3 ms·

Nearly every racoon in North America is a carrier of roundworms. Their eggs are nearly impossible to kill, and if you ingest them, they hatch in your intestines

Nearly every racoon in North America is a carrier of roundworms. Their eggs are nearly impossible to kill, and if you ingest them, they hatch in your intestines and begin migrating through the rest of your body, resulting in severe and sometimes fatal neurological damage.

mjh2539 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris
- pinkmuffinere 2y ago
  This is horrifying — I’ll be keeping further away from raccoons now.
- eth0up 2y ago
  I think you might have intended: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris_procyonis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris_procyonis Note the "procyonis", ie raccoon roundworm. The procyonis version is indeed terrible, easily among the worst parasites a human could encounter. Whether, as one comment suggested, every raccoon is positive, is debatable. I sure hope not, and would definitely expect cohabitating or proximal wildlife to exhibit symptoms, which has been observed, notably in squirrels, but not as frequently as one would expect if it were half as pervasive as most or 'every'. But the risk is severe where present, necessitating the destruction of tools that make contact with feces. This worm is quite comfortable in both formaldehyde and subzero temperatures for months or years, remaining infectious. Extremely adhesive and generally not to be fucked with. Edit: expect racoons to start harboring angiostrongyloids now, especially in Florida. Cuban tree frogs and snails certainly being on their menu, as well as being primary vectors. This worm has similar appetite for flesh, favoring the brain too, but is much smaller and less dramatic than baylis. Regardless, expect parasites to be an increasing problem.
  - amy-petrik-214 2y ago
    Just going off of this one thing the worm can't survive is high temperatures and spice. I find raccoon meat goes particularly well with east asian cuisine, a cuisine which is far more open minded regarding nontraditional meat sources. My raccoon ovary drunken noodle is to die for, and packs a lot of heat! No parasite survives the wok!
    - eth0up 2y ago
      The efficacy of administering advice to the clinically insane remains unknown to me. However, you could marinate this shit in resiniferatoxin, bring it to a boil and leave it sitting in the desert sun for a year and it would remain infectious. Don't consume it, or more importantly, do not handle it.
candiddevmike 2y ago
Most wild animals have worms. Dogs would have worms if it weren't for periodic dewormer treatments for instance. Why does this disqualify racoons from being domesticated?
- droopyEyelids 2y ago
  Small parasitic worms are beginning to defeat humanity’s ability to control them. To use your example, dogs and hookworms. https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/parasitology/drug-resistant-hookworms-in-north-america/ https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/parasitology/drug-resis...
  - b112 2y ago
    While this, and of course antibiotic tolerance in bacteria is a concern, it doesn't validate that Raccoons should be shied away from domestication. All it would mean is, if it comes to this, killing all cats and dogs. (Because, releasing billions of cats and dogs would leave them starving to death)
droopyEyelids 2y ago
Ive been fixated on the domesticated raccoon idea since I was a child and the disease reservoir problem is what really killed the fantasy for me. Roundworms and they’re also a reservoir for rabies. It would be impossible to prevent the domesticated raccoons from interacting with local wild raccoons, so there really isnt anything that can improve the situation. Its worth noting about 60% of infectious diseases are zoonotic, and every additional domestic species increases the routes existing viruses can take to evolve into infecting humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8808746/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8808746/
- candiddevmike 2y ago
  > so there really isnt anything that can improve the situation. They would get periodic rabies vaccines like every other domesticated animal?
  - droopyEyelids 2y ago
    The difference is that other domestic animals do not have wild counterparts with rabies that live in our backyards, constantly trying to socialize and mate with (infect) them. There is hope though, the feds have been working to eliminate rabies in raccoons for a couple decades now. https://web.archive.org/web/20240618204646/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/massive-effort-eradicate-raccoon-rabies https://web.archive.org/web/20240618204646/https://www.natio...
    - quesera 2y ago
      Is the efficacy of the rabies vaccine low?
- more_corn 2y ago
  I hear there’s a vaccine for rabies.
  - theoreticalmal 2y ago
more_corn 2y ago
Wouldn’t this be an argument for domestication? They can easily be treated if they’re pets. If they’re carriers it’s far better for them to be treated than wandering around outside your house shitting wherever they want.

mjh2539 2y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris

pinkmuffinere 2y ago
This is horrifying — I’ll be keeping further away from raccoons now.
eth0up 2y ago
I think you might have intended: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris_procyonis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris_procyonis Note the "procyonis", ie raccoon roundworm. The procyonis version is indeed terrible, easily among the worst parasites a human could encounter. Whether, as one comment suggested, every raccoon is positive, is debatable. I sure hope not, and would definitely expect cohabitating or proximal wildlife to exhibit symptoms, which has been observed, notably in squirrels, but not as frequently as one would expect if it were half as pervasive as most or 'every'. But the risk is severe where present, necessitating the destruction of tools that make contact with feces. This worm is quite comfortable in both formaldehyde and subzero temperatures for months or years, remaining infectious. Extremely adhesive and generally not to be fucked with. Edit: expect racoons to start harboring angiostrongyloids now, especially in Florida. Cuban tree frogs and snails certainly being on their menu, as well as being primary vectors. This worm has similar appetite for flesh, favoring the brain too, but is much smaller and less dramatic than baylis. Regardless, expect parasites to be an increasing problem.
- amy-petrik-214 2y ago
  Just going off of this one thing the worm can't survive is high temperatures and spice. I find raccoon meat goes particularly well with east asian cuisine, a cuisine which is far more open minded regarding nontraditional meat sources. My raccoon ovary drunken noodle is to die for, and packs a lot of heat! No parasite survives the wok!
  - eth0up 2y ago
    The efficacy of administering advice to the clinically insane remains unknown to me. However, you could marinate this shit in resiniferatoxin, bring it to a boil and leave it sitting in the desert sun for a year and it would remain infectious. Don't consume it, or more importantly, do not handle it.

candiddevmike 2y ago

Most wild animals have worms. Dogs would have worms if it weren't for periodic dewormer treatments for instance. Why does this disqualify racoons from being domesticated?

droopyEyelids 2y ago
Small parasitic worms are beginning to defeat humanity’s ability to control them. To use your example, dogs and hookworms. https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/parasitology/drug-resistant-hookworms-in-north-america/ https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/parasitology/drug-resis...
- b112 2y ago
  While this, and of course antibiotic tolerance in bacteria is a concern, it doesn't validate that Raccoons should be shied away from domestication. All it would mean is, if it comes to this, killing all cats and dogs. (Because, releasing billions of cats and dogs would leave them starving to death)

droopyEyelids 2y ago

Ive been fixated on the domesticated raccoon idea since I was a child and the disease reservoir problem is what really killed the fantasy for me. Roundworms and they’re also a reservoir for rabies. It would be impossible to prevent the domesticated raccoons from interacting with local wild raccoons, so there really isnt anything that can improve the situation. Its worth noting about 60% of infectious diseases are zoonotic, and every additional domestic species increases the routes existing viruses can take to evolve into infecting humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8808746/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8808746/

candiddevmike 2y ago
> so there really isnt anything that can improve the situation. They would get periodic rabies vaccines like every other domesticated animal?
- droopyEyelids 2y ago
  The difference is that other domestic animals do not have wild counterparts with rabies that live in our backyards, constantly trying to socialize and mate with (infect) them. There is hope though, the feds have been working to eliminate rabies in raccoons for a couple decades now. https://web.archive.org/web/20240618204646/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/massive-effort-eradicate-raccoon-rabies https://web.archive.org/web/20240618204646/https://www.natio...
  - quesera 2y ago
    Is the efficacy of the rabies vaccine low?
more_corn 2y ago
I hear there’s a vaccine for rabies.
- theoreticalmal 2y ago

more_corn 2y ago

Wouldn’t this be an argument for domestication? They can easily be treated if they’re pets. If they’re carriers it’s far better for them to be treated than wandering around outside your house shitting wherever they want.