Last summer I drove over to Indiana to visit a woman with some pet
raccoons.  She did coon rehab and had pets.  If raccoons can't be
returned to the wild, she adopted them out.  I know she had rehabbers
licenses, but I don't know if it was only state certification or federal.
 
Her raccoons were intelligent, friendly, very curious and capable of
being very destructive.  They all opened the kitchen fridge and took
out all the food and tossed it on the floor.  Then they'd decide if
they wanted anything.
 
Most of her coons had their own dog crates to sleep in.  She shut them
in when they went in to sleep.  One raccoon lived behind the couch.
 
I came smelling of ferrets.  Every raccoon I tried to pet, grabbed my
hand to sniff it.  It was an educational day.  It certainly made me
aware that a pet raccoon would never fit into my life.
[Posted in FML issue 4500]