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Raccoons

Raccoons are not always thought of as home pets, but the 2006 feature-length animation title Over the Hedge left many kids asking their parents if they could get one as a pet.

With its title character RJ, a raccoon, voiced by Bruce Willis, the movie told the tale of how a mischievous raccoon came by a mixed-species family, consisting of different foraging animals who ran the risk of losing their natural habitat due to an on-the-rise residential development project.

Illustrating the raccoon’s inherent capacity for mischief, Over the Hedge was quite a movie for its class, touching up on the right values – duty, responsibility, environmental awareness, honesty and forgiveness – a movie that can be enjoyed by kids and adults, together.

But as funny as the movie was, countless kids were disappointed to learn that raccoons are considered as exotic pets to keep, and are even illegal to keep as pets in certain territories.

They also learned a lot of things about the challenges in keeping raccoons as pets. Here as some of those.

The Wild and Sheltered

Just as with skunks or foxes, raccoons are not as easy to keep as cats or dogs. For one, they tend to live longer than most cats and dogs, living up to 10 to 15 years.

Also, the thing with raccoons is that once they are kept as pets, it is nearly impossible for them to be reintroduced to the wild. Given that raccoons are naturally wild creatures, they are not as domesticated as cats or dogs, and if you do decide to keep a raccoon as pet, then realize that it is too much to handle, there’s going to be some challenging degrees to face when it comes to “giving it up”.

The Upsides

But, if you are truly committed in keeping a raccoon as a pet, you’ll find yourself having to be constantly on watch over their activities, since they do tend to cause occasional damage in house environments.

In terms of feeding, raccoons aren’t all that fickle, but feeding them diets which are balanced for mammals greatly helps, along with regular trips to the vet. Though not all vets are qualified to treat raccoons, the search for one isn’t all that challenging, particularly if you live in an area where it is legal to keep raccoons as pets.

All in all though, raccoons are quite interesting companions, full of energy and mischief, just like RJ in Over the Hedge.

Raccoon

True Wild Life | Raccoon | The raccoon is a medium sized bear-like mammal that was originally only found in North America. Due to the deliberate introduction of the raccoon into other countries, the common raccoon can also be found now in Europe and Japan. The average raccoon is around 70 cm from the raccoons nose to the tip of the raccoons tail. A fully grown raccoon can weigh up to 10kg and can live for up to 20 years in captivity. Raccoons in the wild however, tend to have a much lower life expectancy.

The raccoon originally inhabited densely wooded areas and large forests but today the raccoon has adapted to living in mountainous and wetter habitats. The raccoon has also moved closer to human communities as the raccoons are able to find food very easily but many homeowners consider them to be pests. Raccoons are grey, omnivorous animals surviving on a diet consisting of insects, plants and small animals such as fish and the occasional bird. Raccoons tend to be nocturnal but it is not uncommon to spot a raccoon during the day.

The most distinctive feature of the raccoon is the black mask found around the eyes of the raccoon. The raccoon has a thick layer of fur which keeps it warm during the cold winters and raccoons also have extremely sensitive and and dexterous front paws with raccoons having been observed turning door knobs and opening jars. Raccoons forage for their food and raccoons are often found close to water. Raccoons have been observed washing their food in water before consuming it! Although the reasons for this behaviour are not really known, it is thought that the sense of touch of the front paws of the raccoon is heightened when wet.

Their are around ten different species of raccoon that range in size but differ little in appearance, found throughout the Americas. The sense of touch is the most important for a raccoon and their agile front paws are covered in a spiny coating to protect them when they are not being used to aid eating. Raccoons tend to mate in the late winter to early spring from January to March. However, more southernly raccoon species have been known to mate later with the mating season often lasting until June. After a gestation period of around 2 months, the female raccoon will give birth to roughly 5 baby raccoons, also known as kits or cubs.

The raccoon kits are born blind and deaf, with both senses appearing with the first month. Baby raccoons are not born hairless but instead have a layer of light coloured fur, with the distinctive black mask being visible from birth. Raccoon kits are normally about 10 cm long at birth and weigh around 75 g.