Gangster Raccoons at it Again!

3113

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Rachel Campos de Ivanov was walking her dog last Sunday night when she saw two eyes glowing in the darkness. Her border terrier barked furiously. The eyes came closer, and she discerned a masked furry critter.

She turned away and her pursuer, a raccoon, charged. Then four other raccoons dropped from the trees and joined the chase. "I was running as fast as I could and screaming at the top of my lungs, 'Help! Help! Help!' " said the East Bay resident. "I ran about a third of a block, then tripped and fell on the ground."

Dougie, her 20-pound dog, fended off four of the snarling animals, but the fifth latched onto the woman's leg and bit her.

Campos de Ivanov, 33, is the ninth raccoon attack victim since June in Alameda, a small, bustling city of tree-lined streets, Victorian-style houses, waterfront cafes, shopping malls and beaches. An island, Alameda is linked to Oakland by short bridges and two underwatertunnels.

Locked in by the bay, the raccoons "don't have enough territory, so they are acting aggressively toward anything out there that looks like a predator," said Daniel Wilson, community relations coordinator for the Alameda County Vector Control Services District. Alameda has more than 70,000 people on about 10.8 square miles of land. "It's a public safety problem," Wilson said. "You should be able to walk the streets at night with a dog and not worry about being molested by a raccoon."
Full Story Here!
 
It's true, raccoons can be very aggressive. When I was living in Baton Rouge, in an area that was fairly close to downtown, my daughter took it into her head to put out food in the patio space behind our apartment for "less fortunate cats."

A few days later I was in the bedroom reading when I heard my husband hollering for me to come out in the living room. Now if I had a dollar for every time he did this because of something he'd seen on TV and when I got out there it had panned to some other scene, I could retire, but nevertheless I came out...

...to see a pair of raccoons just outside the back door, scarfing down that food that had been left down there for "less fortunate cats."

I went camping one time in the woods and they got into a bag that I was keeping my medicines in and every bottle had the labels scratched to hell from them trying to open them.

In my mother's neighborhood, the raccoons and the cats have an understanding: in the daytime, the streets belong to the cats, and after dark, the cats go in and the streets belong to the coons. All garbage can lids are secured with bungee cords.

I went to pick my husband up from his work, which was at a TV station that was also near downtown, and there was a raccoon in the courtyard. They're everywhere!
 
When I lived in Atlanta, I had a raccoon in my fireplace. It had squeezed past the chimney stack cover and fallen or climbed down onto the grate. Fortunately, there were glass doors on the fireplace so it was trapped in there. I can only imagine the damage it would have caused had it been loose in the house. We called a 'critter getter' who caught it and took it away. He said it was a pregnant female looking for a den to give birth.

I've seen rabid raccoons riding my bike. They act totally wierd and show no fear of humans...they usually end up as roadkill since they're not afraid of cars either. :D
 
Not sure which is worse, a raccoon with a switchblade or a crow with a machine gun. :D
 
Anyone who's ever read Rascal as a child knows full well raccoons aren't cute. They are neighbors to beware of and opponents to be treated with respect. And quarry deserving all of one's culinary skills, of course.

We've had possums and skunks for years here in the 'burbs but now the coyotes and raccoons have moved in and the grey squirrels are only a couple of blocks away and approaching. Good thing we have a terrorier!
 
Are those raccoon-fur coats?

(eta) that's a good looking bunch of hoodlums...
 
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I lived in Alameda for four years in the 1980's. I don't remember seeing any raccoons, or any other wild animals except squirrels. I do remember it's a nice ambient place to live. :)
 
Furries in the forties, who would have thunk it. :D

The Roaring Twenties were the heyday of raccoon coats. The forties were the heyday of zoot suits.

3113's pic seems to be a group of college men, and their styles beyond the tres-chic raccoon coats look twenties also.
 
We don't have raccoons at present.

We have possums.

Big ol' bastards.

They annoy the cats, but that's about it.

A baby possum once took shelter on our porch for a couple of nights. I've got a picture of it somewhere, which I'd post if posting pictures here weren't such a big ol' pain in the ass.
 
Raccoons seem to be what you make of them. We have a pair that come into the house and eat cat food along side the cats. Nobody seems to have a problem.
Yeah it surprised me too but that was a year ago ... now I don't even look.

JM has named 'em. She names everything that can walk.
 
The possums and raccoons are warring here. Lots of drive by carnage, the squirrels are lucky to avoid the crossfire. The voles have gone underground.
 
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