Invasion of the Garbage Snatchers: Raccoons Everywhere
Raccoon spottings throughout the neighborhood are on the rise. Just the other night neighbor Gordon Rothman caught on tape, with a motion-detection camera, two cat food thieves.
“We care for some trapped/neutered/returned outdoor cats,” he said via email, “but their food has been disappearing suspiciously fast.”
In June, our neighbor Naomi Donabedian recorded a family of raccoons emerging from its den to makes its new home right on her fire escape. And of course, there is some concern that they’re organizing.
The raccoon situation isn’t new. In 2008 Chris Kreussling, also known as the Flatbush Gardener, captured a photo of a masked bandit hovering in a tree over his garden. Since then he has seen raccoon scat and other signs, but not an actual animal. Chris explains there is generally no way—or need—to keep raccoons out completely. Yet, if they take up residence in your home, like two raccoons did in Kai and Laura Lui’s attic, the expense of removing them is on the homeowner. Kai and Laura ultimately had to pay for tree removal and a new roof.
Raccoons live all over Brooklyn. In 2010, a dead raccoon found in Prospect Park tested positive for rabies which led to neighbors questioning if the city should be doing more. Certainly Greenwood, Park Slope, Gowanus, and Clinton Hill residents think so. Those neighborhoods have documented raccoon problems but it seems the city takes a laissez-faire approach to urban wildlife. It is up to the resident to either coexist or hire a wildlife removal company, unless the animal is a threat or in danger.
If you find furry friends rummaging through your garbage, go ahead and call 311. Likely, the city will send you a brochure on how to handle the nuisance yourself. Animal Care & Control will assist with a raccoon only in specific conditions, for example, it is threatening humans. Animal Care & Control recommends calling the Department of Environmental Conservation whose website specifies feral pig removal but are mum on the topic nuisance raccoons.
Unless the raccoons are suspected to be rabid, the city doesn’t consider them a threat. Try telling that to the Kai and Laura who have two sons. They were told if a raccoon smells milk on your baby’s breath, it will attack.
In 2008, 8 NYC raccoons tested positive for rabies; in 2010 that number jumped to 39 and the city instated a vaccination program. How do you spot a rabid raccoon? Raccoon Facts says foaming at the mouth is one symptom of rabies though not always present. Also look for:
• A clumsy walker
• No fear of humans or pets
• Excessively thin
• Thin or worn out looking hair
Raccoons live under our decks and in our attics because we humans usurped their habitat then turned around and provided readily available food, water, and amazing shelter options, e.g. decks and attics. Chris points out many Ditmas Park residents lay out food for stray cats which attracts raccoons and other vermin. To avoid a raccoon problem:
• Don’t set food out for stray animals
• Clean up after your BBQ
• Clean around your garbage can and secure it with a well fitting lid
• Manage your compost properly
Below is a list of wildlife removal agencies that operate in Brooklyn. Kai and Laura used Trapper Jon who set up watch for a few nights in their backyard until they finally found and trapped the raccoons. Have any of you used the following companies? Who would you recommend?
• Arrow Exterminating
• All State Animal Control
• Wildlife Removal
• Creature Control
• 911 Extermination
If you have any pictures or videos of our elusive co-New Yorkers, they are around but difficult to capture on film, send them to us at ditmasparkcorner@gmail.com, or add them to the Ditmas Park Corner Flickr group.
Neighbor Brenda sent in this story and video of baby Raccoons in her house from last Spring.
Top photo: Raccoons on the Fire Escape, by Naomi Donabedian