Could Raccoons Become the Next Household Pet?

As a lifelong pet owner, I cannot believe I am saying this, but owning pets is a strange concept. It was like one day humans said, "I like that animal and I want it to live with me forever," and the rest was history.

Pets Come in All Shapes and Sizes

No joke, I once knew some people who had an opposum as a pet when I was living in Florida. Dogs, cats, lizards, gerbils, and even fish, pets come in all shapes and sizes. However, there may be a new possibility for a pet on the horizon.

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According to Scientific American, one animal is evolving to show signs of domestication. City-dwelling raccoons have been studied, and parts of their bodies are starting to change into a telltale feature of a domesticated animal.

Shorter Snouts: A Classic Domestication Trait

If you look at your dog or cat versus a wild animal, one difference in their face would be a shorter snout, and raccoons that live in cities are developing one. This means that the lovable trash pandas are physically changing in response to coexisting with humans in these areas.

More Traits Linked to Domestication

Some of the other traits that come with the evolution of a shorter snout appear to be a shorter face, a smaller head, floppy ears, white patches of fur, and one of the most important factors for domestication, tameness.

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Could this mean that the next evolution in pet ownership could be raccoons? Possibly, but it more than likely will not be the norm in our lifetime.