No, raccoons cannot be kept as pets as they are wild animals and due to current law in the U.S, it is illegal to take any animal from the wild.
They can be purchased from licensed breeders but as they get bigger you will regret your decision for making that purchase.
They don’t always stay this small and cute…
Contents
My Reasons Why Raccoons Can’t Be Pets
Wild Animals with Wild Instincts
Although raccoons may look like cute little bandits that are harmless and bundles of fun you are also forgetting that they are able to kill cats and small dogs with their strength and razor-sharp teeth.
They have natural wild instincts to hunt small animals and whilst you’d think butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth, they are also disease-ridden for good measure.
Raccoons are well known for spreading very infectious diseases such as; canine distemper, rabies, parasites, and many others and all of these are just a few reasons which make raccoons bad pets.
Very Sharp Teeth
Raccoons have very sharp teeth and even though you may know of friends or acquaintances that have raccoons they are very temperamental and can turn anytime, especially when mothers have young with them.
Quite often, I’ve seen many Youtubers with videos of their so-called ‘pet raccoon’ playfully biting the owner’s neck but at any time they can turn and sink their teeth deep into the flesh of a human.
As mentioned before they also harbor lots of diseases and whilst you may not think much of a slight scratch from a coon in a few days you could be very ill.
Can’t be House Trained
You may think its difficult training a dog or maybe a cat to be house trained.
Alright, it can be tricky at first but in the case of a raccoon, you are trying to remove all the ‘wild’ out of the coon.
This includes building a den in your house.
They will look for spaces inside your home which they believe are safe and then use materials from around your home or destroy furniture to make their den more furnished.
Oh, and did I mention that they will poop all over your home?
Fancy a Vacation?
If you wanted to go away on vacation who would look after your troublesome coon?
To be honest, I could see many takers when it comes to house sitting a wild animal that could attack them, especially as your sitters would be strangers to the raccoon.
Also, your guests may bring scents of other animals into your home and that could spell trouble or prompt an unprovoked attack.
Have I put you off owning a raccoon yet?
