Had some visitors last night.

[SadButGrateful]

I had some dry cat food left so I threw it behind the trash cans so I could get some pictures. These are young ones and one of them actually barked/hissed at me! :-) I kept a lookout in case momma was around. This was a one-time feeding...very adorable but too dangerous to encourage.

[chocolatepuppy]

Raccoons sure are cute but I don't want any in my fence with my dogs!

[mon]

I sure can relate. We have 6 regulars and have for 5 yrs. I feed them sometimes My bad

[kaycountrygal]

I agree; it's not a good idea to encourage them. About 8 yrs ago a grown racoon came into my yard in the daylight, walking in an odd way, not normal. (I had never fed him) He kept coming toward me sort of off balance. I knew he wasnt acting right. I got my shotgun and killed him... had him taken away and tested. He had rabies. Thank Goodness, my Luke cat was not outside (he started going outside later in life), my little dog at the time (Honey) was inside with me, and Annie wasnt here yet. I've been wary of racoons ever since then.

[pomtzu]

They're cute, but destructive and potentially dangerous. I certainly wouldn't be encouraging them to come around, and of course they are a big carrier of rabies, along with those cute little skunks! Living in a rural area, we have more than our share of nocturnal critters that come calling.

[chocolatepuppy]

In a Youngstown, Ohio paper today. I don't live in Youngstown, but not far from it.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/aug/3...d-here-over-n/

Published: Fri, August 31, 2012 @ 9:43 p.m.

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

To prevent the spread of raccoon rabies across the state, the Ohio Departments of Health and Natural Resources will distribute oral rabies vaccine baits across 14 Northeast and eastern Ohio counties between now and next Friday.

The Mahoning County District Board of Health and the Youngstown City Health District, with the help of the Mahoning-Columbiana Medical Reserve Corps, will distribute the baits Wednesday through Friday across

Mahoning County.

Operations may be extended due to weather conditions if necessary.

Baits will be distributed by fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter and vehicles staffed by USDA and staff from the local health

departments.

Mahoning residents should be aware of low-flying aircraft and should keep children and pets away from the baits.

Dogs in particular are attracted to the baits and will occasionally eat them. The baits are not harmful to pets.

To keep children and pets safe, officials suggest these safety precautions:

Know what the baits look like. The coated sachet is about the size of a ketchup packet. It is white and rolled in a brown fish meal glaze.

In urban areas, where baits will be distributed by vehicle, the sachet will be inside a hard, brown fishmeal block, about 2-x-2-inch square.

Photos of the baits can be found on the Ohio Departments of Health website.

Instruct children to not touch the baits.

Once your area is baited, keep dogs and cats inside or on leashes for up to five days. Most baits disappear within

24 hours; however, it is important that raccoons have every opportunity to eat them.

Do not attempt to take bait away from your pet; you may be bitten.

Anyone handling baits should wear gloves. If baits are found in areas frequented by pets or children, toss them into deeper cover. Damaged baits can be disposed of in the trash.

If a person is exposed to the vaccine (liquid), thoroughly wash any areas of the skin that were exposed to the vaccine with soap and water.

If someone has been exposed to the vaccine or has questions about the baiting, call the ORV Information line at 614-752-1387 or the Mahoning County District Board of Health at 330-270-2855.

During 2011, 13 cases of raccoon-rabies virus were confirmed in Ohio, including eight skunks from Lake County, three raccoons from Ashtabula, one raccoon from Trumbull County, and one dog from Summit County.

[Alysser]

A friend of mine feeds 'em. When I slept over one night I was fascinated and didn't wind up sleeping much

This picture is rather funny. He literally just sits there and eats. He washes his little paws first and then eats..truely smart creatures.

I don't encourage, but it's not much of my business. I wouldn't ever do it. I interned at a wildlife refuge this summer and because I didn't have my rabies vaccines I couldn't work with them, FINE by me! They were nasty buggers...though they are cute. I couldn't work with ground hogs or skunks either. But, it was still a good experience. The opossums were interesting.

Your visitors are cute =) Glad you enjoyed them and you won't be doing it often though!

[Freedom]

To the Original Poster,
If you are going to feed them -- even once in a while like this -- don't do it near the trash cans, near the house, or anywhere you do not want them because they WILL return to a feeding area, looking for more.

Cute photos!

[sumbirdy]

Aww, they sure are cute. Nothing will come into our yard but birds.

[cassiesmom]

My mom and dad have a mother raccoon and 5 or 6 little ones who have nested in one of the old trees in their yard. They have this family of raccoons, a few fat possums, a few squirrels because the next door neighbor feeds them nuts, and at least four cats who all visit their yard during the day and night. The raccoons get into the trash, dig for food, and leave a mess behind.

[caseysmom]

We have a family of them that come around also, I worry about my dogs when they need to potty at night I go out first and make lots of noise.

[Louie and me]

Just a couple of evenings ago I saw three of them in my front garden. My only concern was - where is their home because once we had a nesting pair in our chimney? The wild life rescue came and removed them fortunately before they had babies. In Ontario, Canada we are not allowed to kill any wild life and relocating them is just about impossible because they just come back. I am not sorry about that they are not killed but definately don't want them in my chimney (it is now recapped) or even worse, in the attic space.

[gini]

Years ago, a friend's parents were pruning their trees. His father was up on the ladder with the tools and his mother was at the base of the tree holding the ladder. His father saw this large raccoon come into the yard. He told my friend's mother to quickly go close the garage door because he didn't want the raccoon to go into the garage.

So the mother started to run - and that is all that it took - the raccoon started running towards her and jumped up and scratched and bit her in the face. The raccoon had rabies as well. It took a long time for her to heal and of course, she has scars.

The raccoon went on another neighbor's home and attacked that person as well. By this time animal control had been called and they caught the raccoon and had it tested for rabies as I mentioned.

In Los Angeles they run around in the sewer lines and there is a golf course where people see
them all of the time at night.

Please don't feed them - for your safety and your pets safety too.

[Catty1]

That vaccine bait is a good idea. Hope it helps!

[SadButGrateful]

Thank you everyone for your concern. I haven't seen them in a few days. They've come around before, now and then. because there was a fig tree full of fruit which they ate, but not because I encouraged them. But the fruit is all gone from that tree now. I just wanted to take a few pictures that night, but I agree with everyone about not keeping them coming around and I have no plans to feed them again. More than likely I will try to scare them off. I watched a show once called Infestations and one episode was about raccoons nesting in an attic, quite a few of them. The poo and urine got so bad in there that the ceiling actually caved in from it. Ugh!!!! They're cute to look at but they can be dangerous and very much a pest, besides the rabies thing. I did not know they run around in sewers though. Now there's a thought! Ugh, again! I live in Southern California, in a suburban/urban area, but still see coyotes and such. The wildlife is out there. Anyway, thanks everyone for your comments and concern. Just want to let you all know I agree.