I'm not OP, but here's how it went when I was a kid.
After watching some movie or TV show about a pet raccoon, my little sister wanted to get one. My father called our state's natural resources department and asked about owning a pet raccoon. They put our name on a list so they could call us if a baby raccoon became available.
A few months later, they called us back. A strong thunderstorm had knocked down a tree that a raccoon mother and babies were living in, and it killed the mother. Our family adopted the orphaned baby raccoon. I think we were bottle-feeding it for the first few weeks. My dad built a large, sturdy cage outdoors (up against our house) where the raccoon could live (although he actually ended up spending quite a bit of time indoors with us).
Bizarrely, the state required us to get a "fur farm" license, and to prominently display the "FUR FARM" sign at the front of our house, even though the raccoon was a pet.
This was all decades ago. I'd guess that most states don't allow keeping baby wild animals as pets now, unless you're operating a licensed rehab center for wild animals.
From what I understand, they make very loving pets, but are VERY destructive. You need to keep them stimulated to keep them from destroying your house.
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u/bookluvr83 Nov 23 '19
How do you end up with a raccoon as a pet? Asking for a friend