Raccoon

Raccoons appear in The Sims: Unleashed and The Sims 3: Pets.

The Sims: Unleashed
The Sims: Unleashed included an NPC raccoon known as "El Bandito". This raccoon will appear randomly at night and will raid the garbage can, causing a mess and waking up any Sims (human or pet) who are sleeping. He will often wander around the lot before deciding to head for the garbage can.

Adult Sims can call Animal Control, which will send someone to remove El Bandito for a §20 fee. Adults or kids can try to shoo him away, though they won't do so autonomously. A dog may - or may not - decide to fight El Bandito. If the dog wins, the raccoon will leave.

Bugs and Glitches

 * El Bandito will sometimes leave a lot almost as soon as he has entered it, usually before the player notices he is there. Since this still triggers the burglar music, it led to a belief that the music would just play for no reason.


 * When a kid tries to shoo El Bandito, the "Missing Animation" bubble will appear. Many people believe that this was a glitch that Maxis forgot to fix and add into the game when the expansion pack was released.

Trivia

 * When El Bandito enters a lot, burglar music will start playing. This unintentionally frightens many players into thinking a burglar has entered the lot. However, Buy mode and Build mode are not disabled when El Bandito is on a lot, while they are disabled when the burglar is on a lot.
 * While "El Bandito" is frequently thought to be Spanish for "the bandit", it is not. "Bandit", in Spanish, is bandido.

The Sims 3: Pets
Raccoons return in The Sims 3: Pets, where they wander in the player's home neighborhood following the installation of the expansion pack. A Sim can either "watch" or "shoo" the raccoon, although some Sims may be able to pet them. Raccoons can often be seen tipping over garbage cans on residential lots. Watching raccoons raises a Sim's hidden Wildlife skill.

Trivia

 * Male raccoons are always named 'Meeko', female raccoons are always 'Meeka'. However, on mouseover, they simply say "Raccoon".
 * Sims may have a wish to watch or pet a raccoon.
 * Raccoons are actually reskinned cats.
 * When raccoons meet Sims with a high wildlife skill they will sometimes autonomously ask the Sim to play "chase", the same game cats can request of Sims. This cannot be requested by the active Sim, only the raccoon can initiate it, making it a rare interaction.