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I love raccoons and used to feed them, but I haven't fed any since we moved to our new location, although they do come around. They are pretty tame and seem to get along with the cats, and they are so cute when they come and stand up and peek in the glass patio door to try to get us to bring out some food.
I think I'll put out a dish for them, but I hope I don't have a similar experience to one of my neighbors.
She used to feed them but when she went away for a couple of weeks they got so mad that when she came back they were up on her roof waiting for her and they pelted her with pine cones.
Every time they saw her they would throw pine cones at her until she started feeding them again.
I personally wouldn't. The whole thing with wild life and not feeding them is to help them not to become too trusting of humans (some who may take advantage and be cruel) and to help them remain sharp on their survival/hunting skills. Just my thought though.
With that said, my aunt always throws away left food overs down by the creek at her home to feed all the critters.
Amazonchix makes a valid point. Feeding wild animals tends to do just as you mentioned...tame...which then makes them a nuisance in residential neighborhoods. Your likely to get them trapped or harmed. I do understand the draw tho....they are funny little guys. BUT....make no mistake, if they are cornored...they will bite and scratch till death. They are not as harmless as they appear!
I forgot to add, they are also capable of breaking into homes. My mother went to check on a friend's summer cottage one day and found a family of raccoons had come down the chimney and the home looked like a bomb went off inside, as they were searching for food.
I been bit more than once as we used to catch them for dog training. We did have a very big boar that was a gentle giant and made dogs so mad as they not bother him. But I have seem them rip up dogs twice their weight and know not something want to mess with again.
My father rehabilitated wildlife. I had a male raccoon, Sam, for a pet for many years as a child. It was orphaned before it was weaned and he was hand-raised, bottle fed and as a result too tame to release into the wild. He was small for a male, about 35-40 lb. and gentle for the most part, although he could be temperamental and aggressive with strangers. When he wasn't happy he'd bite. Hard. He was neutered. Raccoons are very cute, but they are not good pets, nor are they able to be completely domesticated. Sam lived a long life with us, but he was never really tame.
Despite this experience, I would state that raccoons are NOT good pets, and wild ones should not be fed. As others have said, they will learn to live on handouts and associate your home with food. They WILL damage things looking for their normal handout. They'll bring their friends, and likely pester your neighbors, too. And there are the diseases to worry about.
The whole thing with wild life and not feeding them is to help them not to become too trusting of humans (some who may take advantage and be cruel) and to help them remain sharp on their survival/hunting skills. Just my thought though.
With that said, my aunt always throws away left food overs down by the creek at her home to feed all the critters.
Your post makes me think of bear "hunters"... how they go out and feed them for months so that they can walk up to them and blow their brains out.
I had a mother and baby raccoons that lived in a hole in a hollow tree where I once lived. I loved the fact that they were there.... I hated it when the tree had to be cut down and they left.
If you're going to feed them,.. just make sure it's not obvious and not too close to your house!
There are some who hunt them.
Having said all of that,... Leorah's post is very good advice!
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