Dangerously high levels of cuteness are emitting from one of the cages in Tygerberg Zoopark.

Those who get close to the three newly-born baby raccoons could suffer from involuntary “aaawwwws” and wholly silly expressions.
TygerBurger went to the zoo outside Kraaifontein last week to get to the bottom of this unfounded raccoon claim.
It turned out to be true.

When the people entered the raccoons’ cage, the older siblings and the mother used their cuteness to dreadful effect.
Big inquisitive eyes followed our every movement and the mother hung upside down in the cage while doing her best impression of a carnivore ready to pounce if something should happen to her young.
And right in the corner of a wooden box, the three kits were huddling together in a big ball of fur. “Aaaaaaawwww” exclaimed this journalist with a silly expression.

These intelligent mammals are from the Procyon (before dog, or dog-like) genus and one of the translations for its name is “the one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands”.
One of the kits rubbed, scrubbed and scratched with its hands.
“Aaaaaawwwww!”

The owner of the zoo, Lorraine Spence, agreed, “Aren’t they just the most adorable things you’ve ever seen?”
An absent-minded question of whether they bite was rebutted by Spence when she mused: “Anything with teeth bites.”
After a few quick, disconcerting camera flashes the kits could once again huddle up in their big furry ball.
The intruders were gone – deactivate cuteness.
The raccoons are only fooling themselves.

Please note: Besides “aaaawwwss” and silly looks, exposure to high levels of cuteness can also result in a 272 word article.

***DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE AND PHOTO WERE PUBLISHED IN TYGERBURGER, A CAPE TOWN BASED MEDIA24 COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. NEITHER MAY BE DUPLICATED WITHOUT ACCREDITING THE SOURCE – TYGERBURGER, MEDIA24.***