Carol Aiello used to spot the intruders only at night, prowling her backyard or scurrying along her street in Glendale, Queens. But one morning not long ago, she caught one of them staring at her from a neighbor’s gutter and all of a sudden — perhaps for no reason other than seeing those black-rimmed eyes so close and in broad daylight — she panicked.
“It was nothing like what you see on TV or in children’s books,” said Ms. Aiello, 51. “It was big, it was ugly and it was scary.”
Raccoons may be wild animals, but they’re no longer a rarity in the city. They seem to be appearing in greater numbers and, like true New Yorkers, seem to be behaving much more boldly.
From Queens to Brooklyn and the Bronx, New Yorkers are coming across them in usual and also in unusual places: on stoops and rooftops, by bird feeders and garbage cans, on the edge of above-ground pools, even inside kitchen drawers.
These encounters between humans and beast have become so commonplace that City Councilwoman Elizabeth S. Crowley thinks it is time the city takes a tougher stand. She has introduced a bill requiring the health department to remove raccoons from public and private property whenever someone asks the agency to do so. Right now, the city removes raccoons only if the animals are thought to be rabid.
“If a resident considers a raccoon on their property to be a nuisance, they should contact a licensed wildlife removal service or licensed private trapper,” Susan Craig, a spokeswoman for the health department, said in a statement.
But the question a lot of people are asking is, when does a nuisance become a menace? In an interview, Councilman James Vacca said with more than a hint of exasperation in his voice: “Years ago, people thought this was cute. Well, it’s not cute when a raccoon is scratching at your door at 2 in the morning.”
(Read More: NY Times)
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7 Responses
And HOW is the average person supposed to know if the raccoon they see on their property IS rabid (and many ARE!)
– Should we take them to a vet for an exam?!?
Kids must also be taught to stay away from raccoons!
Unfortunately, many kids’ books, movies and cartoons portray them as cute, friendly, and cuddly.
In reality, they have very sharp claws, ARE often rabid, and can be very dangerous.
The city must act on this BEFORE it is as bad as the city’s mouse and rat problem!!!
Perhaps we can divert the police from chasing murderers, burglars and terrorists and transfer them to chasing down racoons.
Another option would be to introduce predators who eat racoons (coyotes, wolves, bobcats, etc.) – though they might do more than occasionally bite people.
The city has licensed racoon trappers. I suppose that anyone who takes care of a racoon will probably get busted for trapping racoons without a license?
I was about to post a comment saying that if a raccoon is out during the day, that’s a sign that it’s rabid, but a little googling revealed that that’s a common myth. According to one website, “If the animal is moving in a normal manner (as opposed to walking in circles while falling down) it’s likely healthy.”
To: #2
The brilliant environmentalist wackos have ALREADY brought in possums to control the rat population.
We now STILL have rats, AND we have an out of control possum situation too, possums being like rats on steroids!!!
You may have been lucky enough to see them in YOUR neighborhood. They have the body (and tail) shape of a rat, but are MUCH bigger, grayish in color, with sharp, pointy teeth, and a nasty disposition. They are nocturnal (roam around at night).
How to deal with them?
Ask Jed Clampet of the Beverly Hillbillys. He has a great possum stew recipe.
#4- so we need to import some people from Appalachia who have great skills in dealing with the critters (of course they’ll need some good Jewish lawyers to do battle with the city government which apparently regulates this and any other matter, not to mention environmentalists).
But perhaps we should rely on economics. Start a trend for racoon-fur streimels, and market forces might work to reduce the number of racoons.
#5 – Raccoon fur shteimels… hmmm…
I like it.
I didn’t notice that the possums are offensive in any way. I never knew that they were brought in purposely. That is mighty interesting. I heard that the cats in Yerushalayim are also a product of something like that. Supposedly the Brits brought them in to control the nice.
Ever heard about the lady who swallowed a fly?