this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
40 points (72.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26903 readers
1574 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

A lot of things i thought were cute and nice like dolphines, ducks, cats (i saw one cat eat anothers new born), dogs (multiple cases of eating dead owners due to a variety of reasons starting from trying to wake em up to other malicious reasons), hamsters etc turned out to be wrong . Raccoons are the only thing i believe in anymore so give it to me straight are they as they seem ?

Edit : To reduce confusion and to not have to answer to duplicate comments NO I do not hate animals . I think they are all neat and they are what they are and I don't hold them up to humans standard but I'm not an animal person like cat people or dog people either . I hope this clears it up.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

One of my friends keeps chickens in a small coop surrounded by chicken wire. A while back some raccoons killed most of his chickens by pulling pieces of them through the small holes in the wire fence. A few years after the incident I was visiting my friend. While we were hanging out in the backyard I stepped on a dessicated chicken wing...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

When they are in Kill Mode they are absolutely vicious. They'd reach through the fence and pull the chickens' heads off.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

A Raccoon would ask are humans evil for treating the world and nature as their privately owned land to do whatever they want without regards to other habitants.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Yeah most beings do including humans themselves.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Honestly, Skunks, and maybe Possums. They are omnivores, so there is a certain amount of "will kill and eat other living things" but generally they have chill vibes and prefer to eat roots and garbage.

Raccoons aren't necessarily evil, but they are definitely chaotic little shit bastards.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

Capybaras. Animals aren't evil but if you're trying to think of a chill animal that does no wrong by human standards, it's capybaras.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

My dad had been feeding raccoons and squirrels but the raccoon was still hungry one day and killed and ate the slowest squirrel. I wouldn't call it evil though. Nature is metal as some people say.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Are raccoons evil? Absolutely not. Like humans, some individual animals may engage in anti-social activities (be assholes) but, with a few exceptions, non-human animals do not engage in things from a long-term perspective that is required to develop philosophy, culture, ethics, and morality. Another requirement is likely possessing Theory of the Mind; an understanding that other beings have their own mental states (intention, desires, knowledge, etc.). Few non-human animals have been demonstrated to have this ability and frequently, the evidence suggests that it is also not an ability present in all members of the species.

So, the TL;DR is: No and very few animals could have the capacity to be "evil".

So, what are they?

Cute, inquisitive, intelligent, clever, and, yes, fairly dangerous. Raccoons have sharp teeth and claws that can do serious damage to humans and houses, and they can be very deadly to cats and dogs. For canines, it's generally smaller breeds that are at risk but, in some places, like Western Washington state, populations of raccoons have been observed hunting in packs to take down larger dogs.

Why did I mention houses? Well, raccoons are intelligent and understand enough to get themselves into trouble and cause serious property damage. There are multiple accounts of people feeding local raccoons then, after coming home from a vacation, discovering that the raccoons that they had been feeding had pulled shingles off the roof and damaged the building's sheathing in an attempt to get the food that had been suddenly cut-off.

Additionally, raccoons can carry rather dangerous infectious diseases. On the viral side, they are a major vector of the rabies virus as well as distemper. For bacteria, they have been shown to be vector of listeria and leptospirosis. They also can carry a number of parasites, including acting as the primary host for Baylisascaris procyonis, which is a particularly resilient roundworm (eggs can survive 20% bleach solution) that can cause encephalitis in humans.

Trash pandas are awesome but, best enjoyed from a safe distance.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If you have chickens, you will automatically dislike raccoons.

If given the opportunity, raccoons will get into a coop and kill all chickens. It won't eat the chickens. It will just kill them.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

why? beef with dinosaurs or something??

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I'm going with that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

No. They are not.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They technically are able to flip you off.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Ah that's a plus .

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

I saw a video of a lady trying to help baby raccoons that had fallen through an open window climb up and get to their mother. The mother attacked her. They don't know our intent. They just see a threat to their babies. That's not evil. That's just nature and animals. The lady was pissed that it tried to get her when she was trying to help, which is understandable. But I don't think she thought, "oh you evil piece of shit." More like, "I wish you knew I was trying to help."

load more comments
view more: next ›