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DaddySatyr -> RE: I thought they were noctural... (5/14/2012 10:20:41 PM)
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Many, many years ago, I used to "keep" raccoons. Let me explain the quotation marks:
I was born in Newark, NJ and raised in NYC until I was 14 or 15. At that point, I was allowed to go live with mom and my step-dad.
They lived in - what was to this city boy - a rural area, at the time (Piscataway, NJ in 1978-79) on a ⅔ acre of land that had two brooks (yes with small brook trout) that flowed onto the property.
The landlord (Good ol' Frank Peppy) told the story of the "bear" that we kept hearing at night (the breathing could be heard from about 30 yards away). As he told the story, it turned out to be a very large (20-25 lb.) raccoon that introduced itself to him during one of his cookouts by coming down the roof of the shed onto the brick bar-b-que in front of about 15 people. Pretty brazen and lots of people assumed that the animal was rabid. It was not.
Frank started feeding it by tossing food up onto the roof. He said he was surprised that the animal would eat chicken but not eggs.
I was so relieved to find out that the breathing did not belong to a bear that I started spending more time outside, at night and eventually, I saw the animal. She came waddling up to the back patio with four little ones in tow. I went into the house and got some cheese.
Eventually (weeks later), the little ones wouldn't just take the food out of my hand, they began climbing up on my lap and taking food (almost whatever I offered) right out of my hand.
As time went on, some of these young ones had their own litters and brought their young'uns around. They have excedingly sharp claws (They're arboreal!) but, I can say I was never bitten and I had educated myself about them (When I was younger, the inter-webs was called "a library", kids) and never saw any signs of rabis. I'm not saying they didn't have the disease; just that it was never an issue/danger for me.
I loved these critters, even though they are rodents and I (very briefly) even considered studying zoology in my junior year, as a result.
I detest most rodents but these are some truly amazing animals; well worth a little bit of investigation (especially with today's "library" being right at our fingertips. That's right, kids! The inter-webs isn't just for porn, anymore).
If you prefer video, David Attenborough did a series called: "The Life of Mammals" which does a nice job of profiling raccoons in two episodes (urban and rural types. There is a difference).
Thank you for the candid photos! They were great!
Peace and comfort,
Michael
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