Colorado woman charged for feeding deer inside her home.

[win231]

While raccoons aren’t considered feral, they’re vermin, feeding them teaches them to trust humans. While win might be a kind man to these creatures, they might go to other humans expecting the same only to be shot at. They may have a litter and teach them to go up to houses instead of learning to find food for themselves. Never mind the fact that they can carry diseases and such.
They may become overly dependant on humans instead of relying on themselves.

I’m a strong supporter of helping out our wildlife ONLY if it’s in THEIR best interests, like if they are in serious danger of starvation, hurt or injuried. It’s not kind otherwise.

I'm in the city with neighbors a few feet away. Discharging a firearm here would result in criminal charges (except in a life-or-death self defense situation), so I doubt anyone in their right mind would shoot a raccoon - they'd immediately go to jail. Maybe that happens out in the country but certainly not here. They probably did have a litter because last year, there were a couple of baby raccoons that showed up for a few weeks. But I haven't seen then since.
Since they only visit a couple of times per week, I don't think they are depending on me for food; that would mean they're starving.

 

[win231]

If you are bent to feed a feral animal, then Win231's idea of small treats, ocassionally is the better way to go. The best way is not to feed them at all. You do not want to have the animal rely on your dole. And you do not want the animal to become accustomed to being in human presence. A few years ago, my neighbor had a couple of small kids. We had a bear start to hang around. Bears in Northeastern PA. can grow up to be in the 500-600 lb. category. Her kids were out playing when the bear went lumbering by. I told her about the bear. During the conversation, she mentioned that she left food out for the deer. Dumb **********.
Deer have been enduring harsh winter conditions for hundreds of thousands of years. They change their diet to eat twigs, bark and other deer delectables. Their stomachs actually change. People put out corn, hay, and other food people THINK deer eat in winter, but those foods rot in the stomachs and eventually cause death. You are not a deer, you don't know what a deer eats , so don't feed Bambi, cuz he'll die.
I hope this clears things up.

I'm not so sure the bear wouldn't have been wandering around, whether or not food was left out. After all, their sense of smell is so good, they would also be attracted to the smell of food cooking in people's houses, & how would you prevent that? And every house has trash cans. Even though they're closed, I'm sure bears can still smell trash.
Here, in the city, bears & mountain lions have been wandering through people's yards; video is on the news constantly. No one is leaving any food for them, but they'll still look for it.

 

[rgp]

I used to have a deer that came up on the porch to eat the cat food. The only thing I put out for her, was water. But, I guess she found a better source [probably less people] and no longer comes around.

Then there was the little bear.....Not at my house, but in the general neighborhood. Naturally people named it..... [Boo-Boo] it was on the news every night, people started buying it Pizzas........and leaving them out for it , hoping for a photo opp . Then it just wandered off too. Someone said it was seen swimming across the river [the Ohio] toward Kentucky.........That is a long swim for a little bear, hope the little guy made it !!

 

[win231]