Beatrice Merritt, age 15, of Portland, Maine, for her question:

Is it safe to keep a raccoon?

It is perfectly safe for you to keep a pet raccoon    if you take a few sensible precautions, but in most cases, it is not so safe for the raccoon himself. The precautions apply to all furry young animals captured in the wild. First, even before you bring him indoors, take him to see the vet. Your possible pet will be checked for infectious diseases, given his rabies shot and put into proper condition for life with a human family. Young Mr. Specs is a fluffy, ring tailed beauty    full of playful fun and affection. The intelligent fellow will love his adopted family in no time at all.

But remember his life in the wild. By nature he is a night prowler. He may want to play when you want to sleep. He also loves to roam near marshes and open water. He loves to climb trees and fish for his own banquets of frogs and turtles, fish and crayfish. You can keep him penned with some earth and a small pond. You can feed him vegetables and his fishy meat. But he will long to roam. And if at last your sorrowing heart sets him free, his chances are poor. Many people, strange to say, like to hunt and shoot raccoons    and one who has lost his fear of human beings does not even try to save himself.