Raccoons eat mice, rats, birds, snakes, lizards, snails, grasshoppers, bugs, dog food, they pick and eat fruit, berries, nuts, acorns, beans, dandelion blossoms, bread and wild grain seeds, wild spinich, dried fruit, grapes, and veggies...climb trees for bird eggs, swim for fish, dig for worms, they like garbage and any food scraps AND sometimes eat plain paper. I adopted a little orphan and she grew up being fed by me but her INSTINCTS kicked in and she started scavenging for all the items listed above without anyone teaching her. They are resourceful intelligent animals who adapt quickly and I don't believe that urban raccoons cannot survive if released in the wild because they "don't know how to get food." Finding food is their specialty. This (my) raccoon pictured in the photo can smell a bug or worm underground and will suddenly dig and get it out. Soon she actually preferred her worms, snails, and bugs to eating any dogfood. No one taught her that.

I never taught her to eat the bugs she loves. She even created a burrow cave on her own and collected kids socks and torn up stuffed animals to line her den with warms soft bedding. I didn't teach her that either. And she hibernates when it's very cold. I didn't teach her that either. It just comes natural.

SpringGreenThumb said:Raccoons eat mice, rats, birds, snakes, lizards, snails, grasshoppers, bugs, dog food, they pick and eat fruit, berries, nuts, acorns, beans, dandelion blossoms, bread and wild grain seeds, wild spinich, dried fruit, grapes, and veggies...climb trees for bird eggs, swim for fish, dig for worms, they like garbage and any food scraps AND sometimes eat plain paper. I adopted a little orphan and she grew up being fed by me but her INSTINCTS kicked in and she started scavenging for all the items listed above without anyone teaching her. They are resourceful intelligent animals who adapt quickly and I don't believe that urban raccoons cannot survive if released in the wild because they "don't know how to get food." Finding food is their specialty. This (my) raccoon pictured in the photo can smell a bug or worm underground and will suddenly dig and get it out. Soon she actually preferred her worms, snails, and bugs to eating any dogfood. No one taught her that.

I never taught her to eat the bugs she loves. She even created a burrow cave on her own and collected kids socks and torn up stuffed animals to line her den with warms soft bedding. I didn't teach her that either. And she hibernates when it's very cold. I didn't teach her that either. It just comes natural.

That's amazing, Raccoons are so smart!

I like that cat chip door. My big issue was keeping skunks out of the house. My cat got along with the skunks, so they thought that where ever Scamp went, they could go, too. I was the one that did not welcome them into the house.

Now that Walmart is offering free delivery, I may actually let myself get another cat ... I am not fond of indoor cats, because I really do think they are missing out on an important part of being a cat, but we have too many predators up here. to have an outdoor cat.

I used to have to buy all of may cat supplies when I went down the mountain to go grocery shopping. Just the idea that I don't have to do that any more makes it possible for me to think about having another pet.

Now, I just have to adjust my budget so I can save up for vet bills.

I do wish people would stop feeding the dang town deer. I finally found the spot where they have managed to get into the house pad garden. They have decimated all of the roses. Beyond garden destruction, they also carry disease. As Rosie calls them, the are vegetarian rats !

I haven't had any problems with raccoons. Bears and cougars, yes, but at least the racoons haven't been an additional problem.

Raccoons don't like rotten road kill lol. That's for the Coyote and Mountain Lions. Baby raccoons are prey for raptors such as owls, eagles, cats, dogs, snakes, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, badgers. I don't see anything wrong with leaving a little food out once in awhile.

The raccoons out west have no rabies and de-worming them is as easy as deworming a dog. You can get a dewormer at the local feed store. I see no reason to trap and destroy them. It makes sense to me to trap them and release them somewhere else.

All raccoons picked up by animal control or police are killed and checked for rabies. The rabies check required cutting their head off to test the brain stem. Euthanizing them might taint the test results so they have to be killed without chemicals when possible. That's likely why the raccoon was shot point blank aside from the fact the officers probably didn't want to get bitten. Trapping any raccoon and turning it over to animal control is a brutal death sentence for the raccoon. I don't think anyone should do it unless the raccoon is a very real threat.

Being a nuisance like digging in the trash or trying to get through a door , in my opinion, is not reason to kill them.

Raccoons didn't used to be rabies ridden on the east coast. What happened was that so many raccoons were being hunted and killed the populations on the northern east coast started to disappear so the environmentalists trapped some raccoons from a pack in Florida that happened to have rabies and released them up North. They quickly exposed the rabies to some of the Northern families. That's why no more raccoons will be trapped and released.

Sadly the Nationwide raccoon populations would be better off if the populations on the east coast were eradicated completely to end the rabies problem created by man.... before they slowly spread across the nation. But how do you do that? I think they are trying ... by killing any they can get their hands on.

Obviously baby raccoons are not infected because the parents would have died had they been rabid. A rabid raccoon cannot think clearly enough to take care of it's young and will kill its own kittens. If you see baby raccoons romping and playing... or acting normal they are not likely infected.

Skunks are not vegetarians.... 😊

Skunks eat mice too. Skunks eat just about anything a cat eats which is why they make common partners.

Hmmm....
I'm not a fan of catch and release...
I have raccoons digging up my vegetable garden, and I can't catch them... I think someone brought me their pests....

I had carrot seedlings up... Now... It looks like someone tilled everything under.... Fairly large patch...

In my other house.... The raccoons useta come in my kitchen and grab my food and scatter plastic containers everywhere....

One or two raccoons, wouldn't have been so bad... But like cats, 1 became 5, and then those had kits.... Endless escalation.

Speaking of tents.... I've experienced them tearing through a tent, and scattering everything they didn't eat.... And then repeatedly coming back.
And... Like the person said about calling cards.... The tent stank....

A bullet doesn't sound so bad...
Anyone that eats meat shouldn't shrink at the idea of taking the life of a pest...
I think that we'd all be better off killing the critters we ate, or just giving up meat.... Meat isn't especially healthy for us anyway.... We'd all be better off vegan.

Some peeps eat raccoon... I'd rather eat a nice roadkill deer.

I actually do have raccoon proof doors so they cannot come in on their own unless I leave the door open. I have tossed scraps out in the forest or left dog food for them.

Honestly I have had more problems with some pet dogs than the raccoons. neighbors complaining about dogs barking, dogs crapping around the yard or jumping the fence, digging under the fence, tearing up kids toys. Dogs digging in my garden or trampling it down.

Animals are animals and they do what animals do. I live in a canyon... of the coons get to be too many I will take them up into the forest during the spring when food is plentiful.

I have actually on occasion appreciated the raccoons cleaning up after the kids at night. Sometimes after a dinner at the fire pit the kids or guests have left water mellon rinds, or corn cobs, and other foods scraps lying around. At times I have not bothered to clean it up because I know if I just leave it there the camp sight will be picked clean by nocturnal critters. They are very thorough and leave nothing behind.

To everything there is a season.

Thank you Terry.... I support you in this effort against Lending Tree and all the other disinformants... to STOP THE LYING, STOP THE FEAR MONGERING, STOP THE SENSELESS KILLING of our beautiful raccoons.

coboro said:
In California it is illegal to trap and release a wild animal into another area. If they are trapped, they must be killed. That being said, shooting does seem a little extreme. There are more humane ways to euthanize an animal. And better yet, don't attract them with food.

The problem is, according to my vet, all the humane methods are scheduled narcotics subject to abuse by humans...hence the protections. Many critter ridder types commonly do cervical dislocations or drownings. Many state game & fish agencies use cervical dislocations on birds. I would rather the animal be shot than drowned or having necks broken. Both of those methods are far more painful, lengthy and horrible.

I have been trained to do cervical dislocation in some species in just under 1 second. If it is taught properly it is measured exactly.

When done correctly, it is the quickest method of euthanasia possible. Depending on the species is also actually more reliable than a gunshot.

As have I, but while immobilization comes fairly quickly, death does not. When done correctly, I'd prefer the shot.