Rickles the Raccoon Ready for His First S’more

Occurred on August 3, 2023 / Enfield, Connecticut, USA

Info from Licensor: "We have a group of very friendly, young raccoons (born just this year) that visit our backyard nearly every night looking for seed and peanuts on the ground left by the birds and squirrels who patronize our feeders earlier in the day. Then the raccoons usually climb up to our windowsill looking for late-night snacks because my wife and I are animal lovers who frequently feed them. We heard long ago that raccoons love marshmallows, so we often offer those as treats whenever we see their cute little faces pop up in the window (since they're too cute to ignore)! And the rumor turned out to be true- the raccoons grab marshmallows from our hands without much hesitation so they clearly find them irresistible. We thought it would be fun to create a summertime twist on their favorite snack by offering S'mores. Some quick online research informed us that chocolate can be toxic to raccoons, so we left out that common ingredient on purpose. This video shows the boldest raccoon of the group, Rickles, deciding to give a S'more a try for the first time. He looked a bit confused and wary, yet intrigued- so he cautiously went for it. Afterward, he and his 2 siblings came back for several more helpings until we ran out. Yes, raccoons can be susceptible to diseases such as rabies and distemper, but we have years of experience engaging with backyard wildlife and we're very careful."