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as bob was about half grown now and very active i knew the small 2x6 pen was not going to be enough for him. so i set about building a pen outside the back door where he could still see things and was easy access for me to go there to play with him. i built a 10x30 pen 6 foot tall with wire top and bottom so he couldnt get climb out or dig under.i roofed half of it so he'd be sheltered but the other half i left just wire so he could get plenty of sunshine.furnished with a shelf to relax on and a plastic dog house he couldnt eat filled, with shavings. he was now an outdoor racoon.
i read everything i could get my hands on about racoons so i could set about the task of trying to get him ready to be turned free. (i found racoons live up to 15 to 20 years! this little sucker is going to outlive me!!!!)
his base diet was dry dog and cat food which he seemed to thrive on with snacks of cut up vegitables, fruit and now that he was outside hard boiled eggs.
my first great plan was i'd quit cutting up his food and give him his food whole. so i'd furnish him with apples, zuchini, hard boiled eggs, corn on the cob etc in their natural form. he would play with them,wash them ,lug them around but never eat them. i finally realized he didn't know how to bite into things! i had always yelled at him for biting and cut up his food for him so he just didn't have the concept. GREAT i had me the only racoon in the world that couldnt eat corn on the cob!
so off to the vet to see if she had any ideas.
she said we had to try to teach him to hunt his own food. in the wild racoons fish. so we needed to try to teach him to fish. i went to the pet store and purchased some feeder gold fish. got my big roasting pan out put it in bob's pen filled it half full of water and dropped in a fish.
bob, curious as ever watched, the whole proceedings and then checked it out closer soon spotting the fish swimming in the water. HE POUNCED and like a true fisherman had that fish in no time!!!! (i was so proud of him as i sat back on my lounge chair to watch.)
he started rubbing it in his front paws as he does all his food to "wash" it. he washed and washed that fish until soon it was rather lifeless and missing a couple fins. so he dropped it back into the water and stared at the lifeless form. then he started pushing it around the water until it actually started to move again. whereupon he promptly "caught" it again and started his washing ritual. each time it went lifeless he'd drop it back into the water (missing more and more scales) and poke it until it would get moving again and then catch it and wash it some more.
I HAVE NEVER FELT SO SORRY FOR A FISH IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!! finally i couldn't stand watching anymore and went inside leaving bob with his fish. the next day when i went there lying next to the pan of water was a lifeless fish form totally void of scales. hence ended the fishing lessons as i couldn't bring myself to do that to another fish.
i once found the lifeless wet form of a mouse in bob's pen i figured it must have gone in seeking the dog food and found the same fate as the fish.
so ended the great rehabilitation to the wild episode. i gave up and resigned myself to bob becoming a fixture at my home. at least bob had never known any other life than this so he seems quite content to this day to live in his pen outside my back door.
now my challenge in life is keeping a racoon entertained and finding ways and toys to amuse him so he doesnt get bored.
AFTER ALL WE WOULDN'T WANT A BORED RACOON NOW WOULD WE?!!?!?!

LIFE WIITH A ROCOON IS NEVER BORING! MORE STORIES OF BOB WILL BE UPCOMING.

i just noticed your latest post---quick aint i? thats so cute!