My brother’s neighbor caught them in his garage stacking paint cans in order to climb up to the dog food on a high shelf. They are smart and crafty! 😮

😂😂😂😂

We had some here that actually unscrewed bird feeders in order to get them down

This is why they're one of my favorite animals. They have a squad mentality like the penguins from that movie Madagascar

I believe it; one unlatched our ice chest, opened it, opened a carton of eggs inside it, and cracked and ate a number of eggs leaving almost clean shells neatly nested.

Lol, right!?

Opossums are cool, even if they are ugly. Plus they eat ticks!

Opossums only recently migrated up to Toronto, so when I saw one on my security camera I didn't know what it was. It looked like a giant rat. I eventually figured out that it was an opossum and have since seen them several times. They still seem like exotic immigrants to me.

@@RatKindler there is one that lives on my college campus. I see it walking around every now and then

@@harrymaciolek9629 I’ve seen some fairly cute ones

I wonder if the dead raccoon was the mother of the two other raccoons.

@calvinkatt662 idk, maybe. They were all full grown though.

​@@Data-qj7mo They do remember their family, even after years.

​@@Data-qj7mo" full grown " can be a yearling who survived the winter. The Mothers are often very Fat and well fed even after pregnancy, they don't hibernate and are great at feeding themselves . They are very Human like, I honestly think they might be one of the more intelligent animal . Which Is kinds annoying.

@@eno6712 Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for the information.

My husband had a raccoon n tells that if you want to frustrate your raccoon give it a sugar cube

@@carlamarlene2927 cotton candy just straightup disappears, it's just lighter sugar.

That was me, my bad. Thought I was home.

Did you close the cupboard door? 😂​@@Biiku_

I'm in the Great Lakes region and where I live we love them! They are a known part of our local wildlife, beloved and prepared for because they are crazy smart! Our locals come right up for snacks and pets, but they are very socialized so I don't know that that's always the case, or safe. Glad you got to meet one up close, they get a bad rap❤

​@@Biiku_dude, you have a furry butt

Never doubt the ingenuity of the Raccoon Federation!

Very smart little buggers.

They are smart little tricksters

I've seen that same "raccoon" at the intersection in my town!! Has an old, ragged coat on and a rough beard too! Even has a sign too! "Disabled...homeless and hungry...any little bit helps." Tricky buggers, those "racoons"! They'll do the darndest things to CON you out of your stuff!!

LOL I had a cat who used to do that.

​@@josephcernansky1794what the fuck is wrong withyou

Same here. We have about 30 of em.

We've been doing it for about a year now. We've got 2 distinct families, and they even get along fairly well with our outdoor cats. The runt of one of litters gets his own bowl by my leg so he doesn't get bullied and if I don't put his food out soon enough he'll come tug on my pants leg.

I was surprised by that also. I mean, where do you think they live most of their time? Up a tree.

Most people are surprised at how well they swim, I don't think I've met anyone that didn't know they were little gymnasts.

@@nogames8982 he's talking midwest, it's my understanding there aren't many dense patches of trees there.

@@MaggieLiz you don’t have to have dense patches of tall trees. Just trees in the neighborhood are enough for raccoons if the trees are big enough. or even just a few trees along the river side. I see a lot of them in places like that. Doesn’t have to be a huge, dense forest at all. But I’m sure there are a few that don’t live near many trees at all, they’ll find a place to be. Kind of like coyotes, they are everywhere now.

​@@MaggieLizdepends where in the Midwest. Im from Wisconsin and its nothing but trees for the most part. Wisconsin, michigan and Minnesota are pretty much continuous forest outside the major cities

They seem like characters out of a cartoon

Wow. They are great at teamwork.

Were the raccoons "talking"? I've seen them chatter to each other and the cadence and variation of the chatter sounded like speech. I had always passed this off as a tall tale until I actually saw it. It was a mother raccoon with a bunch of kids (whatever juvenile raccoons are called) and they came rolling down the hill through some ivy and onto the path in front of me. I was sitting down, it was dark and they didn't notice me. The mother raccoon started chattering, chastising the little ones to behave and follow. The little raccoons were jabbering away to each other too. It just seemed like speech, not random at all.

I had the same thing happen . A mother and her babies. The fact it was a mother with babies scared me not knowing how she'd react to me around them. Me and my 20lbs maincoon just stood there as they all looked up and slowly left through the screen door they busted open. The mother left with two fist fulls of dry cat food.😅

@@thomashaapalainen4108 ohhh snap!!

I did some digging and apparently raccoons are not native to Alaska or Hawaii, though they are now present in both states.

I'm in Eastern Texas, and we have tons of raccoons. They're actually more native to warmer climates, so more the southern part of our continent, down into South America. I think they're absolutely adorable, and they've never caused any huge issues in my personal experience, but I've also always lived where there were pockets of their natural habitat. I've had them peek in my windows at night, seen them on my neighbor's roof, and had them hang out in my backyard. You can also occasionally see them slipping into neighborhood sewers at night. My grandma used to feed them, along with her outdoor cats, in the evening. They would all share. I've even had them approached me when I called kitty kitty though I have never made it a point to feed them. They can fight with cats and dogs and cause a lot of damage. They're cute, but can indeed be ferocious. My understanding was they don't have salivary glands to help them with chewing, and that's why they dunk their food.

One of my favorite GIFs! The poor critter, though. 😂

White bread is fun too.

We had a few come around for awhile.. I would throw them sugar cubes and they would take them down to the creek to wash them.. They were surprised when their paws were suddenly empty.

@@Curmudgeon2 That isn't correct. The only mammals that lack salivary glands are dolphins and the like. Look it up for yourself :)

Fun fact, they're not washing it. The pads on their paws experience hightened sensitivity in water. They're actually super-feeling what they're holding to understand what it is.

That is a great description.

Not my generation of raccoons...They always back down, just slowly. I usually have to give them a chance to run away first, because they'll freeze when they see humans. But, when they realize I do in fact need to use the dumpster and I'm not walking away, then they go scrambling back into the trees. In fact, they've spooked me by running away all of a sudden before I notice them. I'm just trying to throw the trash away and suddenly a raccoon comes bursting out, desperate to get away. All of the raccoons I'm talking about are definitely related though. Might be more docile genes passed down? If they didn't back down and if they caused tenants problem, then apartment management would have had to crack down on their population. Our huge sprawling complexes here have been in the same place with the same dumpsters & tree area for at least 50 years...so maybe the company did some quelling of the raccoon population decades ago, accidentally leaving alive a couple who were well behaved and hid from humans, setting them up to enjoy all the food and have all the babies, passing down their sissy genes while also socializing them to be afraid of humans...resulting in generations of raccoons that still have a flee response, despite never being personally attacked by humans? I got to witness a mom raising 5 babies like 2 seasons ago, all the way until they were adult size and for a bit looked like a scary gang of raccoons all running around after one another lol (usually only see 1-3 at a time)...all of whom were surrounded by raccoons who always fled from humans 24/7. I mean, it sometimes takes them awhile when they get so Fuckin fat they can hardly move. 😂 So it can feel like they're not actually trying to avoid you...but if you stop and wait, you'll realize they are leaving because of your presence. They're just so fat they struggle to move fast lol. The raccoons that live next to me are ridiculous haha. Hopefully they stay chill, because I will absolutely not tolerate any aggression from creatures I'm constantly within a couple feet from.

Unlike grizzlies, the common trash panda doesn't do so well if you give it a good whack with a shovel. They tend to vacate the area rather quickly after that, assuming they retain the physical capacity.

.22

Sitting around a campfire once, a raccoon scratched my back, presumably to ask politely for a s’more.

❤

😢❤️

That is so sweet, my gosh.

Very sweet

I've befriended the raccoons in my neighborhood, or at least, starting a few years ago i began leaving scraps and leftovers out for a pregnant racoon. She became very tame, trusting me a lot, and every year when she had new babies she would introduce them to me. So now she's gone off, not sure if she'll be back, but she left 3 of her now grown up offspring behind. Since she left they've become more comfortable with me. if i turn the light on in the back room i see them pop out in the yard to look inside at me, if i go out they all run over to greet me, follow me around acting playful. Mostly during the colder months i try harder to leave food out for them, they love grapes, they're always friendly and respectful never making a mess or anything. My point was never to make them dependent on me for food. I just wanted them to feel safe, i know some people aren't as friendly towards them, and i know certain things are good to have in their diet so... just trying to help them a little bit. They're going to eat trash anyway, but i try to offer healthier stuff along with it. fruits and nuts, helps through cold months.

Yes! Don't feed the animals. And keep a watch so that the animals don't just help themselves.

They'll bamboozle you with a show and then eat your lunch!

Racoons are basically yogi bear but like for real life. They will run a show & dance to steal your picnic basket.

That sounds so charming ❤

Thank you for sharing ❤ I came here for this comment. It feels like most people just don’t appreciate them at all.

Ive seen a video on the many black hands coming out from the deck… threw me off till I found out they were raccoons.. nightmare fuel forsure

This makes me think of the Lutefisk cure for Coons living under the porch.

They will also lure predators into the water and climb on their heads to drown them.

Trash panda is the correct name

I heard about my aunt's little dog getting messed up by one. Yeah, those claws slice and dice.

I feed 3 now, and one is chill with petting and wrestling. Same thing. Got tired of my trash being spread around, so I just put my leftovers out for them. Now, they know to come inside if its raining. I put the food just inside the cat-door. 2 eat and enjoy the dry towels, and one just mud-foots it through the house, hops on the couch, watches tv and looks at me like "my chicken nuggets ain't gonna oven themselves, bro." The other 2 eat and leave, unless its storming. But they'll wait it out by the door. I lucked out. Mine are really chill and respectful. And they pay for their food. They bring me shinies. Mostly soda tabs and tin foil, but some coins, too. Theres 2.35$ in their college fund, after 2 years. I think Stumpy could get a job at NASA with a proper education. Yep. He'd be the best janitor at NASA.

Later that same gang of raccoons were busted in a tri-state drug sting. Lacking the ability to operate pipes and lighters, they'd been dealing weed to the neighborhood kids in return for 'assistance'. Thankfully, it stopped there and seemingly didn't make it out to the wider raccoon population.

That's HILARIOUS. No it's not rabies, they're just drunk!

@@Volyren I have to disagree. Good janitors don't knock over trash cans.

@@cassieporter9262 as long as he's fed, neither does he. Not like he has a lot of applicable skills. I mean, he knows how to operate a cat remotely with a laser pointer, as long as the button is taped down. Much like us, raccoons apparently like running them into walls the best. Not sure how you'd translate that ability into work. Oh. Wait. Stumpy can teach high school.

😅

Beware cute hitchikers wearing masks!

That’s what makes them extra scary.

They actually don't have opposable thumbs, its quite obvious if you've ever been near them and watched them grab onto things. They are dexterous but lack that ability as of yet. Also something that takes only a few seconds to look up instead of spreading nonsense like its fact.

In our feed mill, we can tell when a raccoon has come in to eat the stray cats' food--the water dish is cloudy from the raccoon having washed his hands in it.

I don't have a dog, but I hear that there are doors that can be activated by a tag on your dog's collar. So your dog is the only one getting in

I mean... That SOUNDS fun. I promise you, I would have stopped, tried to slowly move to a sitting position, and watched them if I hadn't already scared them off.

I don't have a doggie door. Stories like this are why I never will. I've had my own poor experiences with them which make me die a little inside every time I hear or see somebody calling them "trash pandas."

My father grew up in Kentucky in the 1920s-30s. He had a pet raccoon (as well as a pet ferret), so I've always had a soft spot for the critters - even when they smashed my trash. 🦝🦝🦝

You can't continue to not have any changes with your doggy door, or this will happen again, or some other unwanted creature will get inside.

The shit was a warning to have food next time or else

So polite, I've lived in Florida 30+ years and normally see them slash through the fabric of the tent wall and crawl on through

That was an FU for hoarding your peanuts 🦝

You've never seen an animal use shit and puke as a weapon like the Trash Pandas do.

Are you sure that was a raccoon, did you see them? Sounds like textbook Florida-man behavior to me.

They don't like chilies or mint. To keep them out of the trash blend up the hottest chilies you can find with water and brush it on the inside of the trash can lid (not where you touch it). You could do this with dried pepper flakes, but you have to add water as well. You can do the same with mint. The strongest mint you can find, or mint extract. Spread in the inside of the lid. If they get into bird food, put chilli flakes (like the kind that pizza places have) and mix it with the bird food (I have a five gallon pail for my bird food) not many raccoons in the center of town where I live) so I don't need to. You don't need a whole lot, but mix in very well. Birds can't taste the chilies, and it doesn't bother them at all. Raccoons, after a taste will more than likely leave it alone. Like all mammals, raccoon's bodies react to the capsaicin in the chilies. Wear food safe gloves when you mess with chilies! Don't put mint in bird food, it can be toxic... to even humans. That's why extract is in very small bottles.

Ain’t no other kind of party than a trash panda party.

Coyotes got my cat. Then a couple weeks later a coon came limping up. All messed up from the coyotes. I started feeding him cat food and he got better. He’d hang around too and I named he Ricardo. Then one day he came pawing at my slider and i yelled to my girlfriend omg I think Ricardo is pregnant. So she became Ricarda and soon I had 3 coons hanging around. I caught the baby’s in the pool once, and I ever caught the baby’s and a small possum eating cat food out of the same bowl I’d left. That one threw me through a loop. Edit: And is the story of how I misgendered a raccoon for nearly a year.

I've always had good experiences with them, they always seem to have a positive attitude, and who doesn't love little hands?

That sounds awesome, hahaha. My aunt had a pet raccoon. It was blind and abandoned. I loved that raccoon. I used to play video games and feed him cheetos hahahaha. He would climb all over the couch and cuddle.

that is new england for ya

That is very wholesome

I love raccoons. so so much. ❤

I heard the story as hunting squirrels, since they're light enough to jump from tree to tree using the longest, lightest branches. The dogs properly identified the trees they climbed from the ground, but didn't follow their Arial escape to the next tree.

​@@jerelull9629 Dogs for squirrel hunting? I've only known of dogs to be used for hunting racoons

I had that issue with squirrels and yes it will drive you insane

@@GangstarComputerGod my barn cat took care of the attic squirrels around here. He wouldn't be close to a match for a raccoon though.

you need to remove the squirrels they tend to eat electrical cables which can lead to a fire

Squirrels are the forgotten rodent, not quite annoying/dangerous enough to be eradicated. Raccoons aren't far behind, as far as I'm concerned.

@@stephensmith1118, we did. We had a windfall tax return about six years ago that allowed up to get them removed, and get the trees they were used to access the roof taken down (the trees were dying anyway, so it was a safety issue as well).

Wow.

Tbf, black bears are kind of bear-sized raccoons already.

Racoons are actually related to bears, not rodents like rats.

How about a 100 raccoon sized bears instead?

@@darter9000 those are bear cubs, and they're cute, but I've seen the damage they can do, so I'll politely decline.

They can carry a lot more diseases that are pretty bad for humans too.

3- They will brutally murder all of your chickens.

um, ya.... about 5 people die of rabies in the USA per year. Most years none from a raccoon. You have a much greater chance of being killed by a human, lighting, gator, deer, rattle snake, falling off a ladder. etc. 1.5 people die in volleyball accidents per year. What I'm saying is...fear mongering is horrible trait.

They also spread worms, like Baylisascaris procyonis.

@@mi2lq933 And ducks too.

Raccoon Dance Party is my new favorite raccoon story!

musical trashpandas.

"I looked out the window and saw a racoon banging on the chimes. Then it started dancing to the noise and then made a somersault." Are you sure you weren't dreaming? This is one of those stories that is just on the edge of plausibility. Are raccoons actually agile enough to do a somersault?

@@nathangamble125 Oh, I was not dreaming at all. I was shocked myself. And yes, they're very agile, and they were obviously having a great time.

@@nathangamble125 i think they are. they have flexability that is astonishing. also isn't their intellegence meant to be akin to that of a three year old child? something like that.

I have seen them in the sewer system here, too. A family of them live near the university and would emerge from one sewer drain at 7:00 p.m. and walk about 30 m down to the next train and pop back in. But they could be seen in the trees on the cliffs and on campus

I think you used to live in Heaven.

I'm American, and I love raccoons. My sister raised an orphaned raccoon when I was younger, and he was a great little weirdo.

@@LindaC616 Wow, they ride the train?

Be careful. A friend of mine had raccoons coming in their cat door and eating the cat's food, but one day they killed his cat. So he sat on the kitchen floor overnight, and when the raccoon came in, he shot it. There are some people who won't be nice when you hurt their cat, and I'm one of them.

I think they were volunteering to help you with dinner.

The book "Rascal" (on which the Disney movie of the same name was based) is an example of the rare occasion when an orphaned baby raccoon can become a good pet. And your assessment of their natural intelligence is correct. I remember one scene early in the book where the author described how he gave baby Rascal a sugar cube which the raccoon then tried to wash like it was ordinary food only to be perplexed when it dissolved in his tiny "hands". Rascal never repeated that mistake. Smart!

I wish fire ants were their main diet preference.

No that would be Mountain Lions

They have long memories and if one feels slighted, he may one day get revenge.

@@user-ez6vk2bw7q There's a video that gets reposted all the time where some wiseguy gives a raccoon cotton candy with the same result.

Look kids, check out these humans. Sometimes they escape their pen...

I imagined that in Hank Hill's voice

😂😂😂

😂😂😂

Omg, once I caught a racoon trying to drag our sealed plastic container of dog food off the back porch and into the woods. So I grabbed a potato and threw it at it. I missed, and the silly thing took the potato and ran away with it.

😂

An animal smart enough to be stupid :D

I may or may not have done the thing from the eyeglasses commercial where I thought my cat wanted in at night and almost let in a raccoon. More than once 😂

They love cat food.

I get the occasional skunk or raccoon in my sunroom through my cats' door, sometimes with their families. I never have to say more than a quiet, pleasant, "I think you should leave now," and they waddle right out.

The visual in my head is pretty epic. 😆

Uh-oh. Your house is on the list with the Raccoon Federation. You're doomed.

you combat... weather?

​@@noah4822Live through enough storms in Tornado Alley and you'll feel pugilistic towards weather too

​@@noah4822Tornadoes ravaged the Midwest again, just this week, and you ask if the weather has it coming?

What's the problem? They broke into my friend's attic when I was a kid. They got on our roof and brought fleas to my dogs and in turn my cats. The carry roundworms and are vicious.

Rabies carriers

Raccoons are riddled with diseases, including infectious roundworm eggs in basically 100% of their feces. I used to remediate "raccoon latrines" in people's attics in a biohazard suit. You're risking your life to breathe the dust from their droppings, and they shed ticks all over the place as they wander around. Any omnivorous mammal that does a lot of scavenging is going to be full of parasites and diseases that are dangerous to humans. Even a vulture is less unhealthy to be around than a raccoon.

@@poochiew.9302 they burned our crops, poisoned our water supply, and brought a plague upon our houses.

The problem is: raccoons are not only not afraid of humans, but seem to hold them in a kind of pitying disdain.

That would be about 0.63 kiloseconds.

😅

And bring friends and relative later lol lol lol

😂😂😂😂 love your videos. Thank you

Oh, dear god. Please, people, don't feed the raccoons!

We have a mom that comes to our back door every year with new kiddos

People taking in wild raccoons are definately a problem. A raccoon must be domesticated from birth, and as such only select sanctuaries are even allowed to put any up for adoption.

I've also seen several different people try to make raccoons pets. They are very cute when they're little but they grow up to be aggressive intelligent animals with no fear of humans. They are filthy animals, not clean like everyone seems to believe.

At a campground I stayed at in Indiana the raccoons learned to work with the skunks. Campers would chase away raccoons, even in groups. But they'd flee the area immediately as soon as the first skunk showed up. Sort of skunks as stormtroopers in the initial assault, followed by the trash panda army. People were also warned to keep something heavy on top of coolers. They had figured out these were vaults full of tasty treasures. They also learned how to pick the locks some came equipped with.

@@christopherconard2831 I went out to my yard at night once and stopped to look at the night sky. About 4 feet away was a skunk and it made a startled motion but decided not to spray me after I backed up slowly. I think spraying is a last resort for them.

Confessing I don't know which side is the code.

You forgot Potato = President

No Snakes?

...🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣...

@@christopherrostad4099 Better a potato than a yam.

was she holding the wee kitten by the neck scruff? I wonder if she was just collecting a baby.

@@KairuHakubi Racoons are known to attack cats usually over food.

We had a cat the was slashed by a raccoon. That ended her time outside.

@@KairuHakubi racoons are known to eat kittens. 😞

@@AMKB01 to be totally fair, so are cats. it's a harsh world out there. Cats are also known to adopt raccoons and i bet the reverse can happen too.

Those bastards are mean

@@lasersights they kind of have to be to survive the rest of America's ecology. Australia's possums are cute. America's possums are survivors.

Had a baby one hiss at me while it walked away in to the woods. Pretty funny, cute, and menacing all at once.

Not at all. They just smile a lot​@lasersights

​@@dj-kq4fzI have one as a pet living in my house. She's housebroken and awesome

It’s remarkable how much damage trash pandas can do when they get in the attic. We had one get in the same way.

I'm picturing the raccoon having to crawl down the chimney because it dropped it's phone. Where'd a raccoon get a cell phone? From the trash of course.