[Photo courtesy of popattyny/flickr]
There are multiple reports (and photos) of raccoons in Boerum Hill courtesy of the Boerum Hill Group. One is around State Street:
I was walking home last night on State Street between Bond and Nevins when I suddenly realized that the “stray cat” walking along the curb near me was in fact a small raccoon! It seemed totally healthy, was appropriately wary of me, no foaming at the mouth, etc. I
called 311, assuming the city would remove it, and they said that if it appears healthy and normal and isn’t acting aggressively they leave it alone. I guess it never occurred to me that a raccoon on the street, while unusual, is perfectly natural. So if you see the raccoon, enjoy!
The one above is in backyards on Wyckoff Street and Warren, Bond and Nevins:
Wonder if the State Street raccoon, also between Bond and Nevins, somehow got separated from his/her friend? My husband also called 311 and got the same response. And I have to say, the kids and I LOVE watching the raccoon, who sleeps in our tree a couple times a week. If he starts eating our plants, fighting the local cats, or making a big mess maybe I’ll get annoyed but honestly, so far I’m getting a big kick out of him.
We always love our Brooklyn raccoons.
[Image courtesy of jpotisch/flickr]
1 response so far ↓
1 Frank // Aug 8, 2008 at 12:06 pm
My girlfriend and I loved watching the raccoon in our backyard last fall that was until it got cold outside and the raccoon decided he wanted to force his way into our house through our ceiling. First he climbed through the open ventilation shaft on our roof. We became aware something was up there when we started to hear scratching coming from the ceiling. At first we thought it was maybe a squirrel or at worse a rat but then one day I got a phone call from my girlfriend screaming that I needed to get home because something was breaking through the ceiling, when I got home sure enough the raccoon had broken a good 10 inch hole in our kitchen ceiling and we could see him peering through the hole and sticking his hand through. It sucked we had to wait all night for a animal control guy to come the whole time worried he would fall through into our apt. The next day then a animal control guy came and set traps on the roof that sat up there for three days, finally the poor guy got caught and we had to suffer through another night of hearing it try to escape from it’s cage. The animal control guy came by took it away and probably had it killed. In retrospect I wish we somehow kept the Raccoon at bay and away from our back yard so that it did not have to be put down.
Plus their excrement and urine carries disease.
Trusty internet sites on how to keep raccoons away:
http://www.acmehowto.com/howto/pest/racoons-yard.php
http://www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/ag/wildlife/racoons.html