A further word about rabies. Stats reported by agencies and media are often not carefully worded...and they should be. Raccoon rabies is the most predominant variant. However, other mammals can carry that variant. Raccoons are among the group of several mammals with a larger number of cases. However, it should be noted that these are confirmed cases where animals were turned over for analysis. Most animals turned over for analysis are sick...not necessarily with rabies but there is a reason they are assessed. Assessment requires the death of an animal if not dead already. Anyway, the small subset of an animal population should not be used to assess the total population. The results have already been skewed to animals in contact with people or domestic animals, those which are sick, dead, or acting strangely. Out of that small subset, THEN you can apply the stats that normally get reported. So an animal with say, 5% positive rate from testing is not anything close to 5% of the population. I'm not downplaying the risk of rabies, but I do want to stress that the unknowing misinterpretation of stats in some info pathways can lead to overreactions and misrepresentation.
I have several raccoons and opossums in the yard every night. My main concern is doing poo patrol every morning and removing all sources of fecal pathogens...from the feral cats as well if not even more so. Fleas...and by association...worms are my main concern. Luckily, there are ways to keep this at bay.
Ultimately, we've made the decision to live with animals. For us, they complete the sanctuary. Living with animals also means cleaning up after them and the potential for repairing damage to plants/plantings. A couple of years ago I was aghast at the amount of destruction a group of three sibling raccoons were doing. Even when Mom was with them, they created damage. It only made sense once I watched them for long periods. They LOVED wrestling...almost as much as food. They didn't squander opportunities for play. They sometimes reminded me of kato jumping Inspector Clousseau at any given moment. And there were times when it was just a dog pile/free-for-all. I have just decided planting extra and keeping some seeds back for repairs is worth the circus. It's not the same without all the animals.
It's like my dog. He's a small terrier and yet he thinks he can take on German Shepards.
But, Oh, when they dig up my ranunculus bulbs and expose the roots in my potted plants.........grrrrrrrr.
As well as possums (though some people like to disagree
