Questions Concerning Feeding Racoons

[Savage Idealist]

There's a family of Racoons that live near a forested (read: thorn bush plants) lot inbetween mine and my neighboors house. Sometimes I or another family member see the little scamps waltz into our giant backyard or wander around our front yeard, and I was wondering to myself one day, 'oh how nice it would be to feed them!'.

So my question is, is it safe to feed wild racoons peices of fruit and other foods? if yes, what other foods could racoons eat?

Thanks.

 

[jimrckhnd]

Well if my father in law is to be believed apparently Raccoons are fond of brisket sandwiches.

 

[Savage Idealist]

And becuase no thread on racoons is complete without pictures or evidence, here some photos of the little cuties

 

[Atomic Fiend]

No. No it is not. Stay away from those Racoons. They're feral, and smart as hell. They will rummage through your can and destroy things to eat. They will dig a hole into your home and breed FOR MONTHS, and you'll only notice when theres too many to count.

I had friend whose home was infested by racoons and my neighbors spent the entire night clearing them out. They told me not matter how many they laid out more would come. The thought of filling the house with gas even occurred before they released that there were so many the stench of their dead bodies would probably never clear out. Leave those raccoons alone they can take care of themselves.

 

[Savage Idealist]

Well if my father in law is to be believed apparently Raccoons are fond of brisket sandwiches.

Hmmm, interesting.

No. No it is not. Stay away from those Racoons. They're feral, and smart as hell. They will rummage through your can and destroy things to eat. They will dig a hole into your home and breed FOR MONTHS, and you'll only notice when theres too many to count.

I had friend whose home was infested by racoons and my neighbors spent the entire night clearing them out. They told me not matter how many they laid out more would come. The thought of filling the house with gas even occurred before they released that there were so many the stench of their dead bodies would probably never clear out. Leave those raccoons alone they can take care of themselves.

Wow, feeding them even a little food could cause that much trouble? Never knew.

 

[jimrckhnd]

I like the little monsters myself. They are smart, tough and opportunistic - and they have some interesting traits like the fact they often wash their food and they are smart enough to open a jar of peanut butter.

 

[onemoretime]

No. No it is not. Stay away from those Racoons. They're feral, and smart as hell. They will rummage through your can and destroy things to eat. They will dig a hole into your home and breed FOR MONTHS, and you'll only notice when theres too many to count.

I had friend whose home was infested by racoons and my neighbors spent the entire night clearing them out. They told me not matter how many they laid out more would come. The thought of filling the house with gas even occurred before they released that there were so many the stench of their dead bodies would probably never clear out. Leave those raccoons alone they can take care of themselves.

Yup. Those raccoons do just fine without human interference. No need to get yourself into trouble here.

 

[knight]

silently honest is right, and so is onemoretime.

gonna ad to this myself as well. racoons are dangerous

 

[Savage Idealist]

Right, guess I won't be feeding them then.

Even if they are the cutest damn things ever.

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Even if they are the cutest damn things ever.

Appreciate them from a distance with your camera as you have been doing.

 

[Savage Idealist]

Appreciate them from a distance with your camera as you have been doing.

Indeed, will do.

 

[Giggly]

Read this.

 

[rav3n]

You also might want to read this article about urban raccoons who killed ten cats. Raccoons if hungry enough will take down cats and dogs. They also often carry rabies, at least in the city.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1448664...ws/t/theyre-urban-raccoons-theyre-not-afraid/

The city that I live in has quite a dense raccoon population. A friend heard screaming and snarling on her porch one morning, rushed out and found her cat cornered by a raccoon. Thank goodness she'd forgotten to put away the broom she swept her porch with the prior day, since she picked it up and used it to get rid of the raccoon. And even then, the raccoon would have attacked her had she not had the broom. Our guess was that it was rabid.

 

[Tallulah]

Yikes! I always thought raccoons were adorable, but if they go after housepets, they're going down.

 

[Fluffywolf]

I'm personally against feeding wild animals, because it messes them up bigtime and does more harm than good.

But if you insist on feeding, then it's best to scatter it around and not directly feed them, and let them find it. I mean that way they won't at least run up to any human they see for foo...*SPLAT*.

 

[SilkRoad]

Better not to feed them. When I was in Vancouver recently I saw raccoons waltzing around in broad daylight in busy parts of the park, and I'm sure it had a lot to do with feeding. In a way it was nice to see them but it was messed up too. As a child growing up in that part of the world, I only saw them very occasionally, in flashes - the reflection of eyes at night, or running like heck in the day. They are nocturnal. Things seem to have changed...

I would leave them to their own devices. I see urban foxes sometimes where I live in London, so far only in the dusk or at night. They are probably a nuisance (though not to me as I live in an apartment) but it gives me a thrill. Their wildness and the simultaneous curiosity and indifference towards humans. Your raccoons will get along fine, I just hope they don't make a nuisance of themselves.

 

[cascadeco]

Definitely not ok. They are more opportunistic and once fed, they'll know it's an easier source of food / will start targeting human establishments searching for food. They may eventually come to depend on it, and may become more aggressive. Also, if they become more prolific/nuisance-ish, rooting through garbage cans, they're then viewed as vermin by the general populace and could be mistreated by people who don't hold the same regard for wild animals as you do.

It's setting them up for badness all around; in addition, the food you're feeding them may be much 'unhealthier' for them than what they'd get out in the wild. Also, food more readily available = likely increase in population and density, which could increase disease as well as aggression, etc etc.

This goes for any wild animal.

 

[JAVO]

There's a reason they wear black robber masks. They're related to bears, and they think they're as big and as scary as their cousins.

Once while camping, they stole our bag of tortilla chips at night when our back was turned. When I charged at the pack of 10 or so of them, a few of them charged back at me! A flashlight revealed that I was surrounded by glowing eyeballs in the woods. They kept me awake most of the night munching on chips right outside the tent. I nearly resorted to giving them the salsa too!

 

[Atomic Fiend]

So everyone agrees that this would be a terrible, terrible idea.

 

[MacGuffin]

Pretend they are all underage teens and just say no.