This Scary Video Shows Rabid Fox Attacking Several In Upstate New York
Question: What Is Wrong With The Squirrels And Raccoon We Have Found In Our Yard?
Got Nature? Blog Posted on June 5th, 2020 in Disease, Safety, WildlifeNo Comments »
Question: We live in eastern Tippecanoe county and have a couple of adult squirrels that seem to be sick. They act like they are drunk — falling over frequently. We have two apple trees in blossom, and they come and nibble on fallen branches/blooms. As they sit on their hind legs to eat, they fall over on the ground like they are dead. Then after a few minutes/flip around and get up again, only to fall over "dead" again. This has been going on for a few weeks. We also have a baby that is not afraid of people – does not run away from me or our dog. This baby appears to have missing hair/or possible mange? We also had a raccoon in early March that came toward my husband in the yard – was not afraid of him. It did not appear rabid, but did not run away either. We do have several bird feeders, one of which squirrels and chipmunks sit on and eat the bird food. Is what they are eating making them "sick/drunk" or is this something else? I googled and found possible raccoon roundworm? What do YOU think this is — and could these cases be related? How should I dispose of any dead animals, and should I be concerned for us or our dog?
Answer: What you describe could be a number of wildlife diseases. The clinical signs of many of these diseases are often similar and infection can only be determined through specific examinations, tests or lab work. It may be canine distemper. Both squirrels and raccoon can carry canine distemper. The disease is spread by direct contact with body fluids or droppings of an infected animal. Humans cannot get distemper. However, it may also be another disease or a separate disease for each species. Your choices are really to 1) do nothing or 2) contact a wildlife rehabilitator (see below). In Indiana, wildlife rehabilitators have necessary state and federal permits to house and care for sick or injured wild animals. No federal or state agencies will provide care for sick and injured animals.
Since wild animals can carry diseases that are dangerous to people, direct contact with wildlife is discouraged. Just as the case with people, you can't tell if an animal is sick just by looking at them. Expression of clinical signs of diseases are not the same for every animal. It may also take a period of time for clinical signs to present themselves. An animal that appears perfectly healthy may have a disease, and may be able to transmit the disease.
I could find no specific guidelines for the disposal of dead wild animals. The Indiana State Board of Animal Health lists allowable methods of dead animal disposal, but these do not apply to wildlife, which they specify as creatures not under someone's care. This is guidance on the DNR website for:
Dead Birds: "According to Indiana State Department of Health guidelines, if you need to dispose of a dead bird, do not handle it with your bare hands. Use gloves or a plastic bag turned inside out over your hand to pick up the bird and dispose of the bird/bag in the trash. You can follow these recommended disposal procedures regardless of the cause of death, if testing is not available."
Dead Bats: "Do NOT pick up a bat with your bare hands. Any wild animal can carry disease, therefore precautions should be taken if an animal needs to be moved. Wear heavy-duty leather gloves and scoop up the bat with a shovel or container. If the bat is alive move it to a tree branch, away from nearby buildings if possible. To dispose of a dead bat, scoop it into a plastic bag. Place it into another plastic bag, close it securely, spray with disinfectant, and dispose of it in your trash."
• Indiana Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators, Indiana Department of Natural Resources – Fish and Wildlife.
Other ResourcesProtecting Yourself from Wildlife Diseases: Raccoon Roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis), The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource centerIndiana Animal Disease Diagnostic LaboratoryOrphaned Wildlife, Got Nature? BlogOrphaned & Injured Animals, Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)Purdue Extension – FNR: Ask An Expert, Video, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube channel
Brian MacGowan, Wildlife Extension SpecialistPurdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources
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THE GREAT OUTDOORS: If You Care, Leave Them There
This is the time of the year when young wildlife begins to show up. Last week a friend sent a video he made on his farm where he takes his daily walks. It was a close-up video of a young fawn slowly walking up to him. The fawn actually came up and smelled his legs as he remained motionless, so close that Marvin's foot can be seen in the video. Eventually, the fawn turned and walked away to go back to his hiding spot. Since Marvin is "country wise" he knew the fawn was not abandoned, as many others would have thought and attempted to "rescue" it.
The first few days after they're born fawns lay still so as not to draw attention to themselves. The doe stays away from her fawn, going to it only to let it nurse, usually three or four times a day. Although the fawn can stand and "kinda" run he is still easy prey for a predator such as a coyote or a dog. By staying away, the doe avoids drawing attention to her fawn, thus she's reducing the chance of a predator finding it.
Fawns count on their camouflage to keep themselves hidden and remain motionless when danger is near. It always amazes me how well they can blend in with their surroundings. Many times I have nearly stepped on one because it was almost invisible. In Marvin's case, the young fawn saw his movement and mistook him for its mother coming to feed it. Once smelling Marvin, the fawn knew that was not his mother and returned to his hidden bed, not really old enough to know that this "large creature" could be a predator.
This is the time when people occasionally find a fawn, think it is abandoned and want to take it home and care for it. That's a big mistake! The fawn's mother is nearby and your handling it, or just your presence around the fawn, could attract predators or cause its mother to stay away too long for its well-being. At about two weeks old, the fawn will begin to travel with the doe and is in much better shape to avoid predators.
Yes, fawns are cute and it's sad to think one has been abandoned, but human interference could cause their death, so if you care, leave it there.
Another animal that folks may encounter and think is abandoned is a baby raccoon. Recently I got a call from some folks I know who are not too far from my home, so I went to investigate; two baby raccoons had fallen out of a tree cavity in their yard.
Like young squirrels, young raccoons will often come out of their den (usually in a hollow tree) and play. Sometimes one falls or gets too far from the den and a person seeing it thinks it needs help. Usually the baby raccoon's mother is nearby and will find and return it to the den eventually. However, in this case, I learned that the two small babies had actually been on the ground for two days, so my thought was that the mother was now dead, possibly killed on the road or succumbed to a disease such as rabies or leptospirosis.
We all know what rabies is but not many know about leptospirosis (a bacterial infection) and that is unfortunate as it can be a serious deal for humans or their pets. It is spread by the urine of the infected animal and can remain active in the soil for some time; it can be spread to young nursing raccoons by their mother. Its effect is much like the flu and can become a serious issue for humans or their pets. Another disease that raccoons can carry is raccoon roundworm, which is spread by their feces, and it can be spread to other raccoons as well as humans and their pets.
Regarding the folks in the above situation, I gave them the number of a state conservation officer but unfortunately, he did not respond, and the situation was handled in a manner that I had hoped to prevent.
Young raccoons are very cute and people think they would make good pets. However, like all wildlife, they can never be trusted and can get nasty for no reason and hurt someone. Another concern, especially with raccoons, is disease. The raccoon population has skyrocketed as their fur value dropped so low that hunters and trappers are not controlling them anymore and thus rates of disease among them are up. They are of course a predator of nesting birds and can be a real problem around homes, too.
So, if you encounter a fawn, a young squirrel, a raccoon or any other wildlife baby, just admire it from a distance and then quickly leave the area so the mother can return to care for it. And remember: it is illegal to have a wild animal in captivity or as a pet and you could receive a stiff fine.
If you do run across an animal you believe really needs help, call this NYS DEC dispatch phone number for assistance: 1-844-332-3267.
Another place to call for animal assistance is your local sheriff's department for their animal control person.
The main thing is: If you care, leave them be!
Raccoons, Expanding Beyond North America, Are Taking Over The World One Trash Can At A Time
Karen Pinchin is a Nova Scotia-based journalist and author of Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas.
In December, 2019, a raccoon rambled across the bucolic cobbled streets of Erfurt, Germany, in broad daylight. It stepped unsteadily on small grey paws, its distinctive banded tail bobbing as curious passersby gawped and took photos, delighted by the spectacle. Earlier that day, the creature had encountered a nearby Christmas market and, reportedly, imbibed from the abandoned cups of mulled wine that littered the ground. When firefighters arrived to capture the creature, it hissed and lunged before they successfully plonked it into a crate. A police spokesman joked that an alcohol breath test hadn't been done on the raccoon before they handed it over to a local hunter. To the outrage of many in the town, he simply shot it.
Across the world, these types of scenes are increasingly playing out as raccoons, a species native to North America, breed and feed and raise their young alongside the detritus of human activity. In recent decades, raccoons have expanded beyond their original turf in the United States and Southern Ontario to take up residence in other parts of Canada, as well as in Western Europe, Central Asia and Japan, where they are considered an invasive species. In Belgium, for example, forest rangers field frequent complaints about raccoons, which threaten local wildlife such as tawny owls and black storks. In Japan, they've damaged 80 per cent of the country's temples and destroy millions of dollars in crops every year. And only two decades after two raccoons either escaped or were released into the wild in Mallorca, they have already spread across a quarter of the Spanish island. With raccoons expected to continue expanding their territory, people around the world are set to encounter a dilemma all too familiar to Canadians – how to co-exist with these cute, crafty and often troublesome creatures.
Raccoons are increasingly active on the Panama City waterfront, which the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute says is largely the result of habitat loss. During this spring's elections, some joined a photographer to watch Jos̩ Ra̼l Mulino, now the president-elect, walk past with supporters and dogs. Aris Martinez/Reuters Germany, where raccoons are not a native species, now kills thousands of them each year. One hunter in Kade, Michael Reiss, has made a specialty of turning them into meatballs and sausages at his shop. Annegret Hilse/Reuters"Raccoons are like the Swiss army knife of animals," says York University animal behaviourist Suzanne MacDonald, who has studied raccoons since 2011. "As long as they can find a water source, they can live just about anywhere." That success comes from a combination of their adaptability Рthey can swim, climb and eat almost anything, including slugs and carrion Рbut also relates to how their brains are wired. Raccoons display traits of "neophilia," says Dr. MacDonald, which means they are compelled to explore and experiment with new elements in their surroundings. And creating new elements, it turns out, is a human specialty.
Even still, the global success of raccoons is particularly astonishing considering that around 100 years ago, hunters and trappers had eliminated them from some parts of North America entirely. Between 1840 and 1860, at least 13 million raccoon pelts were exported to England to make fur coats, hats and stoles.
The raccoon-fur craze led to a handful of European entrepreneurs starting commercial breeding operations to produce the pelts. In 1934, German fur farmer Rolf Haag released two pairs of raccoons into the wild for "the pure joy of being able to enrich our fauna," and in 1945, two dozen of the wily creatures escaped a fur farm after it was apparently hit by an Allied bomb. In France, American airmen brought raccoons on deployment with them as mascots in the 1960s, but soon after released them into the wild.
The history of the species stretches back 20 million years, when raccoons emerged alongside five other so-called procyonids, including coatis and ringtails, in Central America and North America's southern reaches. In 1858, raccoons were misidentified by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus as Ursus lotor – "washer bear" – but they share closer common ancestry with weasels, wolverines and badgers. And while the creature's tendency to dunk food into rivers and ponds can make it seem as if it is "washing," more recently, experts have determined that moisture helps enhance sensation on their paws' sensitive nerve endings, which allows them to examine and understand objects more closely.
Open this photo in gallery:Raccoons like to immerse things in water, hence their species name, Procyon lotor. 'Lotor' is Latin for 'washer'; 'procyon' means 'before the dog' or 'dog-like' in Greek.Reuters
Many Indigenous cultures have long recognized the raccoon's dextrous capabilities. Its English name, in fact, derives from arakun or arakunem, or "it scratches with its hands," from the Powhatan Confederacy in what is now Virginia, writes Daniel Heath Justice, author of Raccoon and a professor of Indigenous studies and English at the University of British Columbia. In 1612, the English explorer John Smith – known for his famous but largely debunked tale of being rescued by a young Powhatan woman dubbed Pocahontas – reported "a beast they call Aroughcun, much like a badger." Its Anishinaabe name, esiban, or "it picks up things," can be found across Cree, Abenaki and Lenape cultures. In English, a gathered group of raccoons can be called a "gaze," "nursery," or "mask" – terms that nod to the creatures' mysterious nature.
In many Indigenous stories, says Mr. Justice, the raccoon often takes the form of a lesser trickster or category-defying shape-shifter. In his book, he recounts a Cherokee tale from before there was fire, when a series of animals tried to bring a spark back to the people. When Raccoon peered inside the blazing, hollow tree, the fire flared up and smoke stained the fur around his eyes black. Undeterred, he tried to get the fire with his tail, but it too was stained.
"That, for me, is a nice story that speaks to the reality of raccoons' experiences," says Mr. Justice. "They don't always succeed at what they do, but they still are going to give it a try."
Because a female raccoon bears, on average, five pups a year, and those babies can survive on their own once they're only four months old, even a handful can spread quickly. Generally, young females will stay with their mothers as males scout new territories. In Germany, hunting records reflect that exponential growth: In 1995, hunters there reported killing 3,000 raccoons. Two decades later, that number hit 100,000 raccoons shot or trapped in a single year.
The pet-to-menace raccoon pipeline has been acute in Japan. There, in 1977, an animated show based on a children's book called Rascal the Raccoon (Araiguma Rasukaru) premiered on television. With a roly-poly body and black furry cheeks, the adorable Rascal inspired Japanese children to demand their own baby raccoons, so pet stores began importing as many as 1,500 raccoons a month. In 2005, the government listed the creature as an "invasive alien species," but it was already too late: too many recalcitrant pet raccoons had either escaped or been released into the wild.
And sure, a tousle of raccoon pups is adorable, with their bright eyes, downy fur and human-like hands. But their cute exteriors belie the crafty and sometimes vicious adults they'll eventually become, which makes the species the ultimate environmental Trojan horse. "Raccoons that are imported as pets to other continents, and then are released when they become too difficult to handle – which is always – will be able to adapt to these new environments with ease," says Ms. MacDonald. "And they will devastate the native species, which are completely unprepared for a voracious omnivore with grasping hands and a penchant for chaos."
In the face of our changing climate, there is a very real chance that raccoons could spread almost across the entire globe, says Dr. MacDonald, "as a very cute but destructive invasive species." In 2022, a northern Alberta wildlife photographer was surprised to discover a black-and-white image of a hunchbacked raccoon on a camera he set up to record wildlife. Historically, the creatures only lived in the province's southernmost regions, but warming winter temperatures and increased year-round rainfall, both linked to the climate crisis, mean that's no longer the case.
In 2016, one study used computer modelling to predict the species' future range and concluded that 61 per cent of our planet is currently "suitable for the raccoon invasion." Another, published by a French researcher a few years later, found climate change will transform land north of the raccoon's current range to "favourable" habitat by 2050.
"They're really cute animals, they're so clever, that you can't help but be fascinated by raccoons," University of Alberta biologist Colleen Cassady St. Clair said in response to the Alberta sighting. "But by the time citizens have realized they really don't want them living among them, it's too late."
By 2050, modeling shows that raccoons could
expand well beyond their current habitat range
Current raccoon occurrences
Favourable areas for raccoon habitat
Unfavourable areas for raccoon habitat
the globe and mail, source: Current and future climatic regions favourable for a globally introduced wild carnivore, the raccoon Procyon lotor by V. Louppe, B. Leroy, A. Herrel and G. Veron, Scientific Reports, June 2019.
By 2050, modeling shows that raccoons could
expand well beyond their current habitat range
Current raccoon occurrences
Favourable areas for raccoon habitat
Unfavourable areas for raccoon habitat
the globe and mail, source: Current and future climatic regions favourable for a globally introduced wild carnivore, the raccoon Procyon lotor by V. Louppe, B. Leroy, A. Herrel and G. Veron, Scientific Reports, June 2019.
By 2050, modeling shows that raccoons could expand well beyond their current habitat range
Current raccoon occurrences
Favourable areas for raccoon habitat
Unfavourable areas for raccoon habitat
the globe and mail, source: Current and future climatic regions favourable for a globally introduced wild carnivore, the raccoon Procyon lotor by V. Louppe, B. Leroy, A. Herrel and G. Veron, Scientific Reports, June 2019.
Canadian city dwellers are likely familiar with the common problems caused by raccoons, who dig up backyard grass in search of grubs, trample fruit trees, and build stinky homes in chimneys, sheds and garages.
When encroaching onto a new environment, raccoons voraciously gravitate toward the tastiest and most energy-dense foods they can find. Because they eat both plants and other animals, they swiftly start to outcompete local wildlife for food or even eat those creatures themselves – including frogs, turtles, bird eggs and even baby rabbits.
When the City of Toronto spent $31-million launching a new, supposedly "trash panda"-proof compost bin, raccoons quickly figured out how to break in, including simply opening them with their nimble paws. Their anatomy, says Mr. Justice, provides yet another reason why they've found such success in urban areas. Despite looking quite heavy, he says, their fat is very "squishable" and their spines are flexible, which helps them move into and out of small spaces with ease. "You couldn't find many more larger mammals who could do what they can do, other than primates," he says.
Open this photo in gallery:In 2016, Toronto mayor John Tory rolled out new compost bins that the city said were raccoon-proof. They did not remain so for long: The animals learned how to open them.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
However, raccoons can be more than just an annoyance. Their waste carries diseases that can be fatal to humans and other animals, including canine distemper, leptospirosis and raccoon roundworm.
While only Canada's eastern raccoon population is generally believed to carry rabies, cases have been discovered as far west as Saskatchewan. But once again, this origin story has a familiar ring: Before 1977, the deadly virus had only been found in Florida's raccoons. But that year, 3,500 animals, some infected with the virus, were trapped, relocated and released as game around private fishing clubs in Virginia. After that, it was only a matter of time before the disease spread across North America.
Yet again, human hands pushed a proverbial snowball over the mountain's edge, only to lament the resulting avalanche.
Open this photo in gallery:Racoons, attracted by music from a fitness class, peek from the rafters of a Toronto community centre in 1978. Around this time, raccoon rabies was starting to spread across the U.S., but would not reach Ontario till 1999.Tibor Kolley/The Globe and Mail
That this global raccoon invasion is entirely humans' own fault is uncomfortable to consider. For the past century, as we have messed with raccoons – keeping them as pets, raising them for scientific research or slaughter on fur farms, and importing them as game for hunters – the species has adapted and learned how to mess with us right back. And as we collectively continue to pump emissions into the atmosphere, which is rapidly heating our planet and changing rainfall patterns, raccoons will continue to thrive and claim new territory, even as other species succumb to rapid climactic changes.
A century ago, according to University of British Columbia behavioural ecologist Sarah Benson-Amram, some researchers tried using raccoons for scientific trials as a "model system," like mice or rats, to test procedures and medicines not yet approved for humans. Once introduced to a lab, however, the creatures proved more trouble than they were worth. "They kept breaking out of their cages, getting into the ductwork and doing all sorts of crazy stuff," she says.
That hard-to-control brazenness certainly plays a role in why raccoons can drive us up the wall. "When raccoons look at us, they aren't looking at us as superiors, they're looking at us as a potential danger, certainly, but also potential sources of food, shelter or entertainment," says Mr. Justice. "That's not a position that a great many humans in the urbanized industrialized West are familiar with." To anyone who has faced down a bold masked face raiding a chicken coop, taking over an attic or chugging sugar-water out of a hummingbird feeder, that moment of encountering nature on what is supposed to be "our" turf likely hits disconcertingly close to home.
Two summers ago, while sleeping in a tent in Nova Scotia's Kejimkujik National Park, I awoke to an ear-splitting crash. Grasping in the darkness for my seven-year-old son, heart in my throat, my hands searched our sleeping bag terrain until I found his arm. Eyes wide open, listening, not breathing, I heard trees creaking, wind blowing, then a smaller thud.
Oh no, I thought. The food.
I unzipped the tent and burst out in slippers and a headlamp. Its narrow beam skittered across the orange, glowing eyes of four raccoons in a Renaissance tableau of shredded hot dog buns and eviscerated energy bars. Beside our hard plastic cooler, I identified the source of the crash. It was a giant kettlebell of a rock, the heaviest I could lift the night before, that the raccoons had somehow pushed off the cooler to the ground.
Then the scene broke apart. Chattering and scrambling, the group dashed for the woods, one raccoon dragging the crinkling foil of a potato chip bag as I yelled and waved my arms. Four fluffy, striped tails vanished into the night, leaving me to survey the mess. I cursed the creatures' intrusion, but also couldn't help but marvel at the immense weight they had somehow moved.
Residents of St. Paul, Minn., marvelled at this raccoon's dexterity in 2018 when it climbed the UBS Plaza building, peeking into the office of a law firm 23 stories above the Twin Cities. Wildlife officials caught it in a trap baited with cat food before releasing it into the wild. Evan Frost/MPR News via REUTERSThe debate of how raccoons should be "handled" in our communities is something UBC's Dr. Benson-Amram and her doctoral student Hannah Griebling frequently encounter in their work studying raccoon cognition, particularly in urban environments. When it comes to a "conflict animal," communities and individuals generally have two choices, says Dr. Benson-Amram: to kill it, or to opt for non-lethal methods such as trap-and-release or reducing food and water access.
As a teenager, I often spent fall weekends helping my grandfather on our family's apple orchard in Streetsville, Ont. On his farm, Victor Pinchin considered raccoons, skunks and other wildlife such as deer as pests, fit only for shooting or drowning, and we never asked too many questions about where the creatures he trapped ended up. I vividly remember the public outcry when, during the same era, a Toronto traffic camera captured video of a man drowning a raccoon in a live trap in Lake Ontario, and thinking that the death threats that man received could have just as easily been directed at my otherwise gentle, soft-spoken Grampy.
Across Canada's profound urban-rural divide, feelings and laws on how to manage raccoons remain deeply split and widely variable. The only nationally consistent rule is that it's illegal to keep raccoons as pets. In most provinces, it's legal to shoot or trap raccoons in season with a valid hunting licence or, in Ontario, if an animal is damaging your property. Even so, a person killing an animal must "avoid unnecessary suffering." New Brunswick still allows raccoons to be hunted with the aid of hounds, while in Quebec they are a protected species and so can only be trapped and relocated.
The human urge to take the path of least resistance, opting to kill a nuisance animal instead of coming up with a more creative solution, seems to me like an outdated way of thinking. (Sorry Grampy.) Instead of preventively avoiding conflict – being more diligent about managing the garbage we produce; making sure chicken cages and fish ponds are well-secured; preventing leaf piles or rotting sheds from becoming cozy, inviting habitat – ending an animal's life strikes me as the least imaginative way to deal with raccoon-induced discomfort. And killing one raccoon won't make all the other raccoons go away; it just opens another raccoon-sized ecological niche.
Recently, my husband and I noticed a large rat using our backyard shed as a waypoint, a rest break on its daily rat route. Instead of killing it, we secured our birdseed and cleaned up a junk pile, and to this day that rat has remained a daily visitor. We've collectively learned how to co-exist, which seems braver than the alternative: to face shining eyes in the darkness, appreciating the ingenuity and persistence it takes for a wild animal to survive in our anthropogenic spaces. (And if you're ever discomfited during a raccoon encounter, Dr. MacDonald suggested giving it a name, which makes them less scary. "Oh, that's just Pete," she says.)
Open this photo in gallery:New research suggests raccoons' brains have features similar to those of humans, which could account for their problem-solving skills.Phil Coale/The Canadian Press
Curiously, what makes the raccoon so infuriating could lie in how the animal is alike to humans, not in its differences. Across residential backyards in Vancouver, Dr. Benson-Amram's lab has set up puzzle boxes baited with food – in the past they've lured raccoons with cat and dog food, but also prunes, sardines and marshmallows – to test how the procyonids solve problems. Their intelligence and adaptability could originate, they've found, from ways in which raccoons' brains echo our own. In another experiment, when examining the brains of "solvers," Dr. Benson-Amram found more connective glia cells, which facilitate brain function, in the hippocampus region. Albert Einstein's brain, in comparison, has a high glia-to-neuron ratio. That, she says, could be a clue to the raccoon's unique cognition.
Whenever an urban raccoon, like the one in Germany, makes national news, York's Suzanne MacDonald is often asked to weigh in, and for this she has identified a crucial difference between us and them. "Raccoons don't think about the consequences of their actions," she says. "Why did the raccoon climb a construction crane? Because it was there. They don't think about the fact that they are going to be stranded hundreds of feet up in the air until they get to the top and look down."
It's here, in our human ability to bring foresight to our future choices, to learn lessons and apply them in how we move forward in the world, that presents an opportunity for this to be more than just a story about crafty raccoons. We humans are not separate from nature: we are nature. And as Mr. Justice says, if we really care about nature – and ourselves, by extension – it's going to be inconvenient sometimes.
"Once raccoons are on their way, they're on their way, and so you have to learn how to deal with them," says Mr. Justice. "We don't have to see their intelligence and their curiosity as threats – we can actually see them as beautiful wonders of a natural world that is besieged. There's something glorious about creatures who don't need us, and don't fear us. Isn't that a beautiful thing?"
Like rats, raccoons are in our communities to stay, so we'd best try to live alongside them gracefully. From raccoon-proofing our homes and yards the best we can, to trapping and relocating particularly troublesome animals, we can – and should – learn how to live alongside them, foibles and all. This hard-earned wisdom is a lesson we can offer to people all around the world, who are just learning to live with raccoons for the first time.
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