raccoons can be really nasty, I want no part of a raccoon pet.
We have a handful who live in the forest by our house and have decided we’re their humans. One of them, Gideon, was hilarious, used to high five me, and presented her pups to me.
The pups, Pugsley and Wednesday, are total magnificent b@stards. We love them, but they annoy us and constantly irritate our outdoor cats. They are good critters, though.
Pugsley is particularly annoying, but again — in a totally endearing way. They are scary smart.
It’s all fun and games until they miss a meal.
My uncle had a pet raccoon, they were friendly …up to a point
Man feeds 30 wild raccoons at once- they leave eventually (leave the area) and new ones arrive 5o take their places
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziu2rrNS7S0
The closest I got was a baby raccoon that used to come to the table under the library window for seeds and peanuts. When I opened the window to feed him bologna, he’d lean against the wall and reach up to grab it. Broke my heart when he stopped coming. Always worried something got him.
Night Visitors - Joseph Blanchard - Whimsical Foray
https://youtu.be/4Fz_w97bt4s
I had a pet raccoon when I was a kid growing up on Long Island, NY.
We had two acres of land, and my father built a large cage for the raccoon in the woods behind our house, where he lived when I wasn’t playing with him.
My father got bit a couple of times, and I was bit too.
They’re cute, but they are wild animals and they belong in the wild. I should not have had him as a pet.
https://youtu.be/eAfsVdDaCac?si=fdT1U6Vm-Rs5e2NB
https://youtu.be/4nCXFFubGek?si=lJzMoQQSSuzEjC7I
https://youtu.be/aNyQa5mNGcA?si=2X05QE0AUchIbN59
2 to 3 minutes each of the coolest raccoons on YouTube.
Enjoy! 🦝🦝
Cute little story by author(ai?). I got my cats, and through the years of domestication(?) and my feeding them, they still skulk around, kill the lizards, bugs, birds, field mice, even squirrels, if hungry, or getting back to their true nature. Oh, and before I was forced to neuter them, their mating behaviour was uncontrollable.
Disagree that they are “cute.” They are weasels and act like weasels. Our neighborhood fights them - some got into my attic and I had to have them professionally removed (did not want them killed) at great expense - the exterminator told me they’ll pull at any grills or doors until they get them open, up to two years. Had the attic entryways checked last year and they are holding tight - so far.
They are pests around here, attack cats, steal fruit and are very dirty.
No. Thanks.