@zuzu , that is one brave raccoon!

JuneOntario said:@zuzu , that is one brave raccoon!

Ya! The ones at my place got sprayed by the skunk they were dining with an phew! They smelled for 3 weeks.

They really are so dang cute. @SpringGreenThumb.
Looking at your pictures feels just like the old Disney Movies, of animals in the wild. I am just certain your intuition for these animals is spot on. There is really a relationship shared with your family, and these little guys, and I am in total awe of how special and rare that is, and also in awe of your kind heart. It is something your Kids and Grand Kids will remember forever. Very cool.

@ZuZu, your pic is even more like those old Disney Movies, because there was always a skunk!

I almost let a Raccoon I have never fed or seen before in my house in the dark wee hours of the night once as he sat looking at me thru my sliding glass door. I thought he was my cat. Just like that commercial I had on my robe and slippers.............. Woke up the whole house as I had a little freak out attack.

Zuzu thanks for sharing that with us. Amazing that the two not only tolerate each other but get so close to each other.

@zuzu

Just view the raccoon and skunk as your extended cat family. Both of them eat mice so that's a plus. They both just need a safe place to get through the winter.

Raccoons are not true hibernators. They will sleep for two weeks at a time and wake to search for food so it's not unusual to see them disappear for weeks at a time then suddenly they are back.

Skunks find raccoons as very useful scavenger partners. They get along together very well unless one tries to bully the other.

Because raccoons can open containers, doors, and tend to drop a lot of food from their hands as they eat they create a lot more opportunities for the skunk to scavenge. Adult raccoons are also large enough and can be ferocious and fearless enough to run off medium size dog or a cat from their back door food bowl.

It doesn't take long for cats and dogs to learn to stay clear of the skunk. Together... the coon and skunk are a pair that knowledgeable doggies and kitties would rather not tangle with.

Playing In the creek.





"What's in the bucket?"

"I think I can get it..."

"What's in your OTHER hand?"








"I think it's a toy... I'll take it!"





"Got it!!!"

Luxurious winter coat coming in.

Raccoon vs. the Stallion...

Raccoon wins!








Raccoon vs. Panda...
Panda Wins!

These pictures are really cute, but ,they do grow up, and I sure wouldn't want to mess with an adult raccoon.

I've had a lot of adult raccoons coming over for dinner and they've never bothered the cats. They'll even eat out of the same dish at the same time.

Mine don't usually bother other animals either... My dog doesn't like them reaching their hands in his dish while he is eating. The coons got sprayed because they tried to groom the skunk. My dog tolerates them pulling his hair but the skunk wasn't too keen about it.

Raccoon is taught to use a broom to sweep the floor...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=...

Funny Raccoons.

At one point in the video the girl is the camera asks what the raccoon is doing... He is playing. Just like a cat plays. Was playing with the large Hosta leaves that bounce.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=...

Russians keep them as house pets. My favorite raccoon video of all time is the somersaulting raccoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I am of the opinion they COULD make very nice pets. There were people who took the most mild tempered foxes they could find and bred them together for temperament. Then took the most gentle tempered of those offspring and did the same.

In 3 generations they were able to produce domesticated pet quality foxes.

There is one raccoon that grew up on my property. This one is a very submissive beta (Not Alpha). From the beginning it was more mild, gentle, and friendly in every way. One warm night in September I left my bedroom deck open. While I was asleep it climbed up the exterior brick wall and over the rail then slipped inside my bedroom.

I woke up to feel a warm weight on my legs.








This raccoon was so gentle I didn't worry. I just decided to go back to sleep. He slept on our bed all night.

This one is so gentle I think it would be a good candidate for breeding a domesticated raccoon line if anyone was to do that.

If it had been one of the other adult raccoons I would not have comfortable enough to just go back to sleep.

When I was teaching at S.F. State, one of my students brought her raccoon on a leash to all of her classes every day.

On a somewhat related note, a dog once took one of my classes. He would walk into the lecture hall with all of the students, sit attentively through my lecture, and then leave with everyone else at the end of the hour. He didn't belong to anyone in the class.