Q: “Tell me about your pet racoon?”

A: “My dad actually wanted the pet raccoon since I was in fourth grade, and he came home one day and had a raccoon. I was like,’Take it back, I don’t want it. It’s actually really mean; it likes to attack people. It’s cute, but it’s just a baby so he likes to play. We’re getting it neutered soon so hopefully it will calm it down.”

Q: “How old is the raccoon?”

A: “6 months.”

Q: “How did you get this raccoon?”

A: “My dad knows someone that owns a farm and he had raccoons. That raccoon had babies and he got [one] for free.”

Q: “Do you like it?”

A: “I liked it when it was a baby. It used to suck on my finger and fall asleep, but now it runs around everywhere, and it actually got out of its cage yesterday. They’re really smart. It bites me a lot. It actually bit my face yesterday. It hurts.”

Q: “What do you feed it?”

A: “We feed it dog food. It’s almost like it’s a human; it gets into everything. It’s a fun pet to have, but it’s just a little bit wild.”

Q: “How do you take care of the raccoon?”

A: “When it was a baby we used to feed it bottle food like milk and cat stuff. [Now] it’s just like a dog or cat.”

Q: “Do you have any other pets?”

A: “I have a rottweiler. The rottweiler thought [the raccoon]  was a dog, so they get along like [the rottweiler] is his mom. They like to play.”

Q: “Is getting a raccoon something you recommend?”

A: “No, not really. I didn’t want it in the first place, but my dad just likes to have weird animals. [My dad] wants to get a fox, which I think would be more fun than having a raccoon. I really don’t recommend [it] because they’re wild and they’re really hard to take care of.”

Q: “How often does it bite or hurt you?”

A: “It will chase me sometimes, and I’ll have to run away from it. I mean pretty much any time it gets near you, it’ll want to play. I don’t even know if it’s a mean bite; it just plays with you and nibbles, but it hurts. Yesterday it jumped on my back and bit my head. It can be scary.”