Man Who Danced With Raccoon (viral video) Has Pet Raccoon Taken By the State

[kcchiefs6465]

Man Who Danced With Raccoon Vows to Get Pet Back

A Tennessee man who appeared in a YouTube video dancing with his pet raccoon to Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" has started a social media campaign to get the raccoon back after it was seized by state wildlife officials.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency took the animal away from Mark Brown two weeks ago because state law says it's illegal to keep wild animals as pets.

Brown, of Gallatin, Tenn., says he rescued the raccoon when she was born in May and bottle-fed the animal. He named her Rebekah.

"I feel like I've had one of my children taken from me," said Brown, a former animal control officer.

His pet is playful, he said.

"She'd play, she'd chase bees, she'd pick flowers, whatever, she'd do what raccoons do," he said. "If she's released into the wild, all hunters of legal hunting age can train their coon dogs to kill her or trap her for her fur. That's not what I want."

In his determination to be reunited with Rebekah, Brown has also appealed to Tennessee Gov. William Haslam. A petition on change.org (https://www.change.org/petitions/gov-haslam-please-return-rebekah-the-baby-raccoon-to-her-family) appealing to the governor currently has nearly 800 supporters.

"We have a nationwide campaign now called free Rebekah," Brown said. "We get 75 to 100 emails daily and they're all petitioning governor Bill Haslam to give me a full pardon, to forgive me of my sins and let me get a permit to keep her."

Rebekah isn't Brown's first pet raccoon.

In 2012, another video of his dancing with a raccoon he called Gunshow catapulted him to YouTube stardom. Brown made more video of himself with the raccoon. They showed him wrestling with the animal and giving it a bath using Hannah Montana shampoo. The videos have racked up millions of views.

Brown and Gunshow were even gearing up for their own reality-TV show until the animal died earlier this year. Brown says he will fight for Rebekah's return.

"I think we can get Rebekah back. I should not be condemned, I should be commended," he said. "I've done no wrong."

Officials disagree.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency said it became aware of Rebekah after a complaint from the public about two weeks ago.

Rebekah was taken to Walden's Puddle, a wildlife rehabilitation and education center in Tennessee.

A wildlife agency spokesman told ABC News that Brown could have been cited but wasn't because he was cooperative. The animal will not be returned to Brown, the spokesman added.

Bettina Bowers Schwan, the animal care director at Walden's Puddle, said the raccoon is doing well.

Schwan said the raccoon would be introduced to a clan of other orphaned raccoons, be raised with them and then released into the wild with them "so she can live the wild life she deserves to live.

"It is one thing to 'love' these animals," she wrote in an email to ABC News, "but you must also respect them and their true natures."

hxxp://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/man-danced-raccoon-vows-pet-back-131024603.html


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMbTRWV-oBw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1BgxPkvBYs

[ObiRandKenobi]

this is just what thomas jefferson had in mind.

[Dr.3D]

this is just what thomas jefferson had in mind.

Yep, you can run over them with your car, but you sure as hell can't keep one as a pet.

[dannno]

I would have taken the raccoon from him too, last thing we need is another dumb reality show.

[fr33]

What has happened to people? Why should we just accept this bullshit?

[CPUd]

http://i.imgur.com/FU3glj2.gif

http://i.imgur.com/e3AbHiJ.gif

http://i.imgur.com/C5RCjyK.gif

[alucard13mm]

in all likelihood, the raccoon has been euthanized.

[Mani]

What has happened to people? Why should we just accept this bullshit?

because there are some sick stupid fucked up people in this country. I'm not referring to the authoritative monsters. I'm talking about the sick neighbors and boot lickers that complain to the "authorities".

Someone complained about this Racoon. Someone complained in Wisconsin about the person who had the baby deer without a permit that got Bambi gunned down.

Someone is always complaining which leads to innocent people being shot or killed or beaten or incarcerated or animals being killed or taken away.

Lives are ruined or needless violence occurs because of these SICK FUCKS living amongst the public that think they are DO GOODERS or just vengeful twisted individuals.

For every Patriot in this country that believes in truth and the constitution, I fear there are just as many if not more boot lickers and sick fucks who love to use the Enforcers to do harm to their neighbors. IT's fucked up.

[ClydeCoulter]

I had a pet raccoon when I was young. The damn thing would wake me up chewing on my ear.
He would play with my dog and they would get tired and the raccoon would sleep on the dogs back.
When he got older, he was horny I guess, and he started leaving at night. And sooner than later was gone.
I saw him on the side of the creek one day about a year later, he was with a female and some cubs. He came up and chattered that he was okay, loved his new life, and appreciated his time with me.
I was okay with that. Sammy is what I called him, and he loved peanuts and could tear a loaf of bead into mush in a bowl of water in no time.

[eduardo89]

This little girl's idiot parents also thought it would be a great idea to have a pet raccoon:

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/charlotte-ponce_3-620x528.jpeg

[ClydeCoulter]

This little girl's idiot parents also thought it would be a great idea to have a pet raccoon:

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/charlotte-ponce_3-620x528.jpeg

Shit happens, but that's not my experience. Mine was a good one. And, I'll never forget it.

edit: You can get hurt from a tire swing, I've known people that did. Should we stop enjoying tire swings?

[Tod]

My cousin, who is now a vet, had a raccoon as a pet for a while when she was in college. It was nice while younger, but as it aged it got meaner and meaner so she ended up releasing it.

[ClydeCoulter]

My cousin, who is now a vet, had a raccoon as a pet for a while when she was in college. It was nice while younger, but as it aged it got meaner and meaner so she ended up releasing it.

You have to give them space. If you try to keep them hemmed in, they will revolt. Lesson to be learned?

[fr33]

This little girl's idiot parents also thought it would be a great idea to have a pet raccoon:


BAN IT! IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN!

[James Madison]

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency took the animal away from Mark Brown two weeks ago because state law says it's illegal to keep wild animals as pets.

This is textbook doublespeak.

I feel much safer knowing this vicious raccoon is off the streets.

[kcchiefs6465]

This little girl's idiot parents also thought it would be a great idea to have a pet raccoon:

A little background?

How about posting dog mauling victims and calling on the state to take them... not reasonable right?

Cats are dirty as shit. I was watching some such documentary on cats, Toxoplasmosis, cat scratch and what have you. I'm sure I could find horror stories with those.

What's the point though?

[James Madison]

My dream is to have one of these...

http://www.iwallscreen.com/stock/white-tiger-mfncjubvt.jpg

Not so tough now are you, Animal Control? Come on, make my day. I dare ya.

[ObiRandKenobi]

This little girl's idiot parents also thought it would be a great idea to have a pet raccoon:

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/charlotte-ponce_3-620x528.jpeg

benjamin franklin once said: "Government must protect children from animals."

[BuddyRey]

I signed the petition. This is outrageous! The raccoon is clearly tame and not a "wild animal."

[kcchiefs6465]

benjamin franklin once said: "Government must protect children from animals."
".....And let those who question my unending wisdom face steep fines and government agents."

[ClydeCoulter]

Isn't it funny. When we quote people, it's quotes of what we would say, but because we a nobody, we have to use "credible" people. Couild we quote our own self? Do we not have wise ideas or thoughts? Yes we do. I see it all the time, here on RPF and elsewhere. We are who the future will quote, here and now. In the future, they will quote what makes sense, what promotes their well being, what tends to their hopes.

[Dr.3D]

So if this guy had not been on Youtube with his coon, he would probably still have it. This is the problem with letting a huge number of people know what you are doing. Sooner of later, you are going to have one of those people do something evil to you just because they can.

[KCIndy]

http://www.change.org/petitions/gov-haslam-please-return-rebekah-the-baby-raccoon-to-her-family

Almost 3200 signatures as I write this...

[LibertyEagle]

Raccoons are extremely intelligent animals. I wouldn't have believed what I had seen in Disney movies when I was a child was true, until one day when a friend of mine took me over to a friend's ranch who had been given some injured raccoons by a vet to raise from babies. It was exactly like a Walt Disney movie. Long story short, I slept sitting up on a bench on the front porch with a raccoon on each side of me. They had crawled up the bench legs to be near to me. I knew it was something special, so I stayed there all night long. The next morning watching them play was short of hilarious. So very intelligent.

[asurfaholic]

This little girl's idiot parents also thought it would be a great idea to have a pet raccoon:

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/charlotte-ponce_3-620x528.jpeg

We should ban dogs too.i know several people who have been attacked by their own dogs. Not to mention they are a menace to peace officers everywhere.

[asurfaholic]

Anyone else having a hard time believing that these brave officers lately (baby deer too) are actually responding because someone complained?

I'm thinking the complaints are made up, or issued by the Feds or some anonymous peace officer. Who would watch a YouTube video, track down the proper a-tho-ritie, and actually complain about this?

[liberty2897]

The raccans are getting a lot bigger.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__TeQpzU8yc

[GunnyFreedom]

Anyone else having a hard time believing that these brave officers lately (baby deer too) are actually responding because someone complained?

I'm thinking the complaints are made up, or issued by the Feds or some anonymous peace officer. Who would watch a YouTube video, track down the proper a-tho-ritie, and actually complain about this?

http://plasticsurgerystar.com/users/1/page_images5/Janeane%20Garofalo%20botox.jpeg

[specsaregood]

Raccoons are extremely intelligent animals.

Indeed.
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2396/bzjz.jpg
But you gotta watch your back, they'll cheat if you walk away from the board.

[asurfaholic]

http://plasticsurgerystar.com/users/1/page_images5/Janeane%20Garofalo%20botox.jpeg

??

[LibertyEagle]

??

I assume it was the do-gooder who reported it.

[phill4paul]

??

Sarah Silverman. PETA advocate.

[specsaregood]

Sarah Silverman. PETA advocate.

you've got your liberals mixed up, that's not silverman. that's another one: garafello or however the hell her name is spelled

[Mani]

Anyone else having a hard time believing that these brave officers lately (baby deer too) are actually responding because someone complained?

I'm thinking the complaints are made up, or issued by the Feds or some anonymous peace officer. Who would watch a YouTube video, track down the proper a-tho-ritie, and actually complain about this?

I would not put it passed the authorities to make up complaints, but I don't doubt for ONE SECOND, the fellow neighbors don't complain.

In the community I lived in we had a sweet old lady, that the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD HATED. LITERALLY HATED!!!!!!

There's no parking allowed on the street and there's no parking allowed on the swell (or grass) of the front of the home...Meaning, if you invited people over (more than 3 cars) you are FUCKED. So everytime ANYONE on the street had a dinner, they were in trouble. The old lady called the cops and they wrote tickets or gave warnings. WTF are you supposed to do? THere's a tennis court a half a mile away with a big parking lot, they said park the cars there and make people walk.

Imagine a family Christmas dinner, thanksgiving dinner, New Years party and halfway through the cops knock and give tickets to your loved ones. You have a bday party for your child and the parents walk away with a present of parking tickets. Anyone on that street had to deal with the fucking bitch, living in stress that your family dinner is going to be ruined.

Now the road in our area is closed off for the community, it's not a big traffic area. There's NO OUTSIDE traffic. Kids played out in the street, people walked on the street, it's a quiet neighborhood. And normally parents are supervising or keeping on eye on the kids, but it was a pretty safe area. But this woman, the second she saw a kid on the road on a scooter, she called the cops. Imagine Christmas Day all the kids got their scooters as Xmas presents and are having fun in the street, and the cops showed up, and all the kids have to scramble and get off the street and not use their scooters. Merry Xmas kids!


And if you had any CODE violations she would call the "authorities" immediately (we built an extra room in our garage which turned into a laundry room, and the inside laundry room we turned into a closet, there's no basements in FL, so storage space runs out quick). That bitch used to come over and snoop around to see what we are doing, she would have made us tear the whole thing down if she found out. I never let her in the garage and kept it closed 90% of the time. If we opened the garage, we had to make sure we opened it half way or 1/3rd and duck under, to make sure they couldn't see. We NEVER opened the garage all the way, we lived in fear of opening our fucking garage. Her and her husband used to drive around the neighborhood and take pictures of violations of neighbors. She had screwed some other neighbor for some fence that wasn't appropriate and made him tear the thing down...And she was on the COMMITTEE of the association, so she had the power to fuck everyone.

Imagine in your own home, you had to hide what your doing, for fear of some snooping old woman who will turn you in. Not just me, other neighbors had to hide shit from that woman. One guy I think was hiding a boat in his garage, that was against rules or something, so he could never open his garage. His boating trips were at 4AM and made sure he snuck it in and out without them noticing.

So I don't doubt ONE MINUTE, that neighborhood NAZI's exist, because I lived with one for years. FEAR in your own home, that a neighbor could call the cops on you ANY MOMENT. We all felt sorry for the 4 neighbors directly next to and across from her, because they were constantly getting nailed for their kids or dinner parties or ANYTHING.


Just remember, a neighbor called these cops. NEEDLESS VIOLENCE.

http://jonathanturley.org/2013/05/16/couple-refuses-to-allow-police-to-enter-home-without-warrant-police-kick-down-door-and-taser-couple/

http://mynorthwest.com/11/2139096/Des-Moines-couple-sues-police-for-shooting-beloved-dog

http://www.messinalaw.com/tag/bonney-lake-police/

http://www.realfarmacy.com/man-shot-dead-by-police-while-watering-neighbors-lawn/

[phill4paul]

you've got your liberals mixed up, that's not silverman. that's another one: garafello or however the hell her name is spelled

Janeane Garofalo. Damn they are everywhere. Thanks for the correction. :o

[Anti Federalist]

1- Fed.

2 - Entertained.

3 - The ability to exercise petty power over their fellow man.


because there are some sick stupid fucked up people in this country. I'm not referring to the authoritative monsters. I'm talking about the sick neighbors and boot lickers that complain to the "authorities".

Someone complained about this Racoon. Someone complained in Wisconsin about the person who had the baby deer without a permit that got Bambi gunned down.

Someone is always complaining which leads to innocent people being shot or killed or beaten or incarcerated or animals being killed or taken away.

Lives are ruined or needless violence occurs because of these SICK FUCKS living amongst the public that think they are DO GOODERS or just vengeful twisted individuals.

For every Patriot in this country that believes in truth and the constitution, I fear there are just as many if not more boot lickers and sick fucks who love to use the Enforcers to do harm to their neighbors. IT's fucked up.

[Anti Federalist]

So if this guy had not been on Youtube with his coon, he would probably still have it. This is the problem with letting a huge number of people know what you are doing. Sooner of later, you are going to have one of those people do something evil to you just because they can.

This.

+rep

Had it not been for FarceBook Syndrome, you are absolutely right, nobody would have been the wiser.

For now.

Mind your own business and keep a low profile.

That is rapidly becoming impossible to do in Surveillance AmeriKa these days.

Which is why, once the grid is fully online, life will become an untenable nightmare.

Imagine every waking second of your life exposed to millions of assholes like the ones that turned this man in.

[nobody's_hero]

So if this guy had not been on Youtube with his coon, he would probably still have it. This is the problem with letting a huge number of people know what you are doing. Sooner of later, you are going to have one of those people do something evil to you just because they can.

Yep.

[jtap]

WHAAAAAAAAAAT? I thought the whistleblowers were the ones that belonged in jail.

I'm so confused :confused:. Help me government; you're my only hope!!!!!!!!

[loveshiscountry]

Bettina Bowers Schwan, the animal care director at Walden's Puddle, said the raccoon is doing well.

Schwan said the raccoon would be introduced to a clan of other orphaned raccoons, be raised with them and then released into the wild with them "so she can live the wild life she deserves to live.

"It is one thing to 'love' these animals," she wrote in an email to ABC News, "but you must also respect them and their true natures."Like zoos do?

[presence]

I bottle fed and released a little buddy one time. Cutest little critters. No feet, 4 hands.

[GunnyFreedom]

??


I assume it was the do-gooder who reported it.


Sarah Silverman. PETA advocate.


you've got your liberals mixed up, that's not silverman. that's another one: garafello or however the hell her name is spelled

Correct! That would be Janeane Garofalo. I just tried to think of the first hyper-liberal mindless do-gooder I could, and Garofalo was it. There were more recognizable pictures, but they were like 1200 pixels across. :(

[GunnyFreedom]

I would not put it passed the authorities to make up complaints, but I don't doubt for ONE SECOND, the fellow neighbors don't complain.

When they need a complaint, I don't think they have to fabricate it, just encourage it.

"Hey, Deputy Bob, we need a complain on 123 Anywhere Street. You have a snitch in that neighborhood right? Go pay Snitch Snidely a visit and get us an anonymous tip so we can warrant these bastards."


In the community I lived in we had a sweet old lady, that the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD HATED. LITERALLY HATED!!!!!!

There's no parking allowed on the street and there's no parking allowed on the swell (or grass) of the front of the home...Meaning, if you invited people over (more than 3 cars) you are FUCKED. So everytime ANYONE on the street had a dinner, they were in trouble. The old lady called the cops and they wrote tickets or gave warnings. WTF are you supposed to do? THere's a tennis court a half a mile away with a big parking lot, they said park the cars there and make people walk.

Imagine a family Christmas dinner, thanksgiving dinner, New Years party and halfway through the cops knock and give tickets to your loved ones. You have a bday party for your child and the parents walk away with a present of parking tickets. Anyone on that street had to deal with the fucking bitch, living in stress that your family dinner is going to be ruined.

Now the road in our area is closed off for the community, it's not a big traffic area. There's NO OUTSIDE traffic. Kids played out in the street, people walked on the street, it's a quiet neighborhood. And normally parents are supervising or keeping on eye on the kids, but it was a pretty safe area. But this woman, the second she saw a kid on the road on a scooter, she called the cops. Imagine Christmas Day all the kids got their scooters as Xmas presents and are having fun in the street, and the cops showed up, and all the kids have to scramble and get off the street and not use their scooters. Merry Xmas kids!


And if you had any CODE violations she would call the "authorities" immediately (we built an extra room in our garage which turned into a laundry room, and the inside laundry room we turned into a closet, there's no basements in FL, so storage space runs out quick). That bitch used to come over and snoop around to see what we are doing, she would have made us tear the whole thing down if she found out. I never let her in the garage and kept it closed 90% of the time. If we opened the garage, we had to make sure we opened it half way or 1/3rd and duck under, to make sure they couldn't see. We NEVER opened the garage all the way, we lived in fear of opening our fucking garage. Her and her husband used to drive around the neighborhood and take pictures of violations of neighbors. She had screwed some other neighbor for some fence that wasn't appropriate and made him tear the thing down...And she was on the COMMITTEE of the association, so she had the power to fuck everyone.

Imagine in your own home, you had to hide what your doing, for fear of some snooping old woman who will turn you in. Not just me, other neighbors had to hide shit from that woman. One guy I think was hiding a boat in his garage, that was against rules or something, so he could never open his garage. His boating trips were at 4AM and made sure he snuck it in and out without them noticing.

So I don't doubt ONE MINUTE, that neighborhood NAZI's exist, because I lived with one for years. FEAR in your own home, that a neighbor could call the cops on you ANY MOMENT. We all felt sorry for the 4 neighbors directly next to and across from her, because they were constantly getting nailed for their kids or dinner parties or ANYTHING.

Dam, that sucks. Sorry you had to suffer that nonsense. And Nazi is exactly the right word for it.

[specsaregood]

Like zoos do?

Just this past week I went to a zoo run by the humane society even. It was full of wild animals that were caged, not living the "wild life they deserve".

[asurfaholic]

Just this past week I went to a zoo run by the humane society even. It was full of wild animals that were caged, not living the "wild life they deserve".

Report em

[Barrex]

"We have a nationwide campaign now called free Rebekah," Brown said. "We get 75 to 100 emails daily and they're all petitioning governor Bill Haslam to give me a full pardon, to forgive me of my sins and let me get a permit to keep her."
Am I the only one who got annoyed with this slave mentality observation in this article? What sins? I disobeyed my GODs GUBREMENT trillionth commandment?


Sarah Silverman. PETA advocate.

PETA=TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

[GunnyFreedom]

Am I the only one who got annoyed with this slave mentality observation in this article? What sins? I disobeyed my GODs GUBREMENT trillionth commandment?

No. No, no you aren't.

On the other hand this dude could be trying to leverage sarcasm with that.

[Acala]

Anyone else having a hard time believing that these brave officers lately (baby deer too) are actually responding because someone complained?

I'm thinking the complaints are made up, or issued by the Feds or some anonymous peace officer. Who would watch a YouTube video, track down the proper a-tho-ritie, and actually complain about this?

Unfortunately, Americans LOVE to fink on their neighbors. Sometimes it is some self-rightious person inflicting their values on others through government force. Far more often it is the result of a neighborhood feud and one neighbor drops a dime on the other neighbor purely as revenge for some perceived slight.

[amy31416]

Just this past week I went to a zoo run by the humane society even. It was full of wild animals that were caged, not living the "wild life they deserve".

Zoos in the US are lame as hell (at least the ones I've seen so far). In South Africa there's a place called Kruger Park where the humans are essentially in cages and the animals really are almost entirely free. Visitors stay in camps with 20' fences and can drive on trails where it's likely they could be mauled if they dare get out of their vehicles.

Pretty nifty.

[John of Des Moines]

Indeed.
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2396/bzjz.jpg
But you gotta watch your back, they'll cheat if you walk away from the board.

How good are they at playing RISK?

[69360]

So if this guy had not been on Youtube with his coon, he would probably still have it. This is the problem with letting a huge number of people know what you are doing. Sooner of later, you are going to have one of those people do something evil to you just because they can.

Yep, that's the real lesson here. Don't put anything about yourself on the internet. No you tube no facebook.

[XTreat]

Isn't it funny. When we quote people, it's quotes of what we would say, but because we a nobody, we have to use "credible" people. Couild we quote our own self? Do we not have wise ideas or thoughts? Yes we do. I see it all the time, here on RPF and elsewhere. We are who the future will quote, here and now. In the future, they will quote what makes sense, what promotes their well being, what tends to their hopes.


I quote people from RPF all the time, often times its easier to convey my feelings just by copying and pasting than to actually take the time to write them out.

I owe some some of you some royalties or something.

[Barrex]

I quote people from RPF all the time, often times its easier to convey my feelings just by copying and pasting than to actually take the time to write them out.

I owe some some of you some royalties or something.

I mastered that art. I just copy/paste posts that I agree with on this forum and add "Barrex" under it... it also confuses people.. which is always a +.

[mello]

I gotta be honest, I don't think anyone should have wild animals as pets. Especially, when they can easily become a dangerous invasive species (giant snakes in Florida springs to mind). Just wait, you go on vacation & some idiot on your flight has his service animal which is a Chimpanzee that is treated like a member of the family instead of a dog. Then it loses it's shit & starts tearing off arms & genitals. I give it another 6 months before Adam Carolla reports that on his podcast.

[KEEF]

I gotta be honest, I don't think anyone should have wild animals as pets. Especially, when they can easily become a dangerous invasive species (giant snakes in Florida springs to mind). Just wait, you go on vacation & some idiot on your flight has his service animal which is a Chimpanzee that is treated like a member of the family instead of a dog. Then it loses it's shit & starts tearing off arms & genitals. I give it another 6 months before Adam Carolla reports that on his podcast.

And begins throwing its own feces... it is a pretty gross defense mechanism when angry. Yet some researchers say it is a sign of intelligence.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UlszDiBjcE8/SW9kvlIawkI/AAAAAAAAABk/Mysxu_ey_xE/s400/Monkey_Poo_for_you_pt1_by_Jays_Dood.jpg

[Czolgosz]

What has happened to people? Why should we just accept this bullshit?

If they ever start massacring people, then *some* will stand up. Until then, nada.

[pcosmar]

Am I the only one who got annoyed with this slave mentality observation in this article? What sins? I disobeyed my GODs GUBREMENT trillionth commandment?


Well,,it's better in his own words,,and in context.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNKvu9mDztM

[CPUd]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXHwIrEpeSQ

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

"I feel like I've had one of my children taken from me," said Brown, a former animal control officer.


Everyone miss that? I wonder what his track record is regarding taking animals from people. Maybe he thought he was still special with regard to the law, as retired agents usually are.

[fr33]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXHwIrEpeSQ

That's sad. They act like the angry prisoners that they are. Their cage is too small.

[Valli6]

I also helped raise a baby raccoon when I was a kid. We bottle fed him and I trained him to use a paper-lined, cardboard box as a toilet. After crapping on the floor, I put him in the box and said, "This is were you do that. Okay?" and I swear he understood immediately, because after that he only used the box!

They really are smart. The palms of their "hands" feel exactly like an infant's - super soft. They come up with crazy ways to amuse themselves. As they get more active they are a real pain in the ass though, because they can climb, open containers, and get into anything and everything - kitchen cabinets, draws, houseplants - nothing in your house is safe! They have sort-of an opposable thumb, so they can easily open and grab things.

I know that they can never become real house pets . They need the company of other raccoons when they get older. If an animal is denied what nature intended, you should expect him to get nasty! I believe this is true of any wild animal. Trying to make a house pet out of a chimpanzee is just stupid.

When ours was about 3 or 4 months old, we gave him to people who'd raised other raccoons. They owned a nice-sized, wooded property with a stream, so they were able to let him come and go as he pleased - They played with him and fed him when he wanted it, but stood back when he began having plans of his own. Eventually he went off to live in the woods. I think this is a very good way to handle orphaned wild life - let the animal decide when he's ready for independence.

It looks to me like Mark Brown lives in a woodsy area where the raccoon could take off if he felt like it. I did wonder if he was feeding the first raccoon too many donuts and cupcakes though, because he did look too fat. The wildlife people should not be barging in to take orphans away from people who are raising them conscientiously. I can understand them offering guidelines for care, but confiscating the animal makes no sense unless there is real abuse involved.

[pcosmar]

Everyone miss that? I wonder what his track record is regarding taking animals from people. Maybe he thought he was still special with regard to the law, as retired agents usually are.

Might be a question to ask him.
He may have had that job because he understood animals and cared for them.

It is kind if interesting to look through the YouTube of people with Raccoon Pets..And other odd pets.

Or like this,,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7aFwdwCdMg



Fred is a very sweet, gentle and tame big wild young raccoon who has visited us only a handful of times from November 2012 and part of 2013. Several more videos were taken of this handsome and sweet boy which are posted on our channel under the same title.

NOTE to commenters: Fred lives in a region where there hasn't been a case of raccoon rabies for over 25 years which is tracked and verified by the State's Public Health Dept.

We are fortunate to be able to observe a variety of wildlife since we reside next to a protected preserve where raccoons are one of the many animals consider it home. We hope you will also enjoy watching this video of the close encounter of our charming furry friends.

Please note Fred is not our pet and is a wild raccoon thus please follow your local wildlife guidelines for the safety of humans and animal wildlife alike.

Additional note: I'm very well aware of the dangers of interacting with wild animals since I professionally work with a variety of dangerous wild species. No children nor pets are ever harmed, especially the wild animals captured in these videos.

I have known several folks that made friends with the local creatures,, and not "kept them as pets" but could walk out a door and call them.

But there are a lot of videos of Pet Raccoons. Very intelligent animals.

[Paulbot99]

If the government existed 10,000 years ago, would we have pet dogs now?

Or were dogs magically pet animals before we domesticated them?

[LibertyEagle]

Everyone miss that? I wonder what his track record is regarding taking animals from people. Maybe he thought he was still special with regard to the law, as retired agents usually are.

Actually, there is a place for Animal Control. Sure, like everything else they went outside of their boundaries, but I'll tell you for sure, I'd much rather see them attending to animals than the frickin' police shooting them left and right.