How much can raccoons eat?

[Diggin It]

You think you're gonna keep us out?

Think again!!

 

[Tinhack]

I've got game cam video clips of a skunk charging a raccoon and letting a raccoon have it. The raccoon looked like he was washing his face with dirt then went on eating deer corn I had out like nothing happened. A couple of days later, that raccoon must have been in my barn. I smelled skunk but traces of the raccoon were everywhere. The musk of a raccoon is unique also. I was pretty cautious entering the barn.

 

[MossRoad]

Only 16 states allow pet raccoons.

Indiana is one of them.

Missouri is not.

MoKelly

I would not want one as a pet. They are too smart for their own good. Studies show they are much smarter than cats and dogs, and just barely below monkeys in intelligence.

 

[5030]

...and the make BIG poop piles too.

 

[strantor]

I would not want one as a pet. They are too smart for their own good. Studies show they are much smarter than cats and dogs, and just barely below monkeys in intelligence.

That's what I'm saying. So smart. They really are smarter than dogs and cats, I have no trouble believing they're nearly as smart as monkeys. They're like 5 y/o children but more aggressive, with cat claws and Doberman jaws, and they're way too strong for how small they are. If you wouldn't be comfortable letting a 5 y/o loose in your house with a handful of knives then you probably shouldn't have a pet raccoon.

 

[Jstpssng]

There used to be an old wives tale that raccoons always wash their food.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[strantor]

There used to be an old wives tale that raccoons always wash their food.

The only part of that that's an old wives tale is the "always" part. They absolutely do wash their food, if there's water around to wash it in.

One of the funniest things, giving them cotton candy to wash:

 

[MoKelly]

I would not want one as a pet. They are too smart for their own good. Studies show they are much smarter than cats and dogs, and just barely below monkeys in intelligence.

Coming soon to a theater near you -- planet of the raccoons!

MoKelly

 

[JethroB]

The only part of that that's an old wives tale is the "always" part. They absolutely do wash their food, if there's water around to wash it in.

One of the funniest things, giving them cotton candy to wash:

I like the hind legs trot near the end. “Outta the way honey, I gotta go...now!”

 

[tallyho8]

They are easy to trap but they are hard to keep in the trap. Here is one of mine escaping:

 

[bcp]

If raccoons were as big as bears....


Bruce

 

[strantor]

They are easy to trap but they are hard to keep in the trap. Here is one of mine escaping:

My trap worked twice, 2 years ago. Ever since, they know better. Here's from last night.

That plate inside has chicken nuggets, a rib bone with meat still on, a few handfuls of the chicken feed they seem to love so much, and spaghetti. I can't imagine the willpower it must've taken to walk past it so many times and dig in the dirt for soggy layer pellets.

Maybe in a couple of years more, there won't be anyone left who remembers the double trap tragedy of 2019, so it may work again once or twice. That is assuming they don't pass down oral tradition back in their den or tree or wherever they live.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My bird feeder...although it's not in the picture, there is a squirrel baffle on the pole.

 

[bcp]

My bird feeder poles are 4 inch PVC pipe. Raccoons and squirrels can't get a grip on it.

Bruce

 

[shooterdon]

When I was a kid, our dog took on a raccoon. He killed the raccoon but he got torn up a bit doing it.

As to keeping them as pets....I am not much for keeping wild animals as pets.

The only solutions to a coon problem...kill them or trap and release them about 10 miles away.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I was a kid, our dog took on a raccoon. He killed the raccoon but he got torn up a bit doing it.

As to keeping them as pets....I am not much for keeping wild animals as pets.

The only solutions to a coon problem...kill them or trap and release them about 10 miles away.

Just make sure that the people living ten miles away really want another raccoon or two to contend with. That’s why God made lead.