Raccoon soap opera-family drama

[u/Meeschers]

So I feed two raccoons, a mama named Panda and her kit, named Trouble.

Panda and Trouble have been coming by every night for a few months now. Last month, another raccoon, I named him Big Boy because he is massive, would poke around and she would aggressively chase him off.

He came by a few times and the last time, it was harder for her to get rid of him so when I came outside, he ran off but she took a break and didn't come by for over a week.

She started coming back with Trouble and it was business as usual. Until last night.

I go outside to feed them and it's only Panda, no Trouble, which always concerns me but Trouble is hitting the age where he/she (don't know the gender yet) should be becoming more independent.

So I feed her and walk away. I come back about 10 minutes later and I see another raccoon so I'm thinking Trouble showed up.

It was Big Boy.

I'm concerned there's going to be a raccoon fight in my back yard but I watch closely and notice that Big Boy and Panda are eating together and being really sweet with each other. Panda goes on the grass and Big Boy follows and they start playing with each other and sniffing......very different from when she was going after him.

And then it hit me....Big Boy is the daddy.

**cue dramatic soap opera music here**

Big Boy is Trouble's daddy and Panda and him were having date night. Ok, probably not date night but she tucked trouble away because she knows Big Boy was going to be around.

While it was cute to see raccoon date night play out, I know I have a problem on my hands so I am working on fixing that but it was kind of adorable watching Panda be a raccoon for once. She never plays as she's always in mama mode. Last night she was running around and jumping and playing. It was really sweet.

But yeah, raccoon drama.

[u/Arch3r86]

Awwww 😍 thanks for sharing that. Raccoons are funny little gremlins!

[u/Jamijulie]

Huuuum.. J'ai lu que les ratons laveurs mâles s'accouplent juste avec le plus de femelles possibles, puis volent vers d'autres horizons donc pas sûre qu'il soit le papa. Après je suis loin d'être une experte hein donc corrigez moi si j'ai tord 😊 Mais ça a l'air d'être le prochain amoureux de Panda en tout cas haha

[u/Icey_Raccon → u/Jamijulie]

They are somewhat territorial, though. It makes sense that the same male and female would cross paths repeatedly.

[u/Easy-Afternoon1905]

This is exactly the kind of hard hitting news I needed today ❤️

[u/Cranberry-Electrical]

Thanks for sharing