Comment by Larrikin
2 days ago
Are you complaining about people helping a raccoon? The Internet hype is a bit much but why are you framing it like this raccoon should have died years ago.
2 days ago
Are you complaining about people helping a raccoon? The Internet hype is a bit much but why are you framing it like this raccoon should have died years ago.
What planet are you living on?
Homeowners are generally legally liable for anything that occurs on their property, especially if it can affect neighbouring properties to any provable extent.
There are carveouts and exemptions, but that isn’t a magical deflector shield.
So it doesn’t take a huge imagination to see how it could have negative externalities.
really soulless comment, nice job
If random opining is worth any more than zero on HN… then can’t anyone else, also opine that they have more “soul” than ”mrbukkake”?
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You are allowed to not have a fence at all if you so choose, assuming an HOA isn’t telling you otherwise. Property owners have no liability for wild animals transiting their property. If you are keeping pets and they get out I would assume the homeowner has some liability, but a wild raccoon is not any homeowner’s responsibility.
You're not liable if the animal is just passing through but if you're feeding the wildlife (actively or just have a bunch of open trash cans) and the wildlife decides to do wildlife things to your guests, you certainly could be liable.
A hole in a fence is kind of a middle area. Did you create the hole for the raccoon to enter your property easier or for it to leave easier? Rabbits sometimes hang out in my backyard to eat grass and my dogs love to chase them. They usually enter and exit under the fence in the same spot (near my neighbor's vegetable garden) but that spot is near the backdoor and they are sometimes trapped if they are in the middle of the yard or further back (they always escape but there's been a few close calls). I made a small hole at the opposite end of the yard for them to escape easier. But if I knew a critter was struggling to get into my yard, I definitely wouldn't make it easier for them.
God forbid we put out a pan of dry kibbles for a stray cat or a water pan outside for hiking dogs during hot days. That would be “enabling”.
I do this too, but it's important to make sure you're either fully adopting them to keep them inside and care for medical issues, or at least make sure they get neutered/spayed before they're let out again if they can't live indoors. Stray cats are terrible for the local ecology- just feeding them without taking those steps is definitely harmful. In my town you can call animal control for strays and they'll clip the ears so you can see that they can't reproduce and are safe to leave out.
I'd also be hesitant to give people the idea that racoons are safe to interact with, even stray cats can be dangerous, but racoons can do much more damage. I feel like the ideal situation is they capture him and find an animal sanctuary away from the public. Wild animals with genetic issues don't usually live a great life
Or you can just toss some food out and call it a day
This ideology that all stray animals need to be siphoned up and neutered on the spot is bizarre to me. Sure there is a balance to be struck as you can't have a hundred thousand cats in a small area, but this idea that stray cats and dogs are simply not allowed to exist and reproduce naturally is insane.
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They can take my bird feeders from my cold dead hands.
Feeding stray cats and feeding birds are very different things, pretty much at odds with each other. If a stray cat is fed, birds have a more difficult time surviving.
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When I lived in Chicago I'd see rats and cats eating cat food left out alongside each other. I'm not against helping wild animals as long as it doesn't come with a rat infestation issue.
It doesn't. You already have a rat infestation issue. This doesn't cause it or further it. You think that little handful of kibble compares to the free calories available in an entire dumpster full of chicago deep dish pizza scrap that sits out in the open air day in day out?
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I know that one. It’s the good ol’ tolerance formula:
Tolerance(A) = { 100% if A ≠ B; 0% if A → B }
Sprinkle on anything to suit your taste.
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You do you, but I'd ask in earnest people please don't. Cats are invasive to the US and wreak havoc on local wildlife populations. Where I live, so many people feed the ferals that they've become an overpopulated menace.
it’ll probably end up badly, not because someone fed a raccoon, but because someone halfway across the planet will develop an unreasonable relationship with this wild animal.