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About Raccoons and Chisholm in Particular | |
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Raccoons are clever, amazing, loving, and cute, but they are also wild, and they can be very dangerous. Though anyone who has raised one will tell you it was the most amazing animal in their lives, they'll also advise you not to do it. First of all, raccoons carry rabies. While the threat is often overblown for safety's sake (there were no cases of raccoon rabies in Dallas, this year), you must err on the side of caution. Rabies is deadly and expensive to treat. Suspected animals must be euthanized for testing. Raccoons also carry a type of worm that can be deadly to other species because it "gets lost" and wanders through the body of any animal it does not "recognize." Chisholm was free of rabies, but it took testing his dead brother to put our minds at ease. He was born in our attic. We were pretty sure he had not been exposed. We wormed him 4 times (three for roundworms, one for tapeworms), just to be sure he was parasite free. He was healthy, happy, active, and loving. But... he was also a full-time job. It was ok. We wanted to give him everything he needed, and we coveted his attention as he did ours. But make no mistake about it: raccoons are more than most people are prepared to handle. I had helped raise two other raccoons earlier in my life, so I knew what to expect. Another thing, raccoons are illegal as pets in most places. We were rehabilitating Chisholm, or at least we had planned to. He didn't live that long. Raccoons are just better off when they live as they were intended to live. They make wonderful stories, but trust me, there is another side to every raccoon story. They are destructive (unintentionally), and they often show affection by biting! (It hurts!) Chisholm's mother died in a storm. His family died in the heat of our attic. He cried all day before we realized what was going on, and we rescued him and his brother, who died a week later. I don't know why things happen as they do, but I feel blessed by this little fellow, even if he did leave us as suddenly and mysteriously as he arrived. But I would never recommend that anyone seek a pet raccoon. It's just wrong. Nevertheless, sometimes fate chooses for you. And so be it. |
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