Raccoons are cool. They seem to be in the early stages of self-domestication, which is probably how we got cats.
this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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There was a video being shared by someone who studies raccoons.
The tl;dr was they are too smart and tend to hold grudges to become domestic.
Still, they would be cool pets.
This argument is always so silly. Domestication is the process of changing animals so they become more suitable to living with humans. The fact that wild animals aren't domesticated and therefore have traits that are problematic for that is tautological.
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They can be very cat like too. Super chill one minute, total asshats the next
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I would love having a squirrel as pet. Unfortunately most squirrel types don't do well in captivity because they are too anxious. I nursed a baby squirrel once as a volunteer and it would just sleep in my shirt pocket or bra and be the cutest little thing until it was old enough to start learning to be a wild squirrel.
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I think I'm going to side with you on this one. They start out calm enough, simple feeding and housing requirements, they can't hurt you as much as some of these larger animals, and most don't seem to get too bad an attitude even as adults unless they're cornered. Honestly my biggest problem would be them going to the bathroom everywhere and in places not readily accessible to clean. Eww.
We tried to keep squirrels as pets for more than 2 years. Couldn't hold them ever. Eventually we just opened the door to the pen and it was a squirrel hotel for years. Watched lots of little babies come out of that thing.
I hope they were native squirrels! The netherlands almost had an escaped-pet-turned-invasive-species problem because some imported squirrels escaped.
They were native. It was still illegal. Originally what happened is a pair of squirrels lost their parents and literally wouldn't stop trying to crawl all over us whenever we went outside. So we planned on keeping them safe for a little bit. My mom got attached. Then they got out once and came back so we just left the door open. Eventually they got bored of that "hotel" and just stopped coming around altogether.
Octopi. They're freakishy intelligent too.
Only if mine sounds like Nathan Fillion
Octopodes are too smart probably. That’d be more like slave ownership. Tongue in cheek btw.
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Foxes. Like a dog, but not.
Thanks to Russia, we're already partway there.
"Cat software, dog hardware"
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I've always wanted an ocelot.
You're gonna call it Babou aren't you ;)
Then you’ll be happy to know about Savannahs!. They’re house cats crossbread with servals, which are almost practically ocelots.
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For me, it's Racoons, Squirrels, or Crows.
I used to have a Robin friend, who would keep me company while I gardened, so he could grab a juicy worm from the ground I was turning. I'm currently friends with a pair of Sand Hill Cranes who spend every night in front of my house. I talk them nearly every night. They know me well, I stand right next to them, they aren't afraid of me at all.
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I still think a fox is manageable. Cat software running on dog hardware seems...interesting
BEARS! Gahhhh they look so cuddly and cuuute.
Having a domesticated bird would be really cool, I think. Like a roadrunner or puffin. A kiwi? Imagine having a hummingbird ride in your front shirt pocket?
Maybe a large seal species. Something to ride in the water, but that could still come on land and fall asleep by the fire.
Wombats, they are super cute and apparently quite smart.
https://youtube.com/shorts/IdgFAIo6NMA
I would also love to see people riding a diprotodon, which is a distant relative
Giraffes of course.
Silly question.
Red panda, literally the cutest animal ever.
Hmm, if I could choose, I would much rather imbue cat behavior onto an animal than dog behavior. Cats rule, dogs drool.
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ferrets are already domesticated, but i think that having more of/some other domesticated weasel would be neat. imagine pet stoat, or mink, or perhaps wolverine
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