Yeah, there is a big difference between tame and domesticated. Tame is an individual animal from a wild species that has been acculturated to humans. (usually easiest when raised by people) Domesticated is a species that has been bred over MANY generations to emphasize behaviors and make them comfortable around humans. Feral is what you get when a domesticated species raised in the wild.
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I think they would make terrific pets if we could actually domesticate them; breed them for the docility that they have as babies, shorten those clever little fingers a bit so that they can’t actually open the fridge themselves, and maybe house train/litter box train them.
I worked as a vet tech for twenty-some years, sometimes at a wildlife rehab. Yes, raccoons are a rabies vector. They are also messy as hell. They sort of shit in a trench in the wild so I guess you could theoretically litter box train one but I doubt it. The main thing though is they have to eat while holding their food under water. It’s weird, but they have to dunk their food and mess around with it with their little hands underwater before they eat it. You do not want that mess in your kitchen.
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That book directly led to an invasive raccoon problem in Japan: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/mini-stories-volume-7/3/
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It would appear that even trash pandas can be completely humiliated.
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Isn’t that a cat?
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She left the price tag on the pants. She’s going to return them after he outgrows it or is released.
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Ha! I love cats (I’ve had something like 20 cats over the course of my life), and I like to say “We love them, but not because they are smart”. Trash pandas are smart. Which, combined with dexterous paws, makes them a challenge in the house, so I’ve heard. Think of a border collie with hands.
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I don’t want to think of any dog with hands…YIKES!
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Orrrr you tolerate their somewhat less-domesticated traits and learn to live with them. Notably, it’s not difficult at all to litterbox-train ‘coons. And yes, you pretty much have to give up on keeping them out of anything that doesn’t have a keyed lock ^^’.
I wouldn’t recommend taking a raccoon as a pet to most people. That said, yes, they can make excellent pets…if you know what you’re getting into. But the same can be said to a somewhat lesser extent about ferrets, ya know?
While there are definite challenges, keeping a raccoon as a pet is nowhere near the same thing as taking most other wild animals into your house.
Image of Meeko’s face… looming over the sleeping owner – now awake – and Meeko very, very close… and saying, “I am a wild animal, you know.”
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keeping a raccoon as a pet is nowhere near the same thing as taking most other wild animals into your house.
Case in point;
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I’d personally be more bothered about racoon roundworm.
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“I’m not disappointed, just angry”
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