Racoons wash their food if water is nearby. They have "hands" instead of paws on their front limbs. They are very intelligent. That's all..... Hal
I've raised a couple of raccoons when I was a kid. They make great pets, at least until they get to be a couple of years old.
They ARE cute, but quite annoying if they are hanging out in a neighborhood getting into everyone's garbage or making all the dogs bark. Plus, they can also carry rabies and infect people's pets.
One evening I heard a ruckus at the grill by my kitchen door. I turned on the light and saw two raccoons, likely after the grease in the can. I figured I'd open the door and they would scatter. Wrong! I opened the door, one of them took a look, and he rushed it trying to get in my house!!! I slammed the door in his face and wondered if I was gonna be under attack. Aggressive little buggers. I've held a baby raccoon that blew out of its nest in a tree in my yard. They grip as a child would. They do have hands, but the do not have opposable thumbs.
I guess it's time to get the live traps out. The problem is that I have only two traps and I'd like to let these go in the same place, preferably at the same time. I need to give this some thought, which will also give me time to decide whose house I want to leave them out at.
Yep, and then they get mean! I raised a female after the rest of her family got hit by a truck and she was the only survivor. I raised her on goat milk and she ate crawdads out of the creek. At about a year and a half, she suddenly became mean. I took her about 5 miles away to a remote abandon cabin. I rode up to the cabin that next summer and called her and I heard a churring sound and she came out with 5 babies.