Posted on 12/20/2014 4:53:23 AM PST by Gamecock
West Harlem residents say a posse of raccoons has taken over their neighborhoods and in some cases even broken into their homes.
“These things think they live here and they actually walk in if you leave an opening,” said resident Lauren Flanigan.
Pictures from residents showed a raccoon making itself comfortable on the patio of a West Harlem home, and even coming up to the door. And that raccoon was not alone, residents said.
“They came in the kitchen, and they’re not that friendly, and they also pushed the window screens in,” Flanigan told CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco.
“They climb over the fences to the next backyard and they keep going from backyard to backyard, so that’s why it’s not one homeowner’s problem. It’s everybody’s problem,” Maria Freeman said.
Residents complained that the raccoons wreak havoc in the streets daily, and believe they make the trek from Central Park. They want the city to do something because the problem is only getting worse.
“These raccoons don’t behave normally. They’re out during the day time when they should be sleeping. They are not afraid of humans. They’re aggressive,” Flanigan said.
Residents are now asking the city to step in and pay for a trap-and-release service to get rid of the raccoons before mating season starts in January.
In a statement the city said they are “staunchly committed to addressing all constituent requests from New Yorkers across the five boroughs, including animal related complaints and inquiries.”
Residents say help can’t come soon enough.
People leaving dog food out for their dogs and feeding feral cats or having food in the kitchen and a pet door , or not tying down their trash can lids... coons figure out how to get those goodies real quick. There’s more coons in cities than you’ll see in the woods.
We have rules around here for feeding the feral cats. Cats get first dibs on supper. Coons have to wait. Works out fine.
The Bronx parks and queens parks have plenty. It seems raccoons take trips on open bed and not secured box trucks with good eats in them. Also during the wee hours the bridges are safer to negotiate for the little buggers
The residents’ complaint is racist. Overrun with ‘coons, harumph.
LOL! That’s downright addictive. What a hoot! B^)
Are Burmese Pythons winter hardy?
Agressive raccoons!
If the Racoons are successful, wait for the Skunks to follow.
“Heavily armed Harlem residents harassed by aggressive small furry creatures”.
Sorry—this just doesn’t compute.
FWIW I remember Grandpa going out raccoon hunting at night with 2-3 ‘coon dogs, and the pelts being stretched out on plywood forms in the rafters in the detached garage. This was 50 years ago in rural SE Michigan not far from Toledo.
My uncles in northern Michigan were avid coon and bear hunters with their dogs. Fortunately one of them was a vet because it was inevitable that one or more of the dogs would get torn up by the coon or bear......
They do fine indoors!
All it would take is two, and perhaps five years' worth of breeding in abandoned buildings etc. Precisely because Harlem isn't rural, they would have no natural enemies.
Just shoot them and be done with it.
Sound rabid to me.
Shoot them.
But are they causing Global Warming, like beavers and arctic ground squirrels?
Move over NY rats-—there’s a new gang in town and higher up on the rodent pecking chain.
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