Thursday, August 11, 2011

Raccoon invasion!


From Fox 5:

Raccoons are taking over a neighborhood in Flushing, Queens. It's gotten so bad, some people who live there say they are afraid to leave their homes at night. To make matters worse, an empty lot in the neighborhood has become a haven for raccoons. Homeowners told Fox 5 the owner of the lot has neglected it for years.

Raccoons normally live in trees in the suburbs but recently they have been seen almost everywhere in New York City. A YouTube video shows a brazen one-strolling on a subway platform in the Bronx and then diving in the garbage for food.

Residents of the Glendale section of Queens have also complained about raccoons using backyard swimming pools as their personal watering holes, taunting residents and rummaging through garbage.

For anyone concerned about the raccoons, if a complaint comes in under the new bill, the city would be required to trap the animal, neuter it, and release it into the wild.

If you have a raccoon problem, call 311.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've lived in Flushing for 50+ years & we've ALWAYS have had raccoons and they've rarely been a problem. One night years ago, I saw a whole family walking up my street. Properly secure your garbage and vaccinate your outdoor pets and we can continue to happily coexist.

Anonymous said...

THis guy and his family were terrorized by racoons? What a pussy! Maybe we need to go back to the crack infested 80's to remind him what terror is.

Anonymous said...

The racoons in glendale make a home in the long-time abandoned warehouse on 67th place between 70th and central ave.

Oh, we also have possums in the area. They actually run in a pack with stray cats!

Anonymous said...

This has always been part of Queens. Relax!

Hu Nu said...

How do you know which raccoon is which? They all wear masks!

kingofnycabbies said...

Seems like this is happening elsewhere, too.

Nebraska: Candidate Says He Regrets Welfare Analogy

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

State Attorney General Jon Bruning regrets comparing welfare recipients to raccoons during a weekend speech in campaigning for the Republican Senate nomination, an aide said. “It was an inartful statement and one Jon regrets making,” his campaign manager, Trent Fellers, said. “As attorney general, Jon’s been a strong supporter of welfare reform and giving welfare recipients a hand up and not just a handout.” Mr. Bruning made the comment while criticizing endangered species regulations. He said biologists placed buckets with rat carcasses along a road to capture burying beetles, an endangered species, so they could release them elsewhere, but raccoons ate the beetles out of the bucket. “They’re not stupid,” Mr. Bruning said. “They’re going to do the easy way, if we make it easy for them, just like welfare recipients all across America. If we don’t incent them to work, they’re going to take the easy route.”