The raccoon image made me remember I always wondered if a raccoon could be a pet. I thought I’ve heard of it being done, but knowing about the crafty and sometimes nasty little buggers in the wild made me doubt it.

So a little Google and I found this paragraph:

Raccoons are not pets in the way that cats and dogs are, no matter how many generations have been bred in captivity. At best, they can be considered a companion friend. At worst, a liability insurance nightmare! They live by one set of rules - theirs. And they change the rules whenever it suits them. They will melt your heart with their loving face. And shed your blood (any anything else you may value) with their razor sharp teeth and claws. If you keep a raccoon caged, all you will have is a caged wild animal, not a pet. If you let it have the run of your house, then it will be the raccoon keeping you as a pet as it does what it pleases to the house and you. And an adult raccoon is quite capable of causing a great amount of damage, to both you and your possessions, in a very short amount of time! I believe wild animals belong in the wild when at all possible.

Found at this ‘classic’ web site:Raccoon World