Cazzie - 2007-03-31 Well, I certainly don't know if this is typical play behavior but I have a story to share. Perhaps someone with more 'coon experience can kinda explain it.
We live out in a very rural area. I feed all manner of animals that come up looking for a meal - I have a small band of raccoons who have come to me for quite some time. They eat the kibble I put out and that's fine by me. One night I heard this awful commotion and I stepped outside to see what was the cause. It was the "youth gang." They had obviously sated their appetites and they were throwing uneaten kibble at each other, running up and down the deck and railings. I thought it was a fight so I promptly went back into the house.
The next night, the same thing. Food fight. After nearly a week of this insanity I figured that if I just stood there where they could see me, the fighting would stop. Uh, no. They all started throwing kibble at me. So I, being an idiot, threw it back instinctively. This "Animal House" scene in the cafeteria only the students have four furry legs, not two. We do this a couple times a week.
There is absolutely no aggression being displayed, it's like it's a game and I'm a player.
Let me say this, I have haven a caregiver of feral animals for almost all of my 50 years. We moved here to this house 9 years ago and 'coons were always a part of my "family." I know what trust is and I feel they trust me. So, are these little furballs doing illicit critter drugs? Or am I just "one of the gang?"
I have a racoon named Missy. She is 16 years old. I believe she is the oldest living racoon. She is a little arthritic,but still gets around good. She is very friendly, and gets along with all other animals. It is a full time job taking care of a racoon. Please do not consider raising one unless you are devoted to the animal.
luvracoons - 2006-12-26 i have placed at least 75 racoons back in the wild, i can only describe it as what it must feel like to give up a child, it is heart wrenching. i recently was able to acquire 40acres of thick woods, before i was taking them to a state park where traffic is slow and there are no hunters. i would go back and call them out and even with the last visits being 6 months they always come to me. when someone brought me a baby i always started them out on baby ceral and 2% milk, they were alot bigger than the pictures you are posting here at that age. i have built a huge den for the three i released here in july and they still come every night to the buffet i leave for them. they have brought in 14 wild coons. only my lucy will let me pick her now, my husband said she closes her eyes when she lays her head on my shoulder. It is perhaps sinful that i love them so much, but they are truly a blessing from God. luvracoons
Julie - 2006-12-18 I have 2 beautiful raccoons. One I have raised since she was 3 weeks old, she is now 16 months. The other was 3 months and was too friendly to be released and made a great playmate for the other one. They are the sweetest girls I have ever had. I was never expecting to keep them but I don't think they would be afraid of things, they like my dogs and love people. I do feed the others that are released. They come in and eat in my back yard feeder when their food supply is low. I never would suggest anyone keeping them as they really belong in the outdoors free, but I will never turn my back to help any animal in distress. I hope more would help these sweet intelligent animals. Over-development is taking away their food supply as well as other wild animals. They are hungry and are destructive since their land is disappearing. Help them out.
Zoobie - 2006-12-18 We are just so fascinated by our nightly racoons. They are so fun to watch, they are histerical. We have had and at times still do have anywhere from 8 to 10 racoons visit us at a time, but for the most part 5 to 6. 3 of them are babies just a few months old or so: Snikers, Ollie and Coony. We have one we call Bobber, he has no tail, but one heck of a large tail end. He is a big racoon. We also have one we call Rocky. He is another big boy and Daisy the one we believe is the mama to the wee ones. We feed them dog food, they love it. We also give them healthy treats. Rocky has been coming around for a year now. He was the first of the coon brigade. We have a relationship, but not the kind that I can touch. Bobber and Daisy are the same. They started coming around 6 months ago. We get close to each other but they keep there distance somewhat. The babes have been hanging aroung since Oct. Now the babies are completely different. They walk all over me! They come around about the same time every night so we pretty much know when to except them. When we see them we open the back door and in they come. It's like the kids "mom! where's our dinner!" Did I mention we live in a rural area that kinda sorta backs up to a wooded area. They are so much like dogs. They just dominate the backyard for hours every night. There really is so much I can say about them, but I have stop sometime. I write like I talk. On and on and on. One thing we really are enjoying is watching the babies grow and change. We also have 2 possums that come and we have 3 cats. They are all one big happy family. They eat together, drink together and share their love, affection, and infatuation just as we do with them.
Yvonne - 2006-11-19 We have had the opportunity to be parents to three raccoons thus far. The first two were twin boys, Rick and Rock...Rick went off on his own, and Rock, well he stayed with us until he was about one and half years old. He ended up being tailess, as he came home one night with his tail injured. We have discovered, that since Rock went out on his own, he is currently living about 2 miles from our home, and is now a proud papa. He continues to have human friends, and behaves well while in their company. Our last addition, Polly Wolly Doodle, our only female, has unfortunately passed away 2 months ago. It is assumed that she contracted feline distemper. However, our 'Hoodle Doodle' brought us extreme happiness, and will always be in our hearts. God Bless You, my baby girl! Having a raccoon is like having 10 3-year olds in your house and each going in their own direction. Madness yet entertaining..let em make the mess, it is only what is expected. But if you get stressed at your stuff being shredded, trampled etc, a raccoon may not be the pet you want!
Kim - 2006-09-21 We received a baby coon from a friend who did not have the time to care for her as she needed. now i have had pet squirrels, a pet possum i have bottle raised, and field mice...so i guess a raccoon was the next in line. "boo" is now 5 mths old and she is a mess. she thinks she is one of my cats. I would have never thought she would be such a joy. she loves to give kisses, and really enjoys "defleaing" us. Im a sucker for different pets anyways, as we also have a timber wolf hybrid. I hope to enjoy many years with my pretty little boo baby
robbie - 2006-09-07 I have had my baby coon for 5 months now he is 10 lbs of pure fun and mischieviousness. he goes out in the back yard where we have built a waterfall and have gold fish in the pond. he loves it out there. needless to say may garden flowers are taking the brunt of his playfulness but we will miss him when he goes. if i had the chance to do it again, save a baby coon and see him grow, i would do it in a heart beat. he is my pride and joy his name is rocky.
Barak - 2006-09-02 About March of this last year, I started getting a visitor. I was amazed, a racoon eating my roomates cat's catfood, and me hating the cat....I allowed her to eat.
I named her Mob Squad. I put out all sorts of food; chicken, hot dogs, marshmellows, grapes, carrots, pork chop bones, and even pasta.
Mob kept coming by, and I was using her. I thought it was a male, as a circus act I made her climb railing to get food etc. I liked her, but nothing I had to bother with. I saw a few weeks later that Mob was a female, so she became Molly. Nothing changed except it was evident she was going to have babies!
My roommate and I were thrilled, we kept talking about us being the food source, and Maybe, JUST maybe Molly would let us look at them.
Molly did not come around for a few days. I worried a little, my roommate, she comes home freaked out... dead coon on side of the road. I appeased her, and went about 1/4 mile from our house to take a look. I knew it was Molly, but didn't know if she had given birth yet.
About 2 weeks later, we hear this crying under our deck. NON-STOP... CRYING! I think the babies were looking for Molly.
I look under deck, and 2 little racoons. Very small, but we put food out and hoped. At least Molly had given birth, and they are alive we thought.
They didn't come close at first, but as of today, Adrian and Rocky are thriving. I spoil them. Rocky is female and smaller and less dominant. she is cautious. she is not a big meat eater, she likes her cat food and grapes.
Adrian scratches at the door, and as a male, he takes a peak in the fridge. LOL! He opens and looks.
I let him come into living room and I hand feed him. He is a hoot.
I have orphan Racoons and they are very smart. Perhaps smarter than me, as I pet Adrian and such.
Here is a raccoon up past his bedtime! This younster couldn't keep still, climbed all over everybody and was constantly "checking things out"!
Well, I certainly don't know if this is typical play behavior but I have a story to share. Perhaps someone with more 'coon experience can kinda explain it.
We live out in a very rural area. I feed all manner of animals that come up looking for a meal - I have a small band of raccoons who have come to me for quite some time. They eat the kibble I put out and that's fine by me. One night I heard this awful commotion and I stepped outside to see what was the cause. It was the "youth gang." They had obviously sated their appetites and they were throwing uneaten kibble at each other, running up and down the deck and railings. I thought it was a fight so I promptly went back into the house.
The next night, the same thing. Food fight. After nearly a week of this insanity I figured that if I just stood there where they could see me, the fighting would stop. Uh, no. They all started throwing kibble at me. So I, being an idiot, threw it back instinctively. This "Animal House" scene in the cafeteria only the students have four furry legs, not two. We do this a couple times a week.
There is absolutely no aggression being displayed, it's like it's a game and I'm a player.
Let me say this, I have haven a caregiver of feral animals for almost all of my 50 years. We moved here to this house 9 years ago and 'coons were always a part of my "family." I know what trust is and I feel they trust me. So, are these little furballs doing illicit critter drugs? Or am I just "one of the gang?"
from my experience i have realized they are hard to get socialized, so dont force them to.
I have a racoon named Missy. She is 16 years old. I believe she is the oldest living racoon. She is a little arthritic,but still gets around good. She is very friendly, and gets along with all other
animals. It is a full time job taking care of a racoon. Please do not consider raising one unless you are devoted to the animal.
i have placed at least 75 racoons back in the wild, i can only describe it as what it must feel like to give up a child, it is heart wrenching. i recently was able to acquire 40acres of thick woods, before i was taking them to a state park where traffic is slow and there are no hunters. i would go back and call them out and even with the last visits being 6 months they always come to me. when someone brought me a baby i always started them out on baby ceral and 2% milk, they were alot bigger than the pictures you are posting here at that age. i have built a huge den for the three i released here in july and they still come every night to the buffet i leave for them. they have brought in 14 wild coons. only my lucy will let me pick her now, my husband said she closes her eyes when she lays her head on my shoulder. It is perhaps sinful that i love them so much, but they are truly a blessing from God. luvracoons
I have 2 beautiful raccoons. One I have raised since she was 3 weeks old, she is now 16 months. The other was 3 months and was too friendly to be released and made a great playmate for the other one. They are the sweetest girls I have ever had. I was never expecting to keep them but I don't think they would be afraid of things, they like my dogs and love people. I do feed the others that are released. They come in and eat in my back yard feeder when their food supply is low. I never would suggest anyone keeping them as they really belong in the outdoors free, but I will never turn my back to help any animal in distress. I hope more would help these sweet intelligent animals. Over-development is taking away their food supply as well as other wild animals. They are hungry and are destructive since their land is disappearing. Help them out.
We are just so fascinated by our nightly racoons. They are so fun to watch, they are histerical. We have had and at times still do have anywhere from 8 to 10 racoons visit us at a time, but for the most part 5 to 6. 3 of them are babies just a few months old or so: Snikers, Ollie and Coony. We have one we call Bobber, he has no tail, but one heck of a large tail end. He is a big racoon. We also have one we call Rocky. He is another big boy and Daisy the one we believe is the mama to the wee ones. We feed them dog food, they love it. We also give them healthy treats. Rocky has been coming around for a year now. He was the first of the coon brigade. We have a relationship, but not the kind that I can touch. Bobber and Daisy are the same. They started coming around 6 months ago. We get close to each other but they keep there distance somewhat. The babes have been hanging aroung since Oct. Now the babies are completely different. They walk all over me! They come around about the same time every night so we pretty much know when to except them. When we see them we open the back door and in they come. It's like the kids "mom! where's our dinner!" Did I mention we live in a rural area that kinda sorta backs up to a wooded area. They are so much like dogs. They just dominate the backyard for hours every night. There really is so much I can say about them, but I have stop sometime. I write like I talk. On and on and on. One thing we really are enjoying is watching the babies grow and change. We also have 2 possums that come and we have 3 cats. They are all one big happy family. They eat together, drink together and share their love, affection, and infatuation just as we do with them.
We have had the opportunity to be parents to three raccoons thus far. The first two were twin boys, Rick and Rock...Rick went off on his own, and Rock, well he stayed with us until he was about one and half years old. He ended up being tailess, as he came home one night with his tail injured. We have discovered, that since Rock went out on his own, he is currently living about 2 miles from our home, and is now a proud papa. He continues to have human friends, and behaves well while in their company.
Our last addition, Polly Wolly Doodle, our only female, has unfortunately passed away 2 months ago. It is assumed that she contracted feline distemper. However, our 'Hoodle Doodle' brought us extreme happiness, and will always be in our hearts. God Bless You, my baby girl!
Having a raccoon is like having 10 3-year olds in your house and each going in their own direction. Madness yet entertaining..let em make the mess, it is only what is expected. But if you get stressed at your stuff being shredded, trampled etc, a raccoon may not be the pet you want!
We received a baby coon from a friend who did not have the time to care for her as she needed. now i have had pet squirrels, a pet possum i have bottle raised, and field mice...so i guess a raccoon was the next in line. "boo" is now 5 mths old and she is a mess. she thinks she is one of my cats. I would have never thought she would be such a joy. she loves to give kisses, and really enjoys "defleaing" us. Im a sucker for different pets anyways, as we also have a timber wolf hybrid. I hope to enjoy many years with my pretty little boo baby
I have had my baby coon for 5 months now he is 10 lbs of pure fun and mischieviousness. he goes out in the back yard where we have built a waterfall and have gold fish in the pond. he loves it out there.
needless to say may garden flowers are taking the brunt of his playfulness but we will miss him when he goes.
if i had the chance to do it again, save a baby coon and see him grow, i would do it in a heart beat. he is my pride and joy his name is rocky.
Robbie of kansas
About March of this last year, I started getting a visitor. I was amazed, a racoon eating my roomates cat's catfood, and me hating the cat....I allowed her to eat.
I named her Mob Squad. I put out all sorts of food; chicken, hot dogs, marshmellows, grapes, carrots, pork chop bones, and even pasta.
Mob kept coming by, and I was using her. I thought it was a male, as a circus act I made her climb railing to get food etc. I liked her, but nothing I had to bother with.
I saw a few weeks later that Mob was a female, so she became Molly.
Nothing changed except it was evident she was going to have babies!
My roommate and I were thrilled, we kept talking about us being the food source, and Maybe, JUST maybe Molly would let us look at them.
Molly did not come around for a few days. I worried a little, my roommate, she comes home freaked out... dead coon on side of the road.
I appeased her, and went about 1/4 mile from our house to take a look. I knew it was Molly, but didn't know if she had given birth yet.
About 2 weeks later, we hear this crying under our deck. NON-STOP... CRYING! I think the babies were looking for Molly.
I look under deck, and 2 little racoons. Very small, but we put food out and hoped.
At least Molly had given birth, and they are alive we thought.
They didn't come close at first, but as of today, Adrian and Rocky are thriving. I spoil them. Rocky is female and smaller and less dominant. she is cautious. she is not a big meat eater, she likes her cat food and grapes.
Adrian scratches at the door, and as a male, he takes a peak in the fridge. LOL! He opens and looks.
I let him come into living room and I hand feed him.
He is a hoot.
I have orphan Racoons and they are very smart.
Perhaps smarter than me, as I pet Adrian and such.
Anyways, thanks for letting me share...
Walk in peace,
Barak
Shirley,Mass.