Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Cinemaphreak t1_ix1whti wrote

When I went to Spanish zoo a few decades ago it was such an odd thing to see a racoon in an exhibit after seeing them so often in the wild it was no big deal anymore.

480

GriffinFlash t1_ix2af3l wrote

Where I live it's weird going to my local zoo and seeing a prairie dog exhibit, while watching wild prairie dogs run around outside of it.

172

RobertPulson t1_ix3meoa wrote

That might just be prairie dog prison. You don't want to know what kind of prairie crimes those dogs have committed.

51

musicals4life t1_ix3s5go wrote

I went to the Oklahoma City Zoo and saw bison. The people behind me said "this is boring. We see bison in our backyard all the time"

28

detumaki t1_ix3zo3d wrote

had a similar experience at a Deer exhibit in Colorado (I don't remember what city). None of the locals cared and I heard a kid ask "are those the same ones that we saw in our yard?"

17

Captain__Spiff t1_ix2kmw3 wrote

I'm German, we have a number of raccoons in the wild and also some in zoos. I've never seen any outside myself (except for maybe, maybe a single overran specimen but my sis is stupid).

The poor fella in that zoo has orientation problems, some sort of damage to the his inner ear. He's better off in the zoo anyway and people love him.

72

[deleted] t1_ix2n54q wrote

You know why you have raccoons running around in the wild in your neck of the woods?

Nazis. They thought it would “enrich the local fauna.”

66

Captain__Spiff t1_ix2nj49 wrote

Now we have wolves in Germany and everyone involved is mad lol

28

White80SetHUT t1_ix2ry5e wrote

Do you guys hunt at all?

7

ensalys t1_ix2xxj9 wrote

In the Netherlands hunting wolves is illegal, and I think that ban comes from the EU, so Germany probably can't hunt them. We recently got wolves in our country as wel (they came from Germany). It's the return of a natural predator that should've been in our ecosystem all along. Plenty of people are still mad about it though.

38

White80SetHUT t1_ix3ouup wrote

Yeah wolves are protected in certain parts of the US too. I just wondered how much of your population hunted in general.

4

ensalys t1_ix3pvf3 wrote

Very little I'd think. Getting a weapons permit and a weapon can be a bit of a bitch. And hunting itself is rather limited in when and what and how much you can hunt.

2

KmartQuality t1_ix4sxvb wrote

Where is there enough wild space in the Netherlands to support wolf packs?

3

ensalys t1_ix4uwrx wrote

Mostly de Veluwe. Though exact locations are kept secret to protect the wolves.

2

Akegata t1_ix5m2zt wrote

Wolves are (sadly) hunted in Sweden, so it's probably not prohibited by the EU.

1

mrnoonan81 t1_ix34ot6 wrote

"You know what our dumpsters are missing?..."

9

AlwaysHere202 t1_ix3nrz0 wrote

It's interesting to think something so common here is unique elsewhere.

I've literally got a live trap outside because a racoon ate two of my chickens last week. Racoons are about as common as squirrels. When I was a kid, I befriended one with breadsticks. I could hand feed it, and then it would scamper away like a bandit with it's masked face!

8

xX609s-hartXx t1_ix36xo4 wrote

I have heard stories about them lifting our typical roof tiles to dig into the insulation.

3

Glum_Butterfly_9308 t1_ix2vrpz wrote

There’s a raccoon at the Saigon zoo in Vietnam. No joke, it’s there because it hitched a ride in a shipping container of frozen meat a couple years ago. It ate up a bunch of the meat during the journey and then made itself a little shelter with the leftover boxes to stay warm.

61

ledzepplinfan t1_ix2f2r0 wrote

I can't believe there was a raccoon in a zoo 😂 I work at a pizza place and we have a permanent family that eats from our dumpster I literally see them every day

44

Comnena t1_ix39pac wrote

I mean, people have kangaroos in zoos and I can see mobs of them every weekend on my walks (or on the road when the idiots go for a wander). Just depends on what you're used it.

8

idiotcosmonaut t1_ix2pj80 wrote

we have one that climbs onto our balcony at night when we remember to stock the birdfeeders

2

Cinemaphreak t1_ix6fpr4 wrote

When I went to Spain I was coming from South Carolina.

I've lived in California for the last couple of decades and see raccoons every month or so in my front and backyards. No, I don't live anywhere near woods or the country. These are entirely urban critters and almost certainly what gave them the nickname trash panda. One got into a trap we had out to catch feral cats and boy was he not a happy camper. But thankfully he waddled off away from me when I let him out.

1

ledzepplinfan t1_ix6khl2 wrote

The ones who live at my pizza dumpster are extremely fat. Totally unwild and dependant on human life. They're smart too.

1

mechy84 t1_ix3d19u wrote

Australian friend said the same thing about kangaroos. He said it's like seeing a deer.

3

jellyrollo t1_ix64ye6 wrote

I went to a wildlife park in Australia where I was able to get my picture taken with a koala, see a wombat's butt (it was sleeping), get bitten by an emu, see a few kangaroos lounging insolently in the brush, and meet some wallabies who approached me and ate pellets from my hand with their fuzzy little lips. Definitely a major highlight of my trip! Wallabies are my jam.

1

siani_lane t1_ix43nzs wrote

Yep I saw one at a zoo in Japan and I was totally amused. Here in the US they're just a nuisance- like you might as well have a zoo exhibit of rats or pigeons.

2

cmde44 t1_ix3eew7 wrote

> after seeing them so often in my trash cans

ftfy

1

WalkerInHD t1_ix3nw1g wrote

As an Aussie, I get this when I see kangaroos where I grew up, I’d leave my house in the morning and there’s guaranteed to be a mob sitting out the front

1

evil_burrito t1_ix44ko8 wrote

If that were in the US, it would have been an exhibit of something else that a raccoon had broken into.

1

asian_identifier t1_ix4hppg wrote

it's like Thais seeing Tokay gecko in the zoo in the US or sold as pets... just go out in Thailand and look up a wall yo

1