raccoons

[Iamfishing]

over by my house there is a small family of raccons that are super friendly,they will let you pet them,they will take food right out of your hand,great little raccons.BUT i did call WDFW to see if they can come out to and get teh raccons,cause i know how people can be (MEAN) i just want what's best for the lil guy's i hope they take them to the zoo or a sancturary,i hope they dont try to put them to sleep,cause if they are going to do that i will NOT let them take the lil guy's,but i was wondering why are they sooo friendly,were they some ones pets at one point??what does it mean when they are that friendly?cause i have seen raccons b-4 and they hissed at me and were just down right MEAN attacking the cats around were i used to live.but theese little buggers are cooo lol.last night the lil guy thats what i call him came right up to me and let me pet him and he took some lasanga right out of my hand.funny thing is.the other night the 3 lil guy's were on some ones porch well 2 were.theese people are nasty like having bags and bags of trash on the porch.one was getting food and giving it to the other then the one raccon was droping the food down below to the other one talk about team work!!! i know i miss spelled a few words.were is spell check on here??

[Gringo Pescador]

They are friendly because they know they can get food right out of your hand. They are still wild animals though, and should be treated as such - no matter how friendly those guys are, they can tear you up if they feel threatened/cornered. I've seen what they can do to a dog and it aint pretty. My 1st thought when reading your post is what about kids that don't know any better (thinking about my 14 month old daughter, who thinks every furry creature is a dog), what if some kid tries to "hug" one?

Also, the WDFW put a notice out a few weeks ago about some rabid ones turning up in the Bellevue area.

I have no idea what WDFW policy is on em, but I am guessing if they are too friendly they will be put down.

IMHO the best thing to do is to run em off - make em scared of people - they get too comfortable around people bad things can happen on both sides. and don't worry, you run em off, they will still survive just fine.

[Amx]

WDFW also said some are showing up with distemper, which can be transfered to a dog and cat, but not humans. But the distempered raccoon will act disorented and can/will attack.

[Iamfishing]

They are friendly because they know they can get food right out of your hand. They are still wild animals though, and should be treated as such - no matter how friendly those guys are, they can tear you up if they feel threatened/cornered. I've seen what they can do to a dog and it aint pretty. My 1st thought when reading your post is what about kids that don't know any better (thinking about my 14 month old daughter, who thinks every furry creature is a dog), what if some kid tries to "hug" one?

Also, the WDFW put a notice out a few weeks ago about some rabid ones turning up in the Bellevue area.

I have no idea what WDFW policy is on em, but I am guessing if they are too friendly they will be put down.

IMHO the best thing to do is to run em off - make em scared of people - they get too comfortable around people bad things can happen on both sides. and don't worry, you run em off, they will still survive just fine.

that makes sence.i never thought about the little kids over here,but the raccons come out at night between 11 P.M - 1 AM i dont think too many little kids are running around at that time,but you never know

[Rich McVey]

They are friendly because they know they can get food right out of your hand. They are still wild animals though, and should be treated as such - no matter how friendly those guys are, they can tear you up if they feel threatened/cornered.

BINGO. Racoon are some of the smartest critters you come across. Be carefull with them.. and I sure wouldnt try to hug one.

Dont ever feed them unless you want more of them moving in to the area.

[Iamfishing]

i wouldnt try to hug one eaither,lol can you image you go to hug then it rips up your neck and face...ouchhhh

[Rich McVey]

My dog Max, the brown one in my avitar pic loves to chase them out of the yard. We came around the corner of the driveway expecting 2 or 3 medium side racoons.. NOPE.. more like 12 in all sizes. The largest one was freeking huge. Size of a very fat med/small sized dog. I'd bet money it was 35+ pounds. It got a bit imtimidating when we got around the back of the boat and they were surrounding us. Im just glad they were scattering instead of attacking!

I had some nesting under my place a few years back. They stunk up the back half of the house. I had to pull up the floor boards to chase them off and patch up the access points.

[fishaholictaz]

My mom's sister as a kid raised two coons as pets. We have family pictures of my mom and aunt as a kid with them. I guess they had them for a few years.... She said even the hand raised ones would get a little wild when they get older. You can never 100% trust them.

[Dave]

The 3 main species in WA that carry rabies are Raccoons, Skunks, and Bats. Raccoons can move very quick and can also be aggressive. I agree with Gringo that the best thing to do is scare them off. You can use a hose and spray them with water or use an air horn. In addition, removing any food source is a good idea since they like to live where there is a food is easily accessible like cat food or an open garbage bin. Lastly, you can obtain a live trap and safely capture them for relocation and release in a forest or other wooded area.

[Amx]

But they are so cute.

[Amx]

So are puppies. I'd rather have a puppy.

[flyfisher31]

some skins for the living room wouldn't hurt.

[Coastfishin]

My neighbor used to feed the raccons by hand until the "friendly" one bit her and almost took a finger off! I have a different policy for raccoons but I won't go into that here:-"