Raccoons get their peanut butter sandwiches

Applecruncher...please be careful. Tell you a true story. My mother, who was very energetic, became legally blind at 56 and came to live with us for 26 years. We live on 12 acres, and she began throwing our scraps over the back deck instead of using the garbage disposal.

Soon, we had raccoons come to visit nightly, and she would buy bread to supplement the scraps, then we had their litters with them and before we knew it, there was a "pack" of them. Some of them would even come right up to her to grab the bread out of her hands.

Raccoons are wild "foraging creatures" and their nature is to travel from place to place and root or grub for their food in the wild. Before we knew it we were literally overrun with raccoons. It was frightening, as in a warm climate, a well fed racoon can have 2 litters a year at least. Since they couldn't be "fixed" they just kept breeding. Coming to our place to eat evidently became etched in their memories and before you knew it, it was their main "food station".

It got ugly. It took time, but we, in our naivety, had upset their natural instincts. They can carry rabies and other diseases. I'd feed them away from the house and limit the amount and regularity of the food -that's just a suggestion from a post raccoon ridden family. We still throw our scraps out but not every night and thank heavens, now the few "traveler" racoons just "pass through" to grab a bite like other wild creatures and birds. Hope you understand why I posted this. They are darling, aren't they. With that said, they are wild creatures.
 
Applecruncher...please be careful. Tell you a true story. My mother, who was very energetic, became legally blind at 56 and came to live with us for 26 years. We live on 12 acres, and she began throwing our scraps over the back deck instead of using the garbage disposal.

Soon, we had raccoons come to visit nightly, and she would buy bread to supplement the scraps, then we had their litters with them and before we knew it, there was a "pack" of them. Some of them would even come right up to her to grab the bread out of her hands.

Raccoons are wild "foraging creatures" and their nature is to travel from place to place and root or grub for their food in the wild. Before we knew it we were literally overrun with raccoons. It was frightening, as in a warm climate, a well fed racoon can have 2 litters a year at least. Since they couldn't be "fixed" they just kept breeding. Coming to our place to eat evidently became etched in their memories and before you knew it, it was their main "food station".

It got ugly. It took time, but we, in our naivety, had upset their natural instincts. They can carry rabies and other diseases. I'd feed them away from the house and limit the amount and regularity of the food -that's just a suggestion from a post raccoon ridden family. We still throw our scraps out but not every night and thank heavens, now the few "traveler" racoons just "pass through" to grab a bite like other wild creatures and birds. Hope you understand why I posted this. They are darling, aren't they. With that said, they are wild creatures.
Any warm-blooded animal (except opossums) can carry rabies. In order to transmit rabies, the animal has to have rabies & be showing signs of rabies. An animal that has rabies will not be eating or acting normally.
I also feed 4 raccoons & 2 opossums that visit me 2-3 times a week. They have had a litter & the 2 babies also show up, but I've never had as many as in the video. They love cat kibble and Hazelnuts.
 
Any warm-blooded animal (except opossums) can carry rabies. In order to transmit rabies, the animal has to have rabies & be showing signs of rabies. An animal that has rabies will not be eating or acting normally.
I also feed 4 raccoons & 2 opossums that visit me 2-3 times a week. They have had a litter & the 2 babies also show up, but I've never had as many as in the video. They love cat kibble and Hazelnuts.
I pray than no one that feeds wild animals ever goes through what we did. I'm speaking from experience to possibly help someone avoid it. We were so dumb. For a long time, it was ok and then all at once, it became insane. We had two big vicious coons and others that became aggressive. Do believe it was the regularity and the amount of food we were giving them that contributed to the problem big time. Oh well, you live and learn.
 
@Liberty

WAKE UP!!! I am not feeding raccoons...and I'm always careful.
I don't particularly like raccoons, and I certainly wouln't have a family of them in my home. :rolleyes:

I thought it was a cute video.
It's not me. Did you even watch the video??
That's a random YouTube video of a stranger.
 
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@Liberty

WAKE UP!!! I am not feeding raccoons...and I'm always careful.
I don't particularly like raccoons, and I certainly wouln't have a family of them in my home. :rolleyes:

I thought it was a cute video.
It's not me. Did you even watch the video??
That's a random YouTube video of a stranger.
Ok, pardon me...was just trying to help and yes I did watch the video. Didn't realize it was a "random" video. Sorry, so flog me already, LOL
 
@Liberty

WAKE UP!!! I am not feeding raccoons...and I'm always careful.
I don't particularly like raccoons, and I certainly wouln't have a family of them in my home. :rolleyes:

I thought it was a cute video.
It's not me. Did you even watch the video??
That's a random YouTube video of a stranger.
LOL. I got it but I did get a chuckle at people thinking it's you in the video.
 
That guy has a sweet relationship with those raccoons. 😊 Listen how he talks to them.

Personally.I wouldn't get that close to them but they are cute.
I've had them take food out of my hand, but I would never touch one. It is hard to resist - especially when they stand up on their hind legs & ask for food by pawing at the air.
 

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