I have to add to this, I live in South Carolina near Hilton Head, Last week there was a baby racoon that a family adopted and about 35 people played with it. It turned out that the thing was rabied and all those people had to be vacinated for the rabies.The baby showed no signs of sickness for days so if you must help them be advised not to let them "Kiss" you or your family!

I know it may sound silly, but I feel sorry for the raccoons! I also experienced lack of support from ANYONE dealing with animal control! I had a baby raccoon abandoned by mama (was probably hit by a car) in my backyard a few years ago. I called EVERYONE I could find in the phone book relating to animal control... waiting until 2:00 a.m. with no one showing up. (I was told someone would be over to pick up the animal!) I finally took the poor thing in the house and bottle fed him (and getting attached to him!). I raised him and "rehabilitated" him to be released in the wild. I now receive calls from people who find the abandoned babies - because no one else will respond to their calls for help! I did take two more in to be raised and rehabilitated, but will not be able to do so any more (they are very funny and cute animals, but are also very destructive to the inside of a house!). After rehabilitating them to be able to care for themselves in the wild, I took them to an unpopulated wooded area south of here for release. I now know it is illegal in Ohio to care for these animals (which is also sad!) - but I do NOT have the heart to let them die in my backyard because their mama got killed - and animal control refuses to come out to euthanize them in a humane fashion! I realize that this is part of the "circle of life" - but these are all God's creatures and we should do what we can to protect them! Having cared for three personally; they are very funny animals with LOTS of personality - and I absolutely love raccoons! I don't know if other counties in Ohio are as lousy as Portage about responding to these animals; I certainly hope not! In light of all the tragedies we have in the world today, I realize that the raccoon population is probably lowest on the list of concerns, but it certainly is on the top of my list! (In case you're wondering: I did vaccinate them - including rabies shots - but they were NOT released near a public area!) Finally, it amazes me that people are surprised to see these animals around... we destruct their habitat DAILY to build new buildings when we have so many VACANT buildings around! Let's keep it up so we don't have any wildlife left at all! (sarcasm!) While they are a nuisance from time to time, I enjoy being able to go outside and see the wildlife! The way things are going, I won't be surprised if they end up extinct! What a shame! And BOO-RAH ON THE ANIMAL CONTROL PEOPLE AND ALL OTHERS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS!

I live on W. Grant st in Kent and we have a family of 7 racoons living in the a water run off pipe on the corner or Mantua St and W. Grant and they could easily come out and attack a student walking home from the bus stop or even Roosevelt kids walking home--they have lived there for years but there are more of them---the city doesn't really care

I agree totaly last aug we found one dead lying next to the bank of our pond!! This is a place in our back yard where many friends bring their families to fish and swim. I do know rabid animals go to water but cant drink so they die. It took everything to get them out, they took it but never called back to let us know eather way, like they promised. I guess we were lucky they finaly got there...It didnt look to be old and NO we dont have trapers around we know everyone and if they trap we know where...... the health dept were the ones that came out.