We just moved from the 12th floor in a building to a house in November. Tonight I saw my first one in the back yard. Looks like he plans to move in under our deck. The cats clued us in to him as they were staring out back with fascination.

They're actually a protected species in Toronto, hence the neighbour shooting at them inside the house rather than outside. What one is obliged to do is to call "Bo", the animal control guy, who traps them for a couple of hundred bucks. Bo, of course, wasn't born yesterday so he just drives them to the next block and lets them go, the next day he'll trap he'll trap them again for another couple of hundred bucks.

Watch the cats. A cat/raccoon fight will result in a dead cat.

The babies are SSSOOOOO cute though! A few weeks ago we had no less than 8 coons of various sizes in the back yard!!!

The cats don't get to go outside, so they can only watch and wish. :-)

This is enlightening for me LOL. I knew that Racoons could be pests but I did'nt realise they were such determined little critters

I still think they look cute though ............ Like little bandits.

Raccoons look extremely cute!!
Are they regarded as pests?

Is that a serious question?

They're just one of the critters including skunks, squirrels, deer, turkeys, geese and bears that you can get in your backyard especially if you live in the country.

This is most definitely not the country; the streetcar goes past. Here they are pests. Clever, cute looking pests, but pests just the same. My brother lives in the country, he never complains about raccoons but there they hunt beavers and fishers as pests. I believe the Ministry of Something Outdoors pays a bounty on beavers.