I Was Called a Wuss for Warning My Family About a Baby Raccoon

On our family vacation in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with our five kids, something happened that taught me a good lesson. The afternoon we arrived at the cabin I spotted a baby raccoon climbing up the support beam on the attached porch. I quickly alerted the rest of the family inside that the animal might try to get into the cabin.

Big mistake. I immediately became the butt of the family jokes. Everyone called me the big wuss who was scared of a little raccoon.

Then my father in law decided to feed the raccoon. Before long it started coming back every day looking for more treats. My 10-year-old-son saw what was happening and wanted to get in on the action so he started feeding it too.

We just got back home to Massachusetts on Sunday. On Wednesday, I talked about it on the radio. The guy from the Berkshire Humane Society John Perrault explained why feeding wildlife is a bad idea. He said in the best interest of all wildlife they should not be fed and be left alone. The reason is you are creating a relationship that is not beneficial to you or that animal besides messing with the natural ecosystem. Raccoons in particular are one of the four main carriers of rabies the others being bats skunks and foxes.

When you feed a wild animal it keeps coming back looking for more. That means the next family who rents that cabin might not be so nice and could try to harm the raccoon.

Feeding wild animals might seem fun in the moment but it really is not a good idea. Do you disagree?