Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think dogs in general are smarter than cats.
> I think dogs in general are smarter than cats. This is exactly what a dog would say.
And that's exactly what a cat would say! (≖_≖ )
Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
121–130 of 229 posts
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a Japanese anime from the '70s called something like "rascal the racoon", based on an American book, which tells the story of a kid with a pet raccoon. I've wanted a pet raccoon since I saw this on TV in the '80s, and raccoons aren't even a thing in Europe :(
Well at least in Germany they are a thing - a quick google search says there's a population of >1 million raccoons in Germany.
Indeed, Germany has a Raccoon problem
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#123I want to see an intelligence-optimized domesticated raccoon breed, like the raccoon equivalent of a border collie
Domestication often involves lower intelligence. Particularly for farm animals.
Consider the statement above that tame raccoons need "TONS of engagement from their keepers because they get bored easily". Breeding that out means essentially a less curious, more complacent animal. Cows and sheep that easily figure out how to escape their paddocks are a liability.
Which category do you think is more clever: Wolf and coyote; or pug and chihuahua?
dog breeds considered "clever" often more closely resemble their wild ancestors. And they are often not "easy" breeds to own.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#124I personally know at least one person who has a pet racoon. They've been raising it since it was a baby or pup(?).
It's pretty interesting to see their Instagram stories.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#125People have been trying to make the house raccoon a thing: https://old.reddit.com/r/raccoons From what I remember spending time on this topic, raccoons need super challenging locks as toys and TONS of engagement from their keepers because they get bored easily and bored raccoons == ultra destructive raccoons. Also, rabies.
They're pretty great pets. We had one for a while when I was a kid. Its mom got run over and we nursed it and raised it for a few months. Instinctively used the same litter box as the cats. Hung out on the couch sitting on my shoulder watching TV. Friendly and playful. Would follow people around and play with toys. The biggest challenge is that they basically have hands. He would climb up the kitchen cabinets, grab a…
I remember reading somewhere once that baby raccoons are actually quite cuddly and tame; but that when they go adolescence, they have a hormone shift that makes them aggressive enough to be unsuitable as a pet. In the story a woman who had raised a baby raccoon was attacked by it after it grew to a certain age.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plus, there are vaccines to prevent it.
Yes, but the rabies vaccine is not really for "prevention" (with some exceptions, before someone comes "ackschually" here), more like post-exposure Because it sucks less than dying of Rabies and boy you don't want to know how low the bar is here
Yes, I read an account by a zookeeper who had been potentially exposed to rabies due to the negligence of a vet. He had to get the rabies vaccine to be safe, which would have been painful enough if all had done well; but then he had a bad reaction to it and had to be hospitalized.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#127If dogs started out as wolves and ended up as English bulldogs, imagine how stupid raccoons will eventually look.
Luckily there are still the extra snouty breeds like Belgian shepherds and various sighthounds.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're pretty great pets. We had one for a while when I was a kid. Its mom got run over and we nursed it and raised it for a few months. Instinctively used the same litter box as the cats. Hung out on the couch sitting on my shoulder watching TV. Friendly and playful. Would follow people around and play with toys. The biggest challenge is that they basically have hands. He would climb up the kitchen cabinets, grab a…
There's a Japanese anime from the '70s called something like "rascal the racoon", based on an American book, which tells the story of a kid with a pet raccoon. I've wanted a pet raccoon since I saw this on TV in the '80s, and raccoons aren't even a thing in Europe :(
Racoons are invading the north east of France:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ijwZROb6g ; they are exotic invasive species: a female get 10 babies per year, and there is no predator
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think dogs in general are smarter than cats.
Dogs are certainly better at looking intelligent. I think dogs, being a more social animal, are more eager to please, and so are willing to be trained. Cats can vary wildly. One of my cats seems dumb as a box of rocks and haven't even grasped the idea of object permanence. If she's tracking a laser, and I move it around a corner, she can't figure out where it went. She goes from intense staring and tracking to standi…
I had a cat for a while that seemed surprisingly capable when he was motivated. The most interesting thing I saw him pull off was pushing a heavy bag of cat food off the top of a refrigerator to split it open.
Occasionally, he'd demonstrate the ability to plan too. When he started to get territorial and start fights with neighborhood cats, we started keeping him inside. Naturally, this didn't sit right with him. After watching someone enter the house every day in the evening, eventually, he would perch next to the door in the evening waiting to bolt out the moment the door opened.
Re: Raccoons are showing early signs of domestication
#130Raccoons have been living literally inside of houses for centuries. One was kept as a pet in Jamestown Virginia in the 1600s. Another lived in the White House in the 1900s. Surely, not a decade has passed between have there been NO domesticated raccoons in the US? If living near humans changes animals, that started at least 25,000 years ago here in North America. Not recently. My neighbors had a pet raccoon growing u…
Individual animals can be tame. Only entire populations can be domesticated. Two different things.