A Washington state woman had no choice but to call police after her decades-old habit of feeding local raccoons got out of control and the animals became fully invading her home, authorities said.
The resident, who lives in the Seattle suburb of Poulsbo, called Kitsap County Sheriff's Office deputies Thursday because of the disturbance. 100 raccoons 12News reported that people were “demanding food” outside her home.
Shocking video footage shared by the sheriff's office showed a group of woodland creatures camped out in a woman's garden.
The resident told lawmakers he has been feeding raccoons for 35 years, but in the past six weeks the raccoon population has “exploded.”
“Somehow word got around to raccoon country and they all showed up at her house expecting a meal,” said Kitsap County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin McCarty.
“[The deputies] I was shocked,” McCarty added. “They had never seen so many raccoons in one place. No one remembers ever being surrounded by a group of raccoons. This was a first.”
The woman's neighbor, Wendy Cronk, said she has also witnessed a dramatic increase in interactions with raccoons.
“I think it was only in the last month that I realized it,” she told local media. “Recently, we've had some raccoons in our yard. My dog has gotten into a few scuffles with them.”
“I once had to take my dog to the vet after a fight with a raccoon,” Cronk continued. “And we're also noticing more raccoon attacks on the highways here.”
She added that she wishes her neighbors would stop feeding wild animals.
“I just hope that someone can step in and help her deal with this…and hopefully get her to stop doing this,” Cronk said.
Another neighbor, Jim Mulvord, also complained Go to KOMO News.
“I've never seen so many in one place. You can see where she started feeding and she just didn't stop. She just didn't give up,” he said. .
The woman who was feeding the raccoons told police that the trapping company quoted her $500 to trap and relocate just one raccoon, so the sheriff's office sent her to Washington instead. He referred them to the Fish and Wildlife Service for help.
“At this time, it has been determined that the raccoon has not committed any crime,” McCarty said.
“It's very simple,” he added. “Don't feed wild animals. Once wild animals have a reliable food source, they'll come back to it. And that's until the number of raccoons expecting a meal gets out of control. That's what these raccoons did.”
