Community Chat

[Kachina624]

Raccoons can be extremely destructive....but they're cute.

[KathyM23]

My grandchildren had a "pet" raccoon who made himself at home on their large front porch.  His name was Pickles and he was young.  Their house is on the edge of the woods so he wandered in from there.  He did consider himself a pet.

Grandkids were in an DUI accident and spent several weeks in Childrens Hospital and we would go everyday and their Mom/Dad stayed at Ronald McDonald House.  So DH would drive out to their house every day at 5:00 am to feed and give Pickles some company.  He was still there when they got home.

Eventually he did retreat back to the woods.  Son was glad to see him leave on his own.

We also had a racoon who lived in the rafters of the pole barn.  DH also fed him. 

[spiderw]

I am an animal advocate and care about all wildlife.  However, I did have a big problem with raccoons many years ago at my summer home in the mountains.  They got into my attic and destroyed the insulation and made much noise.  To make a long story short I finally discovered how they were getting in the home through a loose board covering the crawl space beneath the house.  Once that was fixed, the raccoon problem was resolved.  What a ordeal!!!!!!!

[Trailrun23]

My sister lives in a circa 1923 house on a creek lot with a small forested area. Amazing the critters that she sees. She saw a raccoon peeking around the corner of her back deck a few years ago and she put some food out for him. The next day, exact same time, he was back and brought his friends with him. After several years, a dozen or more raccoons show up at 5 pm like clockwork, rain or shine. No telling how many different raccoons there have been over the years, but news travels fast. She feeds them but keeps her distance. I worry they will break into the house when she travels and there is no one putting out food. She is basically a victim of raccoon extortion, so she now has her neighbor feed them when she is not there. 

[QVCkitty1]

@Trailrun23 , Raccoon extortion, I love it . 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[sunshine45]

LOL

this must be going around social media today......i saw it earlier this morning in a facebook group i am in!

[On It]

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@spiderw wrote:

I am an animal advocate and care about all wildlife.  However, I did have a big problem with raccoons many years ago at my summer home in the mountains.  They got into my attic and destroyed the insulation and made much noise.  To make a long story short I finally discovered how they were getting in the home through a loose board covering the crawl space beneath the house.  Once that was fixed, the raccoon problem was resolved.  What a ordeal!!!!!!!

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Same here. I will not tolerate anyone who harms or terrorizes our local wildlife, but I do not want to share my home with them. A raccoon found a missing vent cover for the foundation beneath the back porch of our mountain vacation home. It was going underneath our house and ripped down a section of the floor insulation. That little dude caused a lot of work.

One of the Village employees cautioned me about hummingbird feeders. He said if you have them and raccoons realize that sweet stuff is coming from inside the house, they will try to find a way inside. They are relentless.

[Burnsite]

My sister teaches at a Maine elementary/middle school. They adopted a porcupine, whom they named "Spiky," after (looking very poorly) it approached them when playing at recess and seemed to be seeking help.

The teachers took Spiky to a porcupine rescue lady, who thought that perhaps his mother had vanished and he was just starving. So she rehabililtated the little guy and they then released it near the school playground, an area he already knew.  He does (though more distantly) still visit the children occasionally.

According to my sis, the porcupine's quills were smooth and he liked to be petted. 

[Meowingkitty]

We have several that visit us nightly (we live in the city). They stop buy to see if there is any cat food left over. They don't bother the cats what so ever. The cats just sleep when they come by. There is a gang of 5 who are regulars. They seem to go house to house every night. They are big and well fed.

[kate2357]

Raccoons may look cute, but they are wild creatures that can have rabies, are destructive towards property and can harm your small cats and dogs. Based on personal experience, I do not think they should be fed and encouraged to be around people.

Raccoons, skunks, and foxes are the terrestrial animals most often infected with rabies in the United States. All bites by such wildlife must be considered a possible exposure to the rabies virus.