They are fluffy, have cute little hands and resemble friendly bandits, but are racoons legal to own in California? This question comes up every time a toddler birthday comes around, or a video goes viral on social media.

In the Golden State over 57% of households own at least one pet , and about 40% of those own a dog (about 30% are cat owners) so that leaves the rest of the more or less 30% of pet-owning residents taking care of animals like reptiles, chickens and rabbits (all of which you can find at your nearest animal shelter for adoption).

Yet there’s always someone who wants to push the limits, remembering that magical day at age five when they fed a squirrel in the park and it was amazing.

But is it legal to own a racoon—or squirrel, or fox for that matter?

Is it legal to own

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