Keep wildlife wild
December 4th, 2008 by admin
A good general rule is that wildlife should be left alone. There are exceptions, but albinism is not one of them. This week Florida Today reported on a Rockledge woman’s misguided efforts to protect an almost completely white raccoon (click here to view a photo). The woman (the paper agreed to conceal her identity) is afraid that if the location of the animal is discovered, hunters will come and kill the animal for a unique trophy. That’s not an entirely unrealistic possibility, but to keep the raccoon safe the woman has asked the Brevard Zoo to trap the raccoon and put him on display. “I’d hate to see him get shot as a trophy,” she told the paper. “This is something kids would love to see. He is so unique.” To their credit, the zoo said they’re not interested.
Sadly, the real threat facing this raccoon may be the woman who is trying to protect him. She admitted to the paper that she regularly feeds him grapes and cat food (it is illegal in Florida to feed raccoons). The food is not only unhealthy but when wild animals lose their fear of people and associate humans with food, there is a good chance that the animal will become aggressive or develop other habits that lead to an early death.