Pumpkin the raccoon was a month old when she fell out of a tree and landed into the care of Rosie Kemp, a Nassau, Bahamas resident who found the baby raccoon last year.

Injured with a broken back leg and her mother nowhere to be found, Kemp and her daughter Laura Young decided to adopt her and love her as a new addition to their family. After her leg was healed, Pumpkin moved in with Young, her husband, and their two rescue dogs.

“She instantly bonded with us and our two rescue dogs and follows me and our two dogs everywhere we go. She now thinks she is a dog… she is able to be rough with them and she respects them when they have had enough.”

Young has said that Pumpkin loves air conditioning, feasting on sunny-side up eggs and watermelon, and has even learned to use the toilet to go to the bathroom.

“Raising her was (and still is) a full-time job. They are so unbelievably intelligent,” Young told The Dodo.

But she also warns others: “Raccoons are NOT pets. They are wild animals, so they are quite moody. Unlike dogs and cats, they are not domesticated. Like a spoilt child if she doesn’t get her way, she will let you know.”

In the Bahamas, there are no raccoon rescues and it is legal to own them. And although no wild animals should be plucked out of their natural environment to live with humans, Young says that because Pumpkin missed out on that life, they are devoted to making sure she has everything she needs to thrive in the environment they have given her.

“We are very lucky with her and always want and will do what is best for Pumpkin,” Young said. “But for now she is very happy with us and the dogs!”