Hi!
I respectfully disagree with the posts here about the raccoons. They can be nice and sweet and they are obviously cute. The lady in Florida who was attacked by a family of raccoons “attacked” first… She went outside with a broom and started to hit them, I think any animal, specially one with babies with them would have done the same, just to protect themselves.
I have been feeding a small female in my backyard. She is the sweetest thing, 4 nights ago she brought 3 babies for me to meet, the cutest thing. She lets me get near her, she has never showed any aggression.
Respectful disagreement is never a problem here. Thanks for taking the time to write.
There is a reason the Park Service says Don’t feed the bears. But I sincerely hope it all works out for you, and am glad you are enjoying it.
There is a reason the Park Service says Don’t feed the bears.
Actually, what the Park Service is more likely to say these days — since Don’t feel the bears didn’t really get the point across to many people — is “a fed bear is a dead bear”.
But I sincerely hope it all works out for you, and am glad you are enjoying it.
It may work out for your respondent, but I can state categorically that it will not work out for the raccoons. WILL. NOT. Teaching a wild animal that humans are a safe and reliable source of food is going to lead to nothing but trouble for that animal.
Speaking here as someone who lives in country where wild animals are ubiquitous and encounters with bears and coyotes are commonplace…never mind the smaller fry like raccoons…
@Mary, I completely agree. I think it’s bad for the animals and bad for the humans. But as long as humans persist in thinking all wild creatures are just an outdoor variety of puppy or kitten (as in, cute and domesticated)…
The thing is, I’ve tried to have this conversation with people for ages, and the response is always, Oh, you just don’t understand, these raccoons/coyotes/bears really like me and I’m perfectly safe. The “bad for the animals” argument doesn’t even register. So I’ve just stopped trying.
The wild / domesticated dichotomy may not hold in urban and suburban areas, though. Is a wild animal a wild animal if it lives in a human world? They don’t have a natural habitat anymore…do they have a natural food source? Domestication is a process that can apply to some extent to any animal, not just modern cats and dogs. And if we’ve already taken away raccoons’ habitat, is domesticating them unethical?
I’m not saying there’s a right answer to that—in some ways, I don’t believe in domestication at all, and am uncomfortable with the notion of pets as a whole—but in a crowded place a far cry from Mary’s country residence, it’s hardly a black and white issue.
On the other hand… http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=492
Domestication is a matter of long-term manipulation of a species’ genetics, and involves deliberately selecting for those individuals whose genetics are favorable to living closely with humans. There is a big difference between domestication and taming something. IMO it doesn’t matter whether we’ve taken away their habitat or not, a tamed animal is not the same as a domesticated animal.
@Kelley- I think you understand the situation quite well.