\n

Feeding wild raccoons around her home had seemed harmless enough, if odd, for one woman in the north-west for 35 years \u2013 until about 100 of them surrounded her home and demanded food.<\/p>\n

The woman, who has not been named, was essentially trapped in her home near Poulsbo, Washington, and scared as the animals can be aggressive. She called the sheriff\u2019s office, saying the raccoons were around her place day and night after their population \u201cexploded\u201d about six weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomehow, the word got out in raccoon land and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal,\u201d Kevin McCarty, a spokesperson for the Kitsap county sheriff, told local NBC station 9News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He sent deputies to help the woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were shocked. They had never seen that many raccoons in one place. Nobody ever remembers being surrounded by a swarm of raccoons. This was a first,\u201d he told the TV station.<\/p>\n

The sheriff\u2019s office even posted<\/a> about it on social media with some extraordinary footage, showing the raccoons as if they had decided to hold a convention in a back yard.<\/p>\n

\n

On Patrol: Raccoon Invasion pic.twitter.com\/5pAUE761Nk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kitsap Sheriff (@KitsapCoSheriff) October 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“}}”><\/gu-island><\/figure>\n

Neighbors have not exactly been thrilled about the animals, who can be threatening and are often nicknamed trash bandits, for their dark fur color across the eyes making them look like masked thieves, or trash pandas, for their proclivity to dive into trash cans looking for scraps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s been about the last month or so I\u2019ve noticed it,\u201d Wendy Cronk, who lives nearby, told 9News. \u201cI\u2019ve had several raccoons in the yard recently. My dogs have gotten in a scuffle several times with a raccoon. I\u2019ve even had to take one of my dogs to the vet after tussling with a raccoon. And I\u2019ve also noticed there\u2019s been a lot more hit raccoons up on the main road here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cronk said she hopes it gets resolved soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope that somebody steps in and helps her take care of this problem … and hopefully she\u2019ll quit doing it,\u201d said Cronk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: www.theguardian.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feeding wild raccoons around her home had seemed harmless enough, if odd, for one woman in the north-west for 35 years \u2013 until about 100 of them surrounded her home and demanded food. The woman, who has not been named, was essentially trapped in her home near Poulsbo, Washington, and scared as the animals can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":92801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n