Twitter has some mixed feelings about a man who has been seen on video feeding “at least 30” raccoons on his porch. A video emerged on Twitter on Monday night of a man treating several chubby raccoons to what appeared to be hot dogs (sans the bun).
“[T]his guy goes out every night and feeds the raccoons living near his house and it’s adorable chaos,” a Twitter user wrote alongside the clip.
In the video, the man sits on a snow-covered bench while several heavyset raccoons crawl all over him, trying to grab some off the food from a container. Some climb on his lap, begging for food. Others perch on his shoulder, waiting for him to hand off a hot dog.
It’s safe to say that the video has caught the attention of many people online. While some called the man’s mealtime ritual for the raccoons adorable, others didn’t find it as cute. “No- not adorable. We in CO know that you don’t feed wildlife. Also, raccoons carry diseases that are especially dangerous for kids,” one person wrote.
“It’s not adorable if you are his neighbor. Ever had a neighbor who feeds feral cats? Same stupid behavior,” another chimed in.
“When I see raccoons, the first thing I think of is rabies,” someone else said. “The second thing I think about is the damage they do to homes. So, it’s not as warm and cuddly for me.”
One user pointed out that feeding raccoons could have an effect on an entire neighborhood, not just the folks feeding them. “Very dangerous too. Wild animals should not be fed by humans. They can carry diseases. Congregating unnaturally draws predators. Dangerous for entire neighborhood.”
“Pretty dangerous. They’re going to look for that food in the neighborhood every night…whether he shows up or not,” another agreed.
Some folks were also concerned about the effect the food would actually have on the raccoons. “This guy is single-handedly causing an ecological disaster of diabetic raccoons, but free internet pass because he’s a lonely old man and fat raccoons are cute,” one person chided.
“I just wish he’d be a bit more considerate of their diet, if he’s going to keep inviting them,” another noted. “I know he means well, and just may not understand, for example, their size is not normal.”
“How many times is he feeding them?” a third asked. “They are freaking huge!! Lmao.”
As per Pest World, raccoons typically eat plants and other animals such as: “fruits, berries, nuts, fish, frogs, mussels, crayfish, insects, turtles, mice, rabbits, muskrats and bird eggs.” So, basically, not hot dogs.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
‘;uncommonKnowledgeItems[0].insertAdjacentHTML(‘afterend’,uncommonKnowledgeContainerHtml);let uncommonKnowledgeContainerElement=document.getElementsByClassName(‘uncommon-knowledge’);let itemsContainerElement=document.getElementById(‘uncommon-knowledge-items-container’);uncommonKnowledgeContainerElement[0].style.display=’block’;uncommonKnowledgeItems.forEach((itemUncommon)=>{document.getElementById(‘uncommon-knowledge-items-container’).insertAdjacentHTML(‘beforeend’,”+itemUncommon.innerHTML+”);itemUncommon.remove()});jQuery(‘.start-slider’).owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on(‘changed.owl.carousel’,function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery(‘.owl-prev’).addClass(‘disabled’)}else{jQuery(‘.owl-prev’).removeClass(‘disabled’)} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery(‘.owl-next’).addClass(‘disabled’)}else{jQuery(‘.owl-next’).removeClass(‘disabled’)}})}})})
