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Thousands of marauding racoons, descendents of animals released by Hermann Goering, have overrun vineyards in central Germany. The nocturnal mammals descended on vineyards in the Brandenburg region, west of Berlin, ruining the harvest. Ripening grapes are a favourite snack of the stripy-tailed rodent. 'Raccoons wiped out almost the entire harvest in a matter of days,' winemaker Werner Kothe told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 'We have 540 vines and they have been stripped bare by these animals.' The raccoon problem is well known in the area and although some residents take them on as pets, many consider the imported species pests. Local authorities...

Animals in the News – People in Our Zoos ? By now, I suppose everyone has heard about the misguided gentleman from New Jersey - said to be a PETA volunteer - who decided a (venomous) copperhead “needed help” in crossing the road. The snake, which had not been consulted in the matter, bit its “helper” three times ---- (by way of expressing his opinion of PETA volunteers ?) New York: A raccoon decided to visit The Big Apple , so he stowed away on a charter bus : somehow managing to escape the notice of the 50 paying passengers....

They're actually American but feel right at home in Kassel, Germany, which has become the European raccoon capital since the animals were introduced here under the Third Reich. The story begins in 1934, when a breeder asked the Reich Forestry Office, then led by future top Hitler aide Hermann Göring, for permission to release the masked-faced mammals to "enrich the local fauna" outside Kassel, a small city north of Frankfurt. "Raccoon pelts were a popular trophy for hunters back then," biologist Ulf Hohmann said. "They were also raised for their fur at special farms" after they were imported from North...

Raccoons released by Hermann Goering in Germany in 1934 to "enrich the Reich's fauna" are threatening to succeed where their Nazi benefactors failed by conquering Europe. They have become so successful that German authorities revealed this week that raccoon numbers are now at record levels - with more than a million in Germany alone. In neighbouring Austria the first raccoons have also been spotted and info leaflets have been dispatched warning people against feeding or encouraging the North American natives. Plans are being discussed to employ "raccoon hunters" to try and reduce the scale of the problem and put a...

GERMAN towns and cities are being invaded by a marauding army of raccoons who are setting up home in people’s houses and attacking their pets. The problem is so serious that it has become a topic of debate in the country’s regional parliaments, which have been inundated with calls for help. “The raccoon is very well adapted to the human environment and once they move into your house it’s almost impossible to get rid of them,” said Ulf Hohmann, Europe’s leading specialist on the questing mammal. The mass invasion became evident after concentrations of raccoons in Germany’s countryside reached saturation...

<p>Berkeley is so tired of these beggars that some folks want them neutered. That may sound harsh, but the alternative is to kill them.</p> <p>The beggars in question are the city's increasingly aggressive raccoons. City Councilwoman Linda Maio can't stomach the thought of the traditional solution by workers at the pound. So she's planning to propose a new ordinance in Berkeley (which already has frowned on everything from nuclear weaponry to wood-fired pizza ovens) to underwrite sterilizing the pesky raccoons.</p>

Raccoon attacks girl, 6, as she plays with friends The Associated Press 6/10/02 5:40 PM GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A raccoon attacked a 6-year-old girl in front of several friends, biting her 10 times after jumping on her back. Samantha Ortiz of Georgetown Township, which is near Jenison in eastern Ottawa County, was walking on a bicycle trail with five friends about 6:30 p.m. Friday when she looked back and saw the raccoon. She said she moved to the side of the trail to let the animal pass, but it jumped on her back and started biting. "I put...