Check out these photos.
This is our son Curtis and his pet raccoon Ronnie on one of his visits home.Curtis found Ronnie three years ago, abandoned by his mother on the side of a busy country road. Ronnie was very tiny and his eyes were barely open. Curtis kept him in his bedroom in a cat cage, bottle fed him canned cat milk replacement for a few months, then slowly intoduced him to dry cat food and leftovers from our meals. Ronnie blossomed into a very affectionate, mature raccoon who loved to explore our house and get into mischief when given the chance.
When Ronnie was getting older and more independant, we made a safe stall for him in our horse barn to live in. We kept him there until he was 2 years old (last summer). Our family is against keeping wild animals in captivity, so with great trepidation the day came last summer to set him free. For three weeks, we fretted and worried about him, and then one evening he appeared on our deck for a visit and handouts.
The second photo was taken when Ronnie was about 4-5 months old. When he lived in our house, he loved to dig his little fingers into the soil in my potted plants. He also loved to climb into the bathtub after someone had a shower, to lick up the water drops. After setting him free, a few times in the late evening, Ronnie has climbed the cedar tree beside our house and scratched on Curtis' window to be let in for a visit. It amazed us how he knew where that window was. It sure made us realize that racoons are extremely intelligent animals. No wonder they can figure out how to open garbage can lids with their fingers. Easy peasy!
By ann from Goulais River, Ontario
This little critter came into our lives as an orphan. He lives outside but comes in at will. He sure keeps us busy, as he gets into everything. This picture surely expresses that he is a happy raccoon.
By SueBoo
That's a strange looking kitten! Ronnie was found by my son and his girlfriend at the side of a rural road three years ago when he was about 3-4 weeks old. He'd been abandoned by his mother. My son and his girlfriend bottle fed him kitten replacement milk in a small baby bottle until he was old enough to eat on his own. When he was young, my son's two cats accepted him as just another strange looking kitten who loved to torment them with his antics.
Now Ronnie likes to chase the squirrels away from the sunflower seeds on our deck outside. Ronnie is now a 3 year old mature male raccoon. We released him gradually back to the wild last summer, and he still comes up to the sun-deck every few evenings for a snack and a back scratch. His favorite snack is hotdogs and sunflower seeds.
By ann from Goulais River, Ontario
My husband hand feeds this sweet raccoon, and has called it Sparky for a long time. I saw 'him' from the side, and noticed the equipment needed for a 'snack bar for babies'.
Zorro is an 8 year old raccoon. We got her as a baby after her mother had been hit by a car.
