- They can claw through human skin instantly.
(shrieks)
Pocahontas, this one's for you girl.
(dramatic music)
Hey Selorm?
- Yeah?
- You know who has really tiny hands?
- My girl scout leader.
- No, raccoons.
There's a scene in Pocahontas,
it's like a beautiful setting,
and her hair's gettin all breezy 'cause it's like colors
of the wind (animal squeaking) happening.
So she's like, oh my god I have so much
like beautiful long hair.
Who am I gonna turn to to braid my hair?
Do I have any friends in the woodlands area?
No.
- She has one friend actually. - Who?
- [Selorm] That girl with the ponytail.
- Okay well, John Smith sucks.
I need a creature friend that has a thumb.
It's Meeko, a raccoon, her BFF.
No rubber band needed.
No hairspray, this was like bllddadeep done.
Then she's just like on her way.
It's like straight off of Instagram beautiful
and I need to know, if a raccoon can do that for me.
- I don't like raccoons, I have to be real with you.
- Why?
- You want a little raccoon that's been
digging through the trash, sharp teeth, rabies,
digging through your hair?
- Yeah.
First of all, raccoons are (horn squeaking) cute,
and I wanna hang out with one.
And second of all, I wanna see if this is true.
- The only way we're gonna know for sure is
if you try it out so, let's do it.
- Little hands, they're so small.
(bones clacking)
(whimsical music)
Oh my god who are you?
- Hi I'm Crystal.
I train all kinds of different animals
for the movie industry.
- [Both] Wow!
- I've been told that you can't just walk up to a raccoon
and go like hey braid my hair. (animal squeaking)
- They are way more intelligent
than most people give them credit for.
They're kind of like a cross between a cat and a monkey.
They're very mischievous.
They can be very aggressive when they want to be.
- When do they wanna be aggressive?
- [Crystal] When they want their stuff
and you don't give it to them.
- What are the dangers involved
with a raccoon braiding your hair?
- [Crystal] If they wanted to,
they could do some serious damage.
You have an animal with really sharp teeth,
and really sharp claws.
- Like how sharp?
- Between a house cat and a lion.
(roaring) (gasping)
- Do they have rabies?
- They can carry rabies, yes.
- Oh. (animal squeaking)
- [Crystal] One of the raccoons is not a big fan of blondes.
- Guys our director is blonde, what does it mean?
- [Selorm] Can a raccoon braid her hair like in Pocahontas?
- Braids are kinda complicated but maybe,
I'm just that good of an animal trainer,
and I'll teach my raccoon how to braid your hair.
- Oh that's what I like to hear, someone confident!
We're gonna go training.
I know that like, death, important.
Raccoon accepting me and loving me, more important.
We're here today, training with Hollywood Animals.
We're about to meet two raccoons.
That are super smart I hope.
- [Crystal] Daisy!
(chewing)
The raccoon will have to be on a leash.
If anything were to happen, we can pull them off.
- At first I'm gonna kinda face away,
not really make eye contact, because that can be
a little bit intimidating and stressful for them.
I love raccoons and I hope they love me
or I'll be devastated.
Highlight of my life, lil' tiny hands.
Here we go.
(dramatic music)
(chewing)
(dramatic music)
- We hit the clicker and feed them,
so they understand that every time we click,
they get paid with food.
- I'm really shocked that in the first time meeting them,
they were immediately doing pretty close to what
it looks like in Pocahontas.
- [Crystal] Take it over.
Can you take it over?
- Can they actually braid?
I don't know.
They are talented, smart, beautiful creatures.
I can't hug them, which is fine.
Kind of like they're a celeb.
But Selorm's gonna lose her mind when she sees
these raccoons because they're so cute.
No, actually she hates them, right?
This is the best day of my life.
(happy music)
Ooh, they're so cute!
The paws feel like little tiny baby hands.
They're beautiful, very smart, very smart.
Oh you wanna play?
(giggles)
I love you so much.
(giggles)
I get it Pocahontas, this is the (animal squeaking).
(happy music)
Today is the day, my friends.
We've got drama, we've got danger, we've got Disney.
You know what else we have?
- Doritos.
- Tiny little hands.
I spent the entire day training with two raccoons.
Sometimes they feel like doing
(animal squeaking) sometimes they don't.
Which honestly, is like all of us, right?
We just lay it out for you,
all the stuff that you have to do if you wanna like,
chill with a raccoon, which you shouldn't do.
First off, never poach a raccoon in the wild.
They could have rabies.
- They probably have rabies.
- That's not true.
They don't probably have it, they might have it.
- She's getting rabies today.
- Calm down.
They have really sharp (animal squeaking) teeth.
Don't make eye contact,
and I am not (animal squeaking) around.
Don't make eye contact.
They have sharp (animal squeaking) claws.
They might be all like pitter pattering around,
like eating lil snackies,
but those things are really sharp and they can literally
claw through human skin instantly.
If you have any food near you, just like, don't.
- Don't do it.
- Just like don't.
They're like.
(slapping and screaming)
I'm willing to take this chance for all the Disney fans,
the nay sayers, the raccoon haters.
- Damn.
- How are you feeling based on
my one day of raccoon training.
- Do you know they had us all sign waivers today?
Even our sound person signed a waiver.
There's no going back now, you gotta do the thing.
I wish you the best.
- Pocahontas, this one's for you girl.
Let's go.
I'm here in my fake (animal squeaking) forest.
Selorm how are you feeling?
- I'm fine, I'm fine.
- You scared?
- No.
- You nervous?
- No.
- That looks like a lie.
- Mm mm. (laughs)
- I need to put my hair into three beautiful strands
for the raccoon to grab just like
you would if you were doing a braid.
- Very trendy.
- Thank you so much.
I'm using tiny little rubber bands because their
teeny little hands need a teeny little rubber band to match.
- You're so creepy with this tiny hands thing.
- It's not creepy, it's just love.
Bring in the raccoons.
(tense dramatic music)
(crunching)
- [Crystal] Pick it up.
- Alright dudes, so far so good.
- Yeah.
- I'm very hopeful, very inspired.
- This is not church, can we just do this thing.
- This is it baby.
- I really hope this works.
- [Crystal] Daisy, get up there!
(clicking)
Good, pick it up.
Put it here.
Good.
- Ooh, it's a tight grab.
Daisy's getting it, she's almost there.
(record scratching)
(playful music)
- Daisy attempted a (animal squeaking) braid.
But, she was like, I'm gonna start a braid, I'm done.
I'm just gonna do it, that's it.
I need a moment of mourning.
I thought this would happen, and it didn't.
- Okay.
(shimmering)
- Not to be biased,
but I think this is one of my favorite experiments.
But, I have some sad news to report.
This....
(sad music)
was bogus.
Raccoons can't braid hair.
That's like (animal squeaking) that that's how life is,
but a braid involves crossing, weaving,
all into one beautiful strand.
And raccoons.
- Couldn't do it.
- Pocahontas, this one's for you girl.
We did it for you.
Even though it's fake.
(humming)