Feeding wildlife (Austin: house, neighborhood, buying)

[Mistigris]

Our house backs up to a forest which leads to a golf course. We have masses of wildlife who visit us. In addition to deer wandering through the front yard, we have raccoons, possums, ringtail cats, skunks and bunnies in the backyard.

OK, one day we discovered a raccoon raiding the birdfeeder, a birdfeeder we eventually had to get rid of because we saw rats coming to eat the seed the birds dropped. But we did start feeding the raccoon (catfood and fruit).

We now have 4 regular raccoons: a couple of big raccoons who always come together, a juvenile and a tiny young raccoon. We also have our regular possum and occasionally a ringtail cat shows up.

Are we making a big mistake?? Will these larger animals keep the rats away? Last year we had a very long (6 ft) ratsnake living under our lower deck. Haven't seen him lately and he appears to have lost his taste for eating rats.

[CarnivalGal]

YES! You are making a huge mistake. You should never feed wildlife. Not only will it attract rats, it will attract snakes (we have plenty of venomous ones here) and coyotes who eat the raccoons and other small rodents feeding there. It's actually illegal to feed deer in Austin. I'm not sure if it's illegal to feed other animals or not, but it should be.

[hound 109]

You'll be fine until the Raccoon's friends & family show up on June 1st.

Better start buying in bulk.

[Mistigris]

I've discovered raccoons will eat anything, even Meow Mix which our cats turn their noses up at! They're cheap dates!

Our neighborhood is overrun with deer but coyotes and rattlesnakes don't like it. Seems to be nothing but ratsnakes around here. No neighbors ever report seeing poisonous snakes or coyotes. Lucky us.

Thing is.. those raccoons are so damn cute, especially the baby who shows up. She's into grapes and sits neatly on her bottom plucking each grape off the bunch. When she's finished she washes her hands in the water bowl, dips her hands into the water bowl and washes off her face. Our tomcat's in love with her. He sits at the window watching her intently. The ringtail cat who comes is amazing. A tail like a raccoon but twice as long, a face like a coyote and a body like a large weasel. Ringtail cats apparently eat rats, hoping this one'll read its job specs!

We moved here from Europe so all these critters are exotic and fascinating to us!

P.S. this posting came up twice.. anybody know how to delete the other one? Can't find a delete button.

[austinnerd]

Raccoons are all cute and fun, that is until they figure out how to topple your trash can or they decide that your attic would be the perfect place to have a litter of baby raccoons in the spring

[earthisle]

Really you shouldn't feed these creatures because they're wild and you're basically taming them. But in the grand scheme it's not a big deal as long as they don't have rabies or something. Your neighborhood already replaced their wild habitat so you might as well feed them

[Trainwreck20]

If you want to have fun....set out a pan of water for the raccoons to 'wash' their food in. Then, give them a bowl of sugar cubes. Baffles the hell out of them when the sugar disappears in their little paws .

[Austin97]

raccoons are vicious. Dont make the mistake of thinking they arent wild. They will eat your cat if they can.

Warning this is graphic with pictures of half eaten cats.
Animal Tracks - Raccoon Predation on Domestic Cats

[G Grasshopper]

You should NEVER try to attract raccoons. Not only are they vicious, but they carry very virulent microbes and shed these in their droppings. NEVER touch raccoon droppings, and clean it up by spraying water on it first and then disinfecting after. The virus can become airborne in dust and can kill humans. Also, raccoons can be extremely destructive. I once had sunflower seeds from a bird feeder wedge between the boards of my deck, and raccoons then tore out pieces of the deck to get the seeds. (I had to move the bird feeders out on the lawn.) Possums have very sharp teeth and will attack if they feel threatened. Skunks .... well, who would want to attract skunks to their homes? These animals are cute, especially when are babies, but it is best to observe them from a distance, and do not try to get close or to feed them.

Feeding carnivores can make them associate people with food. The only people who have ever been attacked by coyotes are people who have been feeding them. Especially if you have children, feeding such animals is very unsafe. Never leave pet food outside. It used to be (I don't know if this is current) that the only documented killing of a human by a coyote in north America was when a family started feeding coyotes to "expose" their children to wildlife. But the coyotes then associated this family with food, and one day carried off their toddler. That tragedy was completely avoidable.

The only wildlife activity I know of that does not seem to increase harm to the animals or risk to humans is feeding birds. And even then, if you start attracting rodents, you may have to stop, as this will attract snakes. (Mostly harmless snakes, but you never know, and who wants rats around your house anyway?)

[RunninJT]

At some point you will find out why Raccoons are called "wild" animals. Make sure your pets have had their rabies shots. This will not end well.

If you feed coyotes as well then you will likely make some enemies of your neighbors eventually when their pets start disappearing.

This will not end well.