Jasper is our South American Carb-eating Raccoon. He’s supposed to eat crab, it’s in his name. We tried giving Jasper crab, he does not like it. He’d much rather have his dog food and his favorite treats are Milkbones. Everything he eats he still does dunk in the water to help soften it up, but that’s about the only instinct that he has when it comes to eating habits.
This species looks a little different than the raccoons that you see around here. Obviously they’re brown, but they also have a smaller mask, longer snout, shorter fur and longer legs. The longer legs are very important to this species, as they are semi-arboreal. That means they spend a good amount of time in the trees! They will go up there during the day to rest and the longer legs help them climb. At night when they come down to hunt, the longer legs help with fishing and keeping their bodies out of the water.
Jasper is a true rescue. He was kept in a small 1’x1′ container for the first two years of his life. Someone found out about it, made the right call and we ended up with him here. He’s 8 years old now, but he still doesn’t trust people, and we don’t blame him. The only person that can really touch him is the owner, he kind of just deals with everyone else (including his roommate the cavy).