OMG - Racoons!!!

[BennieAnTheJets]

Yes, I have to agree: a lot of harm can come from this (I was assuming he is far from his neighbors and the racoons would eat other food 90% of the time but was wondering about the chocolate cookies for the racoons and maybe they are eating 90% his food and that would be very very bad) but with everything that is going on, all the harm our species is doing to each other and to all life on earth, driving most other species to extinction, and some time soon, possibly all of them, with CO2 in the atmosphere exceeding 400 ppm, we may be burning off the atmosphere and not only causing our own extinction but possibly preventing any life on earth in the future, I am too tired to worry about this old man who is (sometimes in typical human fashion) just trying to be kind and have a little enjoyment, with blissful ignorance.
I would not do this either, though. Rather leave some room for other species on the planet to live as they wish, out of our reach. That is why I chose not to have children.

 

[HappyChickens101]

Soooo cute

 

[HappyChickens101]

Soooo cute

They just keep eating and eating .

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

These nature induced dilemmas!

Yes. I should add that I must have looked pretty darn scary as Mr Bobcat dropped the bird both times and lost his meal...

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

To each his own, but a bad example. I did a little wildlife rehab in Florida, and we wore thick leather gloves and used a rabies pole to handle them. Actually, they were mostly euthanized due to fear of personnel getting rabies. Raccoons can carry other diseases too, like Baylisascaris and leptospirosis. I wish I could say that I’m against feeding handouts to wild animals, but my husband is totally into it, so we feed all sorts of wild birds, deer, and no doubt, raccoons!

Some kind-a wildlife rehab, where you kill the wildlife because you may get a disease from them... I hope you'all never rehab me! ☠

 

[LaFleche]

Yes. I should add that I must have looked pretty darn scary as Mr Bobcat dropped the bird both times and lost his meal...

Did you scare him wearing your pyjamas?

That is what helped me once with frightening a hawk.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

Yes. I should add that I must have looked pretty darn scary as Mr Bobcat dropped the bird both times and lost his meal...

Awesome! I was not as successful: running after a fox or cayote with our beloved Shreck in his mouth - I was in underwear and flip-flops, having run down from upstairs as I was changing to go and thought I'd let the Guineas have a few more minutes outside until I am ready to go - and my d#$% fireworks gun misfired and I stopped short at the edge of the woods, since we have copper heads and I was not even dressed, calling and calling...
That was one of the worst moments of my life, hearing Shreck scream as he was torn apart in the woods somewhere and I could not reach them. It was the first Guinea I lost and I was sick for a day.
So glad you got your birds back - I hope they survived the trauma.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Some kind-a wildlife rehab, where you kill the wildlife because you may get a disease from them... I hope you'all never rehab me! ☠

Well, you have to consider safety of personnel as well. These are raccoons that were brought for all sorts of reasons, including abnormal behavior. There is no way to test for rabies in a live animal, and risking the lives of the volunteers willing to help these sick animals wasn’t fair either.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

This is so cute and so wonderful and so scary and so terrible all at the same time. There is SO MUCH to unpack.
They are all EXTREMELY obese. He is feeding and petting wild raccoons. Yes, the danger of rabies is very real, but the danger of Baylisascaris (google it) is much higher. Sheesh. I need a stiff drink after watching that!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Did you scare him wearing your pyjamas?

That is what helped me once with frightening a hawk.

No but I scared myself! The first time I was running down a hill with rubber boots on. I don’t run due to multiple orthopedic problems. I certainly don’t run downhill through vegetation in big rubber boots! I kept hearing in my head over and over again, “Don’t fall! Don’t FALL!!!” I’m, um, maybe slightly overweight. I can’t really imagine how funny I looked running down that hill...