Suburban Raccoons

Are raccoons good pets or are they an animal that are inherently wild and not to be trusted? There are many people who actually keep raccoons as pets as shown in the picture on the left. This man and many other people consider them as pets having raised them as babies to be around humans and to mind the same way that a cat or dog might. Yet there are numerous stories of mauling by raccoons that has left many people scarred physically and emotionally for life. So is it a good idea to consider raccoons as pets or should they be avoided?

One couple recently in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was recently ordered to get rid of her pet raccoon or the city would do it for them. Instead, she and her husband choose to move outside the city where the city bylaws could not touch her. She has moved in with friends who accept the notion of having a raccoon as a pet in their home. They must be really good friends. Because there are not many people would take a friend in with a pet raccoon to go along.

Raccoons as Pets

Compare the next picture to the one above. This is obviously an angry raccoon who is probably wild and has been trapped or cornered. He is ready to fight and could do a lot of damage with his teeth and his claws! The raccoon in this picture is ready to defend himself or his pups, one of the two. A raccoon and any animal once cornered will fight to get free, clawing and biting to defend themselves. A raccoon in this situation will do a great deal of damage to the person or other animal that might be attacking them. Also if a parent raccoon feels that their pups are in danger, they will also defend them viciously. This includes attacking and dealing as much damages as possible.

Sick or Diseased Raccoons

There is one other situation that raccoons can be very dangerous. This is when they are sick or diseased with rabies. They will act in a very different way than normal and will attack just about anything. Most animals in the wild will run the other way if they can when they encounter humans. But not those that are diseased, defending the young or if they are cornered.

So what does this have to do with raccoons as pets? Even though they are domesticated, perhaps even from when they are a baby, they still have a wild streak in them. They can turn on their owners as they get older and more temperamental. If they are exposed to other wild raccoons, instinct can kick in and the next thing that happens is that they turn on their owners.

We have seen many pictures online showing the results of mauling by raccoons. We will show one such picture in our next post along with a baby raccoon that is cuddling up to their owner which it thinks is obviously her mother! Imagine! How could such a cute animal turn on it”s owner? More to come, stay tuned.

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