I’ve had multiple run-ins with raccoons over the years, most recently just last week. A very fat fellow, who stops by frequently, clawed his way up to the top of our fence and perched, arms wide, like Leonardo DiCaprio yelling, “I’m the king of the world!” Last year, I looked outside (prompted by my dogs’ insane barking) to find a masked bandit happily splashing around in the shallows of my pool.
I’ve rescued a trash panda that was stuck in an actual trash can (I dropped a ladder in, and he climbed right out as I was still running away), and my friend who feeds and traps feral cats routinely gets a family of raccoon “porch porkies” who stop by to help themselves to the buffet line. And who can forget the raccoon who captured the world’s attention as she eluded rescuers and scaled a 20-story office building in downtown St. Paul?
All of this is to say that raccoons are everywhere, and they don’t mind living (mostly) harmoniously with humans. So why aren’t they pets? Could they become our next animal companions? A study published in Frontiers in Zoology looks at exactly that question and the fact that these cute critters may be domesticating themselves. Read on to learn whether the humble, mischievous raccoon will be the next wild animal humans call their “fur baby“—and if this would actually be a good idea.
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Why do scientists think raccoons are domesticating themselves?
It’s not just about proximity, though if you live in a city, you’d be forgiven for thinking raccoons are plotting to move into your spare bedroom. The study actually looked at physical traits of city-dwelling raccoons and their rural compatriots—who have zero interaction with humans at all—and found real, measurable differences.
The scientists were testing whether a known phenomenon called “domestication syndrome,” where animals develop different physical traits like floppier ears and flatter and rounder faces over time, could be quantified early on in the domestication process. To test their theory, they chose raccoons and evaluated thousands of images of city raccoons and their wild counterparts by measuring their skull and snout lengths.
Their conclusion? Today’s city raccoons have a “clear reduction” in snout length—more than 3.5% shorter—compared to their wild buddies, which confirmed their theory that raccoons could be following a domestication pathway. While this doesn’t mean that raccoons will become the next domestic pet anytime soon, the scientists hope that the research will open up opportunities to study domestication syndrome in real time.
Have animals domesticated themselves before?
Yep. We often think of domestication as a deliberate human strategy, but scientists say that’s not the case—and we can look to our current household pets as examples. Both cats and dogs decided long ago that their lives were easier when they hitched their wagons to a species that usually has reliable shelter and routinely tosses garbage everywhere they go.
And while humans do engage in selective breeding to produce “desirable” (often cosmetic) traits that have no benefit to the animal, most of the time, especially early on in the domestication process, wild animals self-adapt. How long does this take? It depends. Dogs started living with us at least 14,000 years ago, while cats, typically, took their own sweet time—starting about 10,000 years ago.
Would raccoons actually make good pets?
No, and this study should not be taken as an OK to get one. Except in a rescue situation, where you should definitely get an animal-welfare expert involved, raccoons are wild animals and should be left alone to live out their lives in peace. Here’s why.
- They’re mischievous. Running all over the house, climbing your hand-crafted raccoon tree and entertaining your guests with their loud, chattering voices might be cute for a while, but raccoons can be very destructive. They’re also clever and very dexterous, so anything not kept behind a very sturdy lock is fair game.
- They’re nocturnal. I hear you saying, Well, so are cats! But raccoons don’t have the luxury of being domesticated for 10,000 years and will likely not enjoy being trapped in your home while you sleep. Keeping them in a cage will only solve your problem, not theirs.
- They’re disease carriers. Raccoons carry various diseases, including rabies, distemper and roundworm. And because they are not fully domesticated or legal everywhere, if your pet raccoon bites or scratches someone, it could very well be euthanized or seized.
- They’re demanding. Raccoons can become aggressive and temperamental as young as 6 months old, so once that cute kit stage wears off, your adorable new pet will likely be miserable and ready to take it out on you.
- They’re messy. Raccoons like to “wash” their food in water, which isn’t really washing it as much as helping them taste their food. They’re also called trash pandas for a reason, so be prepared for that trash to end up on your kitchen floor (and everywhere else in your house).
Is it actually legal to own a raccoon in the U.S.?
It depends. In 2026, a total of 13 states allow people to keep raccoons as pets: Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming. But even in states where they are legal to own, special permits may be required.
Because most states restrict raccoon and other wild-animal ownership, it’s difficult to quantify how many raccoons are currently kept as pets. Social media is filled with people with cute pet raccoons, but wild-animal ownership is not something to take lightly. Make sure you can provide veterinary care and enrichment for what will be a lifetime of responsibility for another sentient being.
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Sources:
- Frontiers in Zoology: “Tracking domestication signals across populations of North American raccoons (Procyon lotor) via citizen science-driven image repositories”
- Popular Science: “Could raccoons become the new dogs?”
- PNAS: “Genetic history of dog domestication”
- 4theWild: “So you want a raccoon”
- PLoS One: “Neural crest cell genes and the domestication syndrome: A comparative analysis of selection”
- Brittanica: “Do raccoons wash their food?”
- Mass Audubon: “Raccoons”
- World Population Review: “Pet Raccoon Legal States 2026”
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