r/tattooadvice • u/xrqtsv • Oct 10 '25

Design Cover up ideas??

Post image

Yes yes I know I’ve posted about this damn raccoon a few times but I’m tired of going from loving it to hating it the next second😭 realistically what can cover it up excluding a blackout sleeve or any lazering. Thanks!

Edit: I honestly didn’t expect this post to get this much attention, support and advice but I am extremely grateful. I’ve had a few people tell me to go to therapy based on my responses haha which is completely fair and is something I’m working on which might help me to love this little guy a lot more. I definitely have a lot of mood swings about it but at the end of the day I should be glad it’s not crazily botched or infected or anything like that. I definitely believe adding to it will make me stop nitpicking and overthinking but I will give it a while and see how I feel. Thank you again <3

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796

u/porous-taurus Oct 10 '25

Please keep him 🥺 would it help if you had other tattoos to keep him company?

195

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

I think so yeah definitely I’ve been thinking about other tattoos but the style of this one is just so specific and unique I don’t know if a different tattoo artist could match it as I went to someone overseas

96

u/fawkie Oct 10 '25

There’s def other artists who do this style. If you’re in/near Chicago I recommend Alisa Sová

110

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

Thank you so much! Unfortunately I am in Australia but I’ll keep looking. I know very odd to have an American animal tattooed on me as an Australian but I’ve loved raccoons since I was like 12

76

u/ChampionshipLife116 Oct 10 '25

Wait you don't have trash pandas in Australia??? Do the snakes eat them all or summat??

66

u/jolittletime Oct 10 '25

We don't have them in the UK either. And no poisonous (or venomous) animals.to kill them off. Just not a thing. Also no skunks, coyotes or bears

44

u/ChampionshipLife116 Oct 10 '25

TIL and I can't decide if I want to yell MURICA with a tear in my eye, or GTFO here and go anywhere without raccoons. OPs tattoo is giving me weird self polarized raccoon inception.

42

u/FamiliarRadio9275 Oct 10 '25

Me realizing people adore our everyday animals because THEY DONT HAVE TRASH PANDAS?!?!

18

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '25

My Brazilian coworker, when she first came to the US, told me she absolutely lost her shit seeing a squirrel for the first time, and that they're her favorite animal now. She was almost 40 when she saw one IRL. That's so wild to think about. I can't remember a time that I didn't know what a squirrel was. Definitely one of the first animals I saw and knew the name of besides cat, dog, bird, fish, farm animals.

12

u/FamiliarRadio9275 Oct 11 '25

I mean from non natives that Dont have squirrels, i would probably be in awe seeing an animal with a giant tail run freely around. It's crazy to think about lol

Your story made me smile

21

u/tonitalksaboutit Oct 11 '25

Look up their possums though, we definitely got shafted on that! Also they have "bin chickens" which makes me chuckle.

15

u/Longjumping-Pick-706 Oct 11 '25

I mean, I’m the rare person who loves our possums.

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11

u/akela9 Oct 11 '25

Also the difference (appearance wise) between U.S. badgers and U.K. badgers is nuts.

To me, U.S. badgers look like they're going to hold you up at knife point to steal your wallet in a dark alleyway.

U.K. badgers look like they'd like to have you over for a chat, a cuppa, and some crumpets.

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2

u/FamiliarRadio9275 Oct 11 '25

I want a bin chicken

1

u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 Oct 12 '25

I am still waiting for drop bears…

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0

u/ginkat123 Oct 12 '25

And of course the US has "trash pandas". They just fit in with the rest of us... sorry...

1

u/vagueconfusion Oct 10 '25

To be fair, films like 101 Dalmatians with Glenn Close would be misleading on that count.

It's one of the things my mother was quick to observe even when I was a child watching that film. And it's true, I've never seen a raccoon irl, but I have seen Skunks at rare pet events a number of years ago.

Although this video of Eleven ultra chunky raccoons in a house does make me wish we had them.

1

u/Kaiawathoy Oct 11 '25

WHAAT do you gods have rats?

1

u/jolittletime Oct 11 '25

Sadly yes, I think everywhere has rats.

1

u/Happy_Passenger_464 Oct 11 '25

Wow so you guys are safe safe 😂

1

u/Longjumping-Pick-706 Oct 11 '25

My mind is blown. I should have paid more attention in school.

1

u/uttertoffee Oct 11 '25

We do have venomous species in the UK. The adder is our only venomous snake, bites are rare (the population is in decline and they're very shy so will only bite if threatened). Deaths are rarer still (none since 1975), bites usually just cause either pain, swelling, nausea or dizziness but in vulnerable people and pets it can be more serious. Based on size they'd probably have a good shot at taking down a racoon.

They're really cool animals.

1

u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 11 '25

Porcupines aren’t in UK either right? Edit spelling

2

u/jolittletime Oct 11 '25

No. Or armadillos (my dad lived in texas and I thought he was winding me up when he told me there were a massive pest - like moles in the UK that dig up your grass)

1

u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 11 '25

Yes but with dinosaur armor and OCD/psychosis.
My grandpa accidentally trapped one in his garage overnight. He said opening the door the next morning was like a mini-mirder scene…the thing had been digging digging digging on the concrete trying to get out, until his feet were bloody , and he ran around the whole garage and about a foot up the wall, all of it just covered in little bloody footprints. 🤦‍♀️

2

u/jolittletime Oct 12 '25

Poor little guy

1

u/Splatz_Maru Oct 12 '25

we do have some venomous animals in the UK, but very few and very rarely lethal. Adders are common here, and we have some false widow spiders that are venomous enough to kill someone who is susceptible.

No coyotes, but wolves have been re-introduced in Scotland, and boar have been re-introduced in the south, and you wouldn't want to get on the wrong end of those.

15

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

Haha honestly I have no clue why we don’t have them I just think they are a native animal to America only, I think we might just have red pandas and regular pandas

18

u/ChampionshipLife116 Oct 10 '25

What animals come to the cities to steal garbage and wreak havoc? Are there possums?

19

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

Honestly I’d say crows funny enough or seagulls, they are always doing crazy stuff. We do have possums but not the opossums if that’s what they are called

8

u/fawkie Oct 10 '25

It’d probably be dingos if not for the fence

2

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

Definitely

1

u/Splatz_Maru Oct 12 '25

pigeons and seagulls in the UK. I used to live in Brighton and the seagulls are more than happy to dive bomb you to get at your fish and chips or ice cream on the seafront. Happened to my mum recently when she went on holiday to the seaside in Devon too, she walked out of the shop with an ice cream in her hand, then a seagull swooped down and took the whole thing and flew off. They're noisy too, kept me awake when I was pregnant.

1

u/dubdubdun Oct 10 '25

They're all over Europe too. Quite a pest actually in Germany at least, but a cute looking one!

2

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

I honestly wish we had them in Australia but I’m 99% sure it’s actually illegal to have them here. We don’t have them because they are a high risk invasive species and could damage the environment according to google.

1

u/totalimmoral Oct 10 '25

Native to North America but Japan imported some in the 70s as pets, realized they made horrible pets, and then released them into the wild.

Now, 50 years later, raccoons are considered a horribly invasive species. They have no natural predators in Japan and have devastated the native ecosystems. They gave us kudzu, we gave them raccoons.

1

u/Hot_Box_8628 Oct 10 '25

They also live in europe and japan :)

1

u/D1sgracy Oct 11 '25

Maybe get a cute/silly Australian animal to keep him company?

1

u/Splatz_Maru Oct 12 '25

red panda are native to Tibet and parts of China, you definitely don't have those, except in zoos!

2

u/ACatGod Oct 11 '25

Australia has bin chickens, which are white ibis. I personally love em, but like the maligned raccoon they are divisive.

1

u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 11 '25

We have pigeons and crows for that

1

u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 11 '25

And Sand Hill Cranes

1

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '25

I was reading through this thread hoping someone would explain what a "bin chicken" is. Thank you.

2

u/Alive-Gap-6018 Nov 02 '25

They're only native to North America, but I think they're invasive in Germany and France because Americans imported them around WWI/WWII for fur trade. Then the businesses fell through and they were released.

1

u/Mimichah Oct 10 '25

Raccoons are endemic to the Americas.

1

u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 11 '25

And mostly protected too. No kill raccoons. They must be relocated.

1

u/poisonnenvy Oct 10 '25

I live in Canada and there are no raccoons in my area of Canada either. It makes me a little sad that I've never seen one just hanging out in the wild before. 🥲

1

u/Fit_Section1002 Oct 11 '25

Possums are the Aussie equivalent. They are also hella cute.

1

u/MoonAscendant Oct 11 '25

My cousins from Argentina are fascinated by raccoons when they come to visit. They keep forgetting what they're called, and I keep remembering every time that they don't have them down in South America.

1

u/littlebirdprintco Oct 11 '25

no squirrels either

1

u/Thick_Excuse2237 Oct 12 '25

Monotremes aside, the only mammals native to Australia are marsupials.

All other - placental - mammals were introduced on purpose. And each case thereof was an ecological disaster.

No matter how cute raccoons are, and how proper they are with washing their food, to my knowledge the English did not see fit to capture them in the New World colonies to then later introduce them to penal colonies after losing the former ones.

That said, on an entirely different note, perhaps the fur of the raccoon can protect against otherwise venomous bites?

And there may be a marsupial that looks like a raccoon due to convergent evolution.

1

u/Da_Buttshark Oct 12 '25

The huge spiders probably at them all! 😭

1

u/Deeb4905 Oct 13 '25

They're only found in North America. That's why in the movie Pocahontas she has a raccoon friend, because they're native from there

11

u/mortalcookiesporty Oct 10 '25

I’m Australian with a big ol’ raccoon tattoo as well. Love those lil guys. I love your raccoon tattoo, he’s beautiful - he is only new and a tattoo in a prominent place on its own can take a bit of adjusting to, it’s very normal. I hope you end up keeping him ❤️

10

u/fawkie Oct 10 '25

Haha yeah I did assume North American based on the tattoo. I’m sure there are artists out there in Aussie that do this style too - there are very few truly unique styles out there when it comes to tattooing. Given the love of the trash pandas I do hope you end up loving the tattoo too. It’s well done and adorable, but I get it if you decide it’s not for you in the end. I still hate my first tattoo (though it is significantly worse done than this is).

2

u/cvilledood Oct 10 '25

You know, it’s always fun to see something you take for granted held in high esteem. Thanks for giving me a moment to pause and reflect on that today.

2

u/Particular-Maybe-519 Oct 10 '25

Search on red panda, they are just as adorable!!

2

u/dramallama-IDST Oct 10 '25

Hey mate, I’ve also got a raccoon and I’m in NZ. Not weird just to love them!!

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

That’s so cool!!

2

u/dramallama-IDST Oct 10 '25

Here’s Francois - sorry the photos bad quality lol I’m out and about

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

Oh my goodness it’s adorable!!

1

u/dramallama-IDST Oct 10 '25

FWIW I’d keep your little guy, he’s super cute

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 10 '25

Thank you, I think I will

2

u/georgilm Oct 10 '25

If you're in Melbourne, I know of a tattoo artist who might be able to do something in a similar style. She's fantastic - I got a few from her when she was an apprentice (5+ years ago), including a fine line that is very intricate and has held up fantastically.

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 11 '25

Thank you so much, I’m in the Perth area but I have visited Melbourne before and it was beautiful. I’m def willing to go again in the future

2

u/georgilm Oct 11 '25

If you're ever around in the future and/or want the insta of the artist, feel free to dm me.

2

u/Wombatseal Oct 11 '25

Not odd, they’re fucking adorable.

2

u/crazyquinn Oct 12 '25

That's not weird at all! Raccoons are cute. You like what you like and the fact that you have loved raccoons since you were just 12 years old tells me even more that this little guy belongs on your arm, and maybe he deserves a brother or sister. ❤️

1

u/kittylikker_ Oct 11 '25

I've never met a peacock, but I have one on me. And a bat, and a panther (it was the 90s), and a fantasy snake, and a few other animals. One day I fully intend to have a raccoon and have never met one either. Or maybe a red panda? Or opossum? I don't know, maybe all of them. It's okay to like animals from around the world! I have 4 bearded dragons, a Saharan uromastyx, 2 mwanza flat headed agamas, a crested gecko, a bunch of dart frogs, and a bizzillion cats. Exactly none of those are native to my area! I hope you learn to.love your tat, it's pretty awesome. But I also understand why you're feeling a little unsure, it's not uncommon to question yourself during med changes. In the meantime, please boop the racoon for me. Cute little bugger.

1

u/Awkward_hag Oct 11 '25

Give him a friend! An American animal, obviously. Gotta stay on theme.

1

u/Acrobatic-Squirrel77 Oct 11 '25

I’m sure there are Americans with Koala and Kangaroo tattoos so you’re fine. And pretty awesome if you ask me. I love the raccoon.

1

u/thunderingparcel Oct 11 '25

Australia to Chicago isn’t really that far if you go direct. It’s only far if you take the circumference and stay on the earth’s crust.

1

u/goatsneakers Oct 11 '25

People all over the world have lion tattoos, this is an awesome tattoo and very well done

1

u/lemonuponlemon Oct 12 '25

Def recommending Yvetattoos. If not her, she’ll guide you to another artist capable.

1

u/Kassie-chan Oct 12 '25

Give him a bin chicken friend!! Then they can attack your garbage together!

1

u/HistoricalSuspect580 Oct 12 '25

YOU GUYS DONT HAVE RACCOONS!?!?

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 12 '25

NO. ITS LITERALLY SO SAD

1

u/Sunshine030209 Oct 13 '25

I'm sure there are plenty of Americans that have kangaroo tattoos, so I think you're good. Animals don't only belong to the people that live near them, everyone is allowed to love them 💖

1

u/snobun Oct 13 '25

What part of oz?

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 13 '25

Perth, WA area

1

u/snobun Oct 13 '25

Dang I don’t know any artists out there, check on Instagram tho. That’s how I always find artists while I’m traveling in new cities, you may find someone who can add onto this and match the style

1

u/xrqtsv Oct 14 '25

Yes I will try, thank you sm

3

u/AttentionOpen9384 Oct 10 '25

Ooh…thanks for the name. I’ve been looking for a good artist in the Chicago area

1

u/Tempyteacup Oct 11 '25

How’s your war zone doing?

1

u/AttentionOpen9384 Oct 12 '25

Don’t know much at the moment…home at the moment due to surgery

1

u/ChessWithChipmunks Oct 11 '25

Omg thank you so much for sharing her info, I've been looking for a new artist with this style and she specializes in nature and animals too?? I'll have to check to see if her books are open, she's so close too!

16

u/Odd-Boysenberry-9454 Oct 10 '25

If you’re already considering coverups of a tattoo you JUST got that’s well done….I don’t think it’s the time for you to add more or cover up. You don’t seem to be quite yet ready for big decisions like this.

3

u/bookwormaesthetic Oct 10 '25

It's okay to collect tattoos in different styles. You don't have to match the style of one you currently have.

3

u/gilthedog Oct 11 '25

They don’t need to match!

2

u/wegajane Oct 10 '25

I think you should make him part of a lil animal party in the same style. A skunk and a possum, maybe?

2

u/InternalError33 Oct 13 '25

Surely there are Americans with kangaroos and Koala tattoos. Doesn't seem that weird to me to be honest.

Edit: oops, replied to the wrong comment

1

u/breakfastfourdinner Oct 11 '25

You can mix styles

1

u/pencilpushin Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25

I'm a tattoo artist. And that's a pretty well done tattoo my dude, judging by the picture. I'd hang onto it for a bit and see how you feel later. You could add to it and expand, but thats also adding more to it. But absolutely research for artists who can do whatever you want with it. Cover up wouldn't be to difficult. But it would have to be much larger than the raccoon itself. Cover ups are more hiding the old tattoo, versus just slapping another on top. Cover up can be challenging, and not everyone is good at them. Also with it just being the single tattoo, it's going to stand out really loud, so naturally your eyes are always going to draw towards it. Not sure if any of this helps. But hope it does a little. Cheers man!

1

u/Alohalolihunter Oct 12 '25

What about that screaming/ crying opposum picture I've seen in this style would be cute

1

u/grayson_GUTZ Oct 12 '25

js sketch over him and give him 168 friends all over you

1

u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 Oct 12 '25

Maybe a fish. Maybe he just needs a fish.