# Do raccoons make vocal noise? Beckdawrek? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2025, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842 "2025-08-08T03:24:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/21 "2025-08-08T18:10:28Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > One evening I also had three raccoons on my deck fighting over a bowl of dry cat food I had put out for a local stray. From then on if I put food out I took it in before it got dark. I have a similar situation with the feral cats outside. The raccoons would show up after dark and finish off all of the cat food. So, I started taking in what is left over around dusk. Unfortunately one of them now shows up in the middle of the day to eat their fill. And yeah, they do make some adorable sounds. I’d shoot the daywalker, but again, too adorable. It’s well into adulthood, so hopefully I only have to deal with it for a couple of more years. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/22 "2025-08-08T18:32:45Z")
Considering the attic and deck raccoons, I have never seen a raccoon during the day (except for one sighting of something that _might_ have been a raccoon running through my back yard). The stray cat I had been feeding stopped showing up, so I no longer put out food. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/23 "2025-08-08T18:38:33Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Oh, no. Barn _Cat_, does not fight raccoons. She just removed the rat buffet. Ah. That makes more sense. I was imagining some kind of hugely tough cat, probably the size of a Maine Coon but a lot less laid back. – even a cat who routinely catches rats is somewhat unusual. Most of them stick to creatures less able to fight back; but there are occasional ratting cats. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Plus she was a Hobo cat. Just walked up one day. Moved right in the barn office. Now she lives the life of Riley. Smart cat! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/24 "2025-08-09T03:04:54Z")
I stayed at a cabin once that had a screened porch and outside garbage cans. A whole rack of raccoons showed up at night and they were _not_ friends. Lots of growling, spitting, and swiping at each other. Vicious things. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/25 "2025-08-09T05:10:33Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Raccoons have basically zero fear of people That’s my experience too. I once saw a raccoon sitting on my back deck, a few feet from the door. I thought I’d chase him away, so I opened the door, stepped out on the deck and stamped my foot. He looked at me quizzically and then started to walk towards me. I quickly retreated and closed the door. You win this round, Mr. Raccoon. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/26 "2025-08-09T05:57:38Z")
Don’t test them. You definitely don’t want a bite. People who have them as pets and tamed them, attest they are destructive and nippy. Plus those little hands just creep me out. A possum, on the other hand…. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/27 "2025-08-09T13:07:01Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > He looked at me quizzically and then started to walk towards me. Once I was staying at a cabin in Wilderness State Park, at the top of Michigan’s L.P., west of Mackinaw City. Late at night I was sitting and chilling, watching the waves roll in on the Lake Michigan side of the Straits of Mackinac. Then I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I looked to my right and saw the biggest raccoon I had ever seen, the size of a good-sized dog, had walked right up to me. I jumped up in surprise and started backing up. It looked up at me and cocked its head in a quizzical way, as if to say “what’s your problem?” Then it turned and casually ambled away. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/28 "2025-08-09T18:05:12Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > Yes, we were ~shudder~ camping once and heard a loud squeeking/ growl? We were walking our dogs years ago and heard a lot of commotion as we were passing one of the gates into our complex. A whole family of raccoons was climbing over the fence out of our property and landed on the metal roof of the structure protecting the intercom on the stairs. They were snarling, snuffling, and squeaking to beat the band. > [@solost](#): > > I heard a story once about some campers who had left their cooler out at night (classic rookie camping mistake). Once at Yosemite I left my daypack on the picnic bench (after lecturing the kids to make sure all food was safely stored). There was a bit of noise during the night, but in the morning, every zipper on my daypack had been opened, and the lone granola bar I’d left in there had been unwrapped and devoured. Muddy raccoon pawprints all over the pack, too. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/29 "2025-08-09T18:35:39Z")
Once I was out in front of my job having a smoke on the steps. The building was on the access road to a major freeway, and had a small parking lot out front with a tree on either side of the steps. While I was out there, a raccoon ambled along in front of the building. When it got to each of the trees, it stood up behind it, and peaked around it at the freeway on each side of the tree before moving on. If someone else told me that story, I’d have assumed they were anthropomorphizing the raccoon. But that’s really how it behaved, so I find this completely believable: > [@carrps](#): > > There was a bit of noise during the night, but in the morning, every zipper on my daypack had been opened, and the lone granola bar I’d left in there had been unwrapped and devoured. But wow, where’d it learn zippers? I would have assumed it would rip the daypack open with its teeth before it learned a zipper. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/30 "2025-08-09T19:10:12Z")
I’m guessing Yosemite raccoons get a lot of practice with them. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/31 "2025-08-09T19:22:14Z")
I’m telling you, it’s the creepy little hands. Just think if your cat had hands like that. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/32 "2025-08-09T21:15:18Z")
No cats here. Fortunately or unfortunately! I am auntie to a neighbor’s cats though. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/33 "2025-08-10T00:36:37Z")
These people have been feeding and filming raccoons for years. I’ve seen some videos where there were 20 or more on the deck. The raccoons seem pretty chill. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oJCtXzgcHq8/maxresdefault.jpg "Big Crowd of Raccoons on Wednesday") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJCtXzgcHq81) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/34 "2025-08-10T00:57:52Z")
God, I hope the humans have current vax. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/35 "2025-08-10T01:17:25Z")
Their hands/paws dont seem to really grip things like a squirrel, they just sort of hold things or scoop. The youngsters are very cute. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/36 "2025-08-10T01:19:54Z")
Adorbs to the max. No doubt. I had a box of 3 once. I babysat them 3 nights til I found a rescue. Not so cute screaming at you at 2am. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/37 "2025-09-03T00:15:30Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Plus those little hands just creep me out. > > A possum, on the other hand…. Even a possum with dentures? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/38 "2025-09-03T00:54:34Z")
Aaaaccccckkkk! Or more realistically, according to my possum socks, Aaaaaaaa. (No they don’t really sound like that, Clarence chattered. He may have been odd. What am I saying? He was definitely _odd.)_ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/39 "2025-09-05T15:44:35Z")
Once upon a time I set a Havahart trap for a woodchuck that was damaging the garden. I came home that night from work and heard a mournful howling coming from the back yard, went to investigate and found in the trap a raccoon, who immediately shut up when he saw me. He was released and sprinted away to parts unknown. ---
**Author:** ![limpbizkit7091](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/limpbizkit7091/32/19840_2.png) [@limpbizkit7091](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limpbizkit7091)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842/40 "2025-09-05T17:27:45Z")
i have a raccoon in my backyard he is my friend i feed him and he make noise at me he go uhafhuduhgufuh [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-raccoons-make-vocal-noise-beckdawrek/1021842.md?page=3)