Raccoons as pets?

I wondered if any of y'all have any experience..first or second hand...

I just saw a story on the news of a little girl who was attacked by a "pet" raccoon.

When I as a little girl I remember my neighbors had one and when she turned 4 or 5 they had to let her go because she became very destructive..she returned a few times and did damage to their home and eventually was put down..if memory serves me right.

I wonder if you can ever take the "wild" out of them?

They're illegal to have as pets in WV now.

They are illegal now in many states but they do make great pets......they do get into everything.

NOPE, I've known dozens of folks who've tried, even with newborn kits, and they always got destructive-mean...….I think when it's time to breed, could have something to do with it.

They get aggressive after a year old-get their teeth pulled out like a circus bear.And they chit all over the place.
A skunk is a way better pet.Easy to litter train like a cat.

NO!!!!!

i used to have 1 it never did me no harm

I know lots of people who have or had raccoons. For the most part they have had few problems besides the coons getting into all sorts of things when left unattended. I know two people who had coons get aggressive. They both got rid of the aggressive coons, but both got more coons later.

My friend Ron's last coon would play with his face and then all the sudden pull one of Ron's nose hairs. I thought it was hilarious.

Keith

I have had quite a few as pets along with squirrels with no problems at all.

I had one. He was pretty good but we also neutered him
He unfortunately got into something and got sick

They start out fun then it gets all crazy when they get older get a skunk better pet.

I have one years ago, it was fun when it was young. When it got older it got aggressive. It would snap at you anytime there was food around. I would not have one again. JMO

* Vote*

Once heard about one that was kept in a coastal town, and brought to a commercial fish cleaning station. The fish table had a flow of running water. The young coon would play in the stream of water and occasionally get a piece of fish. About the same time, there was a feral cat that would come to the cleaning table and play in the water also.

Until they spray you that first time...

Wild animals don't make as good a pet as dogs.

Lol

You are one sick puppy.

Had one when I was a kid. Had him neutered which helped his demeanor a lot.

Neutering has that affect on males.

I think it would be neat to have one as a pet but i dont think I could ever Completely trust it not to bite me..and they have alot of sharp teeth

I do think you could learn alot by watching them

It would be immoral for you to have one. Poor thing would be bitten all over

My cousin had one as a pet in thg he m I'll lkin barn ...got into everything

yup i have,as said they are def destructive and can get real mean during mating season......best left wild.

Only if he was a S. L. O. W. Learner smartass

We had a male for a couple years at the farm when I was a kid. My dad found him when his eyes where still closed. He got temperamental after about a year and half.

He got into everything and knew how to turn on the kitchen faucet. We would come home and find him in the sink with the water on eating garbage from the can.

lol,,sounds familiar!!!

Before my time one of my older brothers had one. It would steal the baby bottle out of my brother kenny's hands and lay on its back holding it with all four feet and suck away.

After it got to be a year old it started to wander off. It came back one night and killed a goose that was setting on eggs in the barn and then never was seen again.

I raised two pups one summer got knocked out of a tree in storm. The little female was kind of a sweat heart could let her climb all over me. The male started out fine but then got to where I could only handle him wearing heavy gloves. When he got to where he could bite threw the gloves I released both on a friends farm. That was many years ago so I'm sure they have been long gone. I may have trapped a few from that gene pool over the years though???No way to ever know.

Mac

We had them and possums for pets. The coon were a lot more fun until a few years old and then mean. We also had squirrels for pets they were ok, lived outside and came in the kitchen through a special door for peanuts every day. All the coon seemed to get mean, not sure what sex any of them were......jk

Usually after a couple years the coon would go off on their own.

Did it once and never again they will turn in a instant and destroy and get into everything. Might be ok if you had one outside that visited but having them around a kid is insane.

A friend of mine took some kittens out of a chimney and gave me one, needed bottle fed and would chase a minnow around a goldfish bowl for hours, lol
Darn thing LOVED our Border Collie, would sleep in it's ruff and followed him around like a puppy.
The Dog wasn't particularly grateful for the attention, one day the dog went off on a walk with his admirer in tow and once it was far enough away ran back and left jr. behind,

I could here the coon crying for a couple days but never found it or saw it again... That dog was a criminal genius...lol

Our coon slept with the kids and we would put them In the dog box( not the Kids) and haul them along on vacations.

They never crapped In the house they had their toilet outside. We let them come and go and finally they just disappeared. The kids never got bit.

At one time I figured it was time to let them go so the wife was heading to the store about a 5 mile trip. She let the boys out of the car abut 3 miles from the house. On her way home the boys were headed up the road toward home. Pam stopped opened the car door and they climb In and they road home.

When I was in my teens I found a baby coon along the road on my way home. Brought him into the house to show my folks, who had friends over at the time. Walked into the kitchen holding my new prize to show it off to everybody around the kitchen table. That little coon let loose a stream of yellow poop all over my Mom's kitchen stove.

Took him back to where I found him and that was that. No more baby coons for young Moosetrot.

Moosetrot

When I was in my early 20's I found a tiny raccoon that had fallen over a bluff along side a river I was wading. It was almost gone. I took it home and nursed it back to health. At the time I was living in a 2 bedroom apart and the coon stay in a dog kennel when I wasn't home. It was a female and I named her Mildred. She was hilarious to watch. Followed me around like a dog. I kept her in my apartment until one day I came home and she had gotten out !!
She had gotten into everything. Dug up the flowers from the pots. Dirt scattered al over. So at that point I took her to my dad's farm. We built a cage on the side of his shed with a door so she could go back inside like a little den. She got HUGE . I would let her out and she would go straight to my Mom's flower bed and start digging. LOL Didn't go well .As for becoming mean she never did. BUT if you wanted to pick her up you had to get ahold of her by the back of the neck and carry her like a suit case. If you tried to put your hands around her she would growl and snap at you. After about 5 years I started leaving the door open on her cage and she could go as she wanted. She would be gone for a few days then come back. That went on and off for about a year. Oh yes she always wore a collar. Then one day she didn't come back. Almost a year and a half after she left my dad called me one day and said Mildred was back in her cage. She hung around for a couple of days and then left and we never saw her again.

I will tell you this, you haven't lived until you have a raccoon for a pet, even if it is only for a year or so.
I raised a male. His name was Junior. His eyes were shut when I got him. I fed him baby formula (cow's milk will kill them).
You can litter box train them by swabbing their deck after you feed them. A moist paper towel stimulates them to go. It replicates what its mother would have done. She doesn't want a den full of excrement. After you swab the deck, place it in a cat litter box. It will imprint on that box as the place to go later on.
When they are big enough to scurry about, I recommend crating them when you are not home. They will look for trouble until they find it.
Junior got to be about 20 pounds when I gave him to a guy outside of town. I had a huge influx of kids move into my neighborhood and I did not want them messing with him while I was at work. I had not seen him for about 3 years when I ran into the guy I gave him to and said that I wanted to come over and see him. The guy told me to be careful because he is aggressive to everyone but his daughter,
I walked up to his cage and we looked at each other and I said, "Hey Junior.". He made that raccoon chortling sound like he always did when I used to take him out of his cage years prior.
I opened the cage door and he came out and climbed up on my shoulder just like the old days. He clearly remember me. He weighed more than 20 pounds by then!

I have a buddy that his dad found a new born and raised it. His dad had the best coon dogs around as well. His dogs wouldn't pay that coon very much attention around their house, but we're full bore in the woods. The boar coon would get aggressive though as it got bigger.

I had one once. When he was about 4 months old I took him down to the creek. He was playing around in the water having a grand old time. Then I noticed something on his back. I was trying to figure out what it was when the something became multiple somethings. I started running towards him and hollering but it was too late. The crawfish took him under. I never tried to raise a coon after that as I knew it would be impossible to keep them away from the crawfish.