VIDEO: Man Feeds Dozens of Raccoons As Per Wife's Dying Wish

Raccoon whisperer
Source: Youtube channel "Raccoon Whisperer"

A Youtube channel from our neighbor to the north calls himself the Raccoon Whisperer, and he's got a pretty popular channel on which he feeds an increasingly tubby group of Canadian raccoons on his porch.  The videos are undeniably fun to watch; the older gentleman is clearly an animal lover, and he's a friendly, even grandfatherly presence.

The project begins with a sad story.  Jim Blackwood, a retired mountie and all-around very kind human being, and his wife lived on the coast of Novia Scotia, in a heavily wooded area far from other people.  They started by discovering some orphan raccoons and taking care of them, and every year more raccoon kits are brought to the house to meet Jim.  When Jim's wife died of cancer in 2003, she begged him to continue to take care of the raccoons, which he promised to do.  He has fed the raccoons once a day ever since.

The raccoons clearly love him, though this may be as much the product of the gigantic raccoon feasts over which he prevails as his winning personality.  Just over the course of this video, the man dispatches with 20 pounds of hot dogs, 2 bags of grapes and some cookies!

Raccoon Whisperer
Source: Youtube channel "Racoon Whisperer"

Now, ordinarily, we take the stance that feeding wild animals is not, as a rule, a good idea.  Especially when it comes to bears and wild predators, feeding the animal increases their reliance on humans, which in turn increases their aggressiveness when that free cache of food dries up.  But the Racoon Whisperer says that he treats the animals for a variety of ticks, diseases (including rabies), and parasites and that aside from occasional fits of feline distemper, the animals are healthy.  There are also no other humans around for the raccoons to disrupt.  

The videos are also, with apologies to the rules of conservation, very cute.  The raccoons collect their hot dogs politely, standing up, with both little paws.  

So is it ok to feed a non-dangerous animal in the wild?  Because though what Jim is doing is certainly altering the little ecosystem of raccoons in his immediate area, it doesn't seem like he's hurting them much, does he?  Even if they do seem a little corpulent for raccoons, but hey, we can't be throwing stones in that direction. 

See the whole video below!

Source: Youtube channel "Raccoon Whisperer"

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Larry (not verified) , Sun, 11/08/2020 - 18:49
Look at the size of those guys. They are well fed. What happens though when this fella is no longer around to feed these guys. Will they know how to fend for themselves and are there too many of them in that locale?.
Gill (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 19:13
My sentiments exactly. It's lovely to see them, and to see them well looked after, but what happens when . . . and is it fair to the animal? Could use the same argument with pets, I guess. Many pets outlive their owners, and their lives afterwards are not always pleasant.
Leanne Droessler (not verified) , Wed, 11/11/2020 - 02:25
The average life of a raccoon in the wild is 5 yrs. It is 20+ yrs in captivity. So no, many won't outlive this sweet man. They also still use their instincts and travel further for food before the temp drops and they go into a version of hibernation. As he said they usually have 8 to 10 a night.
Anonymous (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 19:36
Absolutely right.
Justin (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 20:25
They won't die , too resourceful
River (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 20:38
Yes they eat more than one meal if they can so they do forage.
willa (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 18:49
Yes hes from Nova Scotia Canada and I'm from Canada as well here it's different for wildlife than it is in the US, you can take care of the wildlife but you can't have them as pets it's a different scenario for sure but they fend for themselves they hunt for themselves there's times hes not been home and there completely fine so don't judge a book by its cover everything is fine he does not mess with the ecosystem whatsoever he takes care of them he has been a Foster For some when babies, it's generations of raccoons he takes care of them and they take care of him by loving on him and coming to see him daily.??
Lisa (not verified) , Fri, 11/13/2020 - 13:17
Being wild anals, they will fend for themselves just fine. And it is a symbiotic relationship, as well as honoring his wife's wishes.
Love on him!
Fadel (not verified) , Tue, 11/17/2020 - 19:04
Excuse me but wild anals sounds so intimidating for me lmao
Steve (not verified) , Tue, 11/17/2020 - 20:03
Wild anals? This is a family-oriented web page! :-)
bonk (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 07:50
Of all animals to do this too, raccoons are probably the best. Just a handful of times for a rabbit and they'll lose all ability to forage, more or less, but raccoon's are overly resourceful and smart when they're not being absolute goofballs. It'd take them a few days, but other than that, no biggie
bonked (not verified) , Wed, 11/18/2020 - 13:28
...of all animals to overfeed raccoons are the best because they are so cute. But hey, lets not call anyone or anything obese because there is nothing wrong with that. After all, its cold.
willa (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 18:45
Of course they know how to fend for themselves their wild animals they go to Jim I have known Jim for 3 1/2 years and hes a wonderful man he does not mess with the ecosystem when it comes to the animals they fend for themselves they come see him once A-day they know how to hunt so no one has to worry about that ,and there are friends of his that I know for a fact will continue his legacy when hes not around anymore but hes not going anywhere anytime soon???????
brad williams (not verified) , Sat, 11/14/2020 - 04:15
Jim really seems like an all around really great person I’d love to meet him!
Leanne Droessler (not verified) , Wed, 11/11/2020 - 02:20
Yes, they will be able to fend for themselves. Raccoons are super resourceful and resilient. I help rescue them and work with a rehabilitator. They are like that with him because they know they have a reliable food source and as he said when the temp drops he won't see them.
Anonymous (not verified) , Wed, 11/11/2020 - 20:03
I'm sure they eat other than what he feeds them. Raccoons don't live on carrots alone.
Claire (not verified) , Thu, 11/12/2020 - 18:01
They do look well fed. I don't think a night time snack will ruin their instincts. They are wild.
Anthony Elliott (not verified) , Fri, 11/13/2020 - 01:49
I believe he said most of them move on to different territories and new ones come in. So it's like a flow of some repeat visitors bringing in new ones and others moving on...
bonked (not verified) , Wed, 11/18/2020 - 13:34
Yeah, new ones are created all the time and others go off and die. His feeding them more food than they would normally encounter in the wild has nothing to any of that and I'm certain he causes no harm to this incredibly well nourished collection of wild animals who just come around. The cool thing is that anyone can do this. With squirrels, pigeons, cats, dogs... people even. C'mon man this ain't right!
Terry (not verified) , Sun, 11/08/2020 - 22:01
What a sweet thing!
Scott (not verified) , Sun, 11/08/2020 - 23:18
Every single one of those Racoons are fat. LOL
Jen (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 09:02
And I love it! lol
S Walker (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 06:51
We have one raccoon & a possum here in N GA that my family feeds every night. I thought our fellas were fat! LOL These Montana coons are cornbread fed!
Al Reilly (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 21:02
Those Raccoons are from Halifax Nova Scotia Canada He even says so in the video!!
Tracy Ash (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 08:03
So wonderful those raccoons have such a lovely neighbour! Your wife would be so happy!
Nancy (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 09:55
What a good man you are. Warms my soul to see such goodness for Gods creatures.
Leslie Hemme (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 10:28
I would love to be able to pet them! Your wife would be in tears with with joy over your devotion! The world need more like you!
Samantha (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 10:34
This is too cute. My future. ?
Kevin (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 15:09
That's awesome! I would be in heaven. He may want to consider better food options if he's doing this long term, but obviously a kind soul.
Tami Finch (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 15:54
Look at that raccoon pulling him outside!!! Like come on daddy were starvin!!! ???
Peggy (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 16:21
I used to feed raccoons when my sliding door faced the woods....and they got hotdogs daily.
Fawn ® (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 20:19
Adorable! I love this. Every one should. be so kind!
Christian von Delius (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 21:07
What does the raccoon say? Moo moo moo moo moo moo
Sean L (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 21:11
If something happens to us humans, these cute little trash pandas will take over the world. ?
Bob (not verified) , Mon, 11/09/2020 - 23:54
That is not healthy for them at all. Cute. But not healthy. Terrible food and too much of it.
Nanette Valencia (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 01:06
So sweet
Sherry (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 02:35
Wow pretty cool guy spending his hard earned money on the racoons/friends.
Helena (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 07:20
Love it ? makes me miss by mountain home in the Smoky mountains of NC. I used to feet the sweet critters from the mountains.
Cortney Mccall (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 07:44
Everyone has goals and now this is one of mine. These babies bring such joy to this mans life. God’s gift to us is the animals.
Renee (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 08:00
Does he get donations to help with food cost?
Maia Lazar (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 08:49
I swear I heard some snorting.
Debbie henson (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 09:09
Please tell me your tricks I try to feed them it’s not every day. I have not gotten close. I raised two from babies.I live in Oklahoma
Carp Finley (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 10:49
Hot dogs and cookies are crummy food. If you are going to feed wildlife, please give them something that is healthy for them.
Kees Kapteyn (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 15:39
Like what? The garbage they usually eat??
Ivan KINSMAN (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 14:06
Those are a bunch of corpulent racoons but as they need to be fat before winter the feeding seems to be fairly harmless.
Plus it gived the old boy pleasure and some company after his wife's passing. My only comment would be to maybe feed them less food than they're getting.
Tamera Locke (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 17:53
Does he have a Venmo account so I can send him some money??? ♥️ ? ♥️
Layla (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 20:14
I love this guy's videos. They are awesome. And yes, "corpulent" is the best description of their girth. But how can you help it? They are so cute!!!
Heather Pinsky (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 22:03
What a SWEET, SWEET man!!! Even sweeter for continuing the wishes of your passed on wife...God bless you....thank you for educating us on raccoons too ....you be doing it so many years so there is much wisdom to share...best to your kitties too....Inspiration and big love ? you be ✌️????
Anonymous (not verified) , Tue, 11/10/2020 - 22:14
My goodness. Such rotund babes. But I could see myself doing this as well. Blessings to you and all the get ans sassy masked bandits.
Raven (not verified) , Wed, 11/11/2020 - 02:25
You forgot to mention that Jim is also a retired Mountie! You also forgot to mention that Jim also will tell his viewers that they shouldnt do what he does at home. You also forgot to mention that Jim does specify that the raccoons do forage for food in the woods behind his house too. The raccoons are very polite. In over the 20 some years he has been keeping his promise to his wife, he has made sure that the raccoons have just enough to still make them forage for food. It may seem like he feeds them alot but when winter starts to approach, the raccoons need to basically triple thier body weight and Jim is only one source of food for them....Please give Jim the respect he deserves! This is his promise and retirement that he really enjoys...As he has said in many of his videos-- "once im not here to feed them, they will just go back in to the forest and forage even more for food. They will be completely wild. I'm just one food source."
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