Human cases of raccoon parasite may be your best excuse to buy a flamethrower

It makes sense to me. I've relocated a few raccoons that ended up in cages meant for something much smaller. They get extremely irate and understandably so. I was lucky in that they were not rabid but I took a big chance moving them. One bent the cage open as I was carrying him. If he was rabid he would have attacked me. I get a lot of raccoons here as I am in a choke-point that joins wilderness to rural residential. If they can be easily run off I leave them alone. If they are aggressive I have to put them down as they are likely infected and will infect any humans or animals that accidentally corner them. They are significantly stronger than they appear and would eviscerate a child or someones pets if they are aggressive.

I think this is accurate information: https://awces.com/ca-trapping-laws

A few years ago when I noticed a skunk in my yard at night. I was worried I'd get sprayed coming home from work in the evening. But when I called some pest control companies about trapping, they told me that in Pennsylvania, pest control operators must euthanize trapped animals belonging to rabies vector species (skunks, raccoons, bats, groundhogs, foxes, coyotes): https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/secure/pacode/data/058/cha...

They aren't allowed to relocate animals (and I think even homeowners who trap one of these animals aren't supposed to relocate - you either release where trapped [what good is that?] or kill it). I didn't want to have the animals killed, so I passed on trapping.

Since then, skunks have done me huge favors by digging up and eating a couple of very large yellow jacket nests. Having gotten stung a few times, I was grateful. I have no idea how skunks dive right into a nest without being stung.