Would You Own A Pet Raccoon? Science Says It Might Be The New Norm
I'm going to adopt two and name them "Smokey" and "The Bandit."
When you think of all the animals that would make amazing pets, what are the first several furry little creatures that come to mind?
Dogs and cats? Sure!
Horses? Under the right circumstances, yes.
Pigs? A little more exotic, but I like where your mind is at.
Rabid little monsters that hang out in dumpsters and have opposable thumbs? Madness!
At least, that's what I thought, but according to a New York Post article, a study published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Zoology says raccoons may become domesticated sooner than you think.
The study found that city raccoons exhibited all the signs of a domesticated animal – shorter snouts, floppy ears, white spots and a reduced fear response toward humans.
These are the same things we see in animals like dogs, and now the trash panda may be the next animal to be curling up next to us in bed on a cold winter's night.
I know it sounds outlandish, but there are even recent videos on social media of the little dumpster bandits being mighty friendly toward humans, meaning this study isn't too far off from becoming a full reality.
Okay, hear me out.
Even though their thumbs thoroughly freak me out, you have to admit they're kind of cute.
My parents have an outdoor cat they adopted, and whenever the neighborhood raccoon comes to take some food from her bowl, I'd be lying if I said I didn't root for the guy every once in a while.
Apparently, the trash can is the link between wild and domesticated raccoons, as the more human trash these things sift through, the more likely they are to become fully domesticated.
This is why raccoons from urban areas have snouts that are 3.5% shorter than their rural brethren.
If I knew it didn't have rabies or any other weird disease, I could see myself keeping a raccoon as a pet someday.
I always used to dream about owning exotic animals as a kid. Maybe a domesticated raccoon would be a good compromise.
Just don't leave yours with Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette for too long, though.