Raised raccoon seized

[Praxius]

Amanda Tanner holds a picture of her pet raccoon Rascal. He was seized by a conservation officer and is now living at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park.

Raised raccoon seized - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

LAPLAND — Rascal loves Kraft Dinner. He picks the pasta up one piece at a time and eats it.

Amanda Tanner, 21, couldn’t go out for dinner without bringing him back McDonald’s fries or a McChicken sandwich, which he would happily wrap his paws around and chow down.

But Rascal’s absolute favourite snack is granola bars — the caramel kind coated in chocolate.

Rascal is a raccoon and, up until Oct. 27, he was Amanda Tanner’s pet. That’s the day he was seized by a Lunenburg County conservation officer.

The provincial Wildlife Act requires a special permit if someone wants to own a raccoon and Amanda didn’t have one. But that’s not really why he was seized.

Rascal was taken because he had bitten a Tim Hortons worker who was handing him a Timbit through the car window.

Paul Steadman said he feels badly about taking Amanda’s pet away, but he said Rascal had bitten someone and, as a male, would likely become more aggressive as he got older.

"There were a lot of tears, she was understandably upset," said Mr. Steadman, who had arrived at the house with a search warrant. "I did not enjoy doing this. But given the circumstances, we could not let it be."

"(Rascal) was cuddling them and everything and they were asking us not to take him, but we can’t ignore the fact someone had been bitten."

Did it ever occur to anybody that the guy was bitten because he handles food all day and his hands smelled of all kinds of goodies? I know I have been bitten by many animals because my hands smelled like food and learned not to feed animals when they do..... he shouldn't have been hand feeding animals on the job for sanitation purposes, and she shouldn't have let some stranger get close to her pet with food and their hands smelling like food.

To me, this is not enough of a basis to assume he would become more aggressive, and none of the other animals that gave me a nip ever became more aggressive, it just happens when they smell food on your fingers or hands in most cases, no matter what the animal.

Amanda put Rascal in a pet carrier and he was taken to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, where the family is welcome to visit him.

"This is not normally the case," Mr. Steadman said. "The wildlife park is not a drop-off for raccoons, but these were unique circumstances."

Rascal does not know how to survive in the wild.

Amanda found him in March lying by the body of his dead mother at the end of their driveway in Lapland, just outside Bridgewater. He was so tiny his eyes were not even open yet.

"I fed him with a bottle. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and feed him and burp him and put him back to sleep."

As he grew, she took him for walks on his leash, and he got along fine with their five dogs, four cats and two budgies.

At night, he slept with his head on her pillow, but he would burrow under the blankets if he got cold. She said she misses him "like crazy" and worries about how Rascal is doing.

Mr. Steadman said there is a greater health and safety issue. Adult raccoons weigh close to 14 kilograms, have large teeth and can become quite aggressive when they sexually mature.

There were a record number of canine distemper cases reported in raccoons last year and they can become infected with parasites such as roundworm, as well as rabies.

Well yeah, if they're wild raccoons, geez.

He recommends if anyone finds a wounded animal, they contact the local Natural Resources Department. Rehabilitation centres exist across Nova Scotia that nurse animals back to health in a more natural environment, allowing for their release back into the wild when they have healed.

Which is true and may have been the right thing to do in the first place for this situation, but everybody can hit a soft spot for an animal in those types of situations. My sister found one of her cats inside a box, inside a dumpster behind a car dealership and was the only one alive of the litter, including the dead mother he was left behind with..... sometimes people just feel a responsibility as a human for what others do to them.

But on the bright side, at least they didn't put the raccoon down like they do with dogs.... which is a bit odd..... then again, there's more dogs and people take them for granted more.

 

[Twila]

I hope Rascal will be ok. Maybe she should apply for a permit now? She could have him neutured just like we do with pets...

I know someone who has 6 wild rats in acage. They were discovered as babies during a spring clean up and this person has a huge heart and couldn't just let the babies die. Obviously no wildlife organization would take them...so, now they live in her house, in a very large ferrat cage. THey're still skittish, not as friendly and sweet as a domestic pet rat. But she loves them...It happens.

 

[scratch]

Twila,
They have a lot of good friends.
scratch

 

[Nuggler]

:Yepper, Twila, neutering should have been rendered at the earliest possible time.

Male raccoons are territorial and prone to violence (sounds like us) when they mature.

At least that's what they told me on "True Outdoor Adventures"........or whatever.

Couple people I used to know had pet coons, and even they got bit more that once.

Bit of a sticky wicket, what!!

Believe I would have taken it to a vet and paid for the put down if they had no suggestions as to where it could go. Now it's in the wild, and will maybe not survive.

In the long run, who survives?? Good question for "China"

 

[Praxius]

Yeah I was thinking of the neuturing idea too..... To me I think the whole burocracy in animal control is way too restrictive and sometimes goes way beyond the requirements of a situation.

I've heard too many stories of someone's dog (Usually a pittbull or other big dog that gets a bad rep) who accidentally bites someone or bites because of food on the hands, etc. (Never really out of aggression) and they immediately come around and take them away to be put down.... simply because it was a bite report and it's a big mean looking dog. "Rules are Rules" is the common excuse.... the animal never had a history before that being aggressive, and they never give them a second chance, they're simply gotten rid of, because it's the simplest answer for some..... certainly not for the owners.

I personally would like to see the rules change that if an animal has bitten or somehow attacks someone, they get one chance, the owner is fined and they have to take steps to make sure their animal changes their behavior.... if they are aggressive after that, then they get dealt with as they are currently. If they attacked someone the first time and it was really bad, then there is no second chance and the existing rules apply.... but if it was just a small nip, I don't see why it's a big deal, no matter what kind of animal it is.

 

[Praxius]

:Yepper, Twila, neutering should have been rendered at the earliest possible time.

Male raccoons are territorial and prone to violence (sounds like us) when they mature.

At least that's what they told me on "True Outdoor Adventures"........or whatever.

Couple people I used to know had pet coons, and even they got bit more that once.

Bit of a sticky wicket, what!!

Believe I would have taken it to a vet and paid for the put down if they had no suggestions as to where it could go. Now it's in the wild, and will maybe not survive.

In the long run, who survives?? Good question for "China"

Well it's going to be at a wildlife park, so I'm sure it's going to get plenty of food and be taken care of.

 

[Nuggler]

Well it's going to be at a wildlife park, so I'm sure it's going to get plenty of food and be taken care of.

Wooooooops, my bad!!! Missed that.

Wrong again, jeez, I gotta watch that.

:-(

 

[#juan]

Well it's going to be at a wildlife park, so I'm sure it's going to get plenty of food and be taken care of. Quoting Nuggler :Yepper, Twila, neutering should have been rendered at the earliest possible time.
Male raccoons are territorial and prone to violence

I'm sure Pyewacket would support the retroactive neutering of the parents of one particular raccoon.

 

[Twila]

Is she ok?

 

[scratch]

Please let us know!

 

[#juan]

Is she ok?

She's coming along okay.........She will have a few "battle scars but no permanent problems.............Unless she runs into that raccoon again...:roll:

 

[Zzarchov]

I feel bad for her, well trained raccoons make great pets.

Well trained mind you.

 

[Twila]

She's coming along okay.........She will have a few "battle scars but no permanent problems.............Unless she runs into that raccoon again...

That's good to hear. She'll probably give all raccoons a wide berth now. Although torties are in a class of their own...almost like a seperate animal.

 

[Praxius]

I never had a torties before, but I did find a stray Maine coon that was fixed and declawed hanging around where I lived for a few weeks.... it had very little chance on it's own having no claws, was looking kinda skinny and his fur was all matted.

So I took him in and after about a straight week of him flipping sh*t being in an apartment with my other cat who was female, territorial and had claws, he was one of the most well mannered cats I ever took care of.

Sorta looked like this:

Mine was more of a lynx design with his fur around the cheeks and ears, so we called him Link.

Here's some info on them if some are unaware:

Maine Coon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A while back someone explained that they were created by colonizing british attempting to make a half-breed between a cat and a raccoon..... although that just sounds dumb.