Killer Raccoons Raccoons on prowl in west Olympia

[Phatie]

Cat-killing raccoons on prowl in west Olympia

By STEVE POWELL

The Olympian



One thing that makes these raccoons scary is they have no fear. One neighbor threw firecrackers at them to try to scare them off, and it didn't even bug them, Hall said.

"It's a new breed," Keeton said. "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid."

"There's one really big bad dude," she added.

"He was the biggest raccoon I've ever seen. He was a monster," added Tony Benjamins, whose family has had two cats killed.

The raccoons are so bold they bit Lisann Rolle when she tried to fling three of them off of her cat, Lucy.

"I was watching her like a hawk, but she snuck out," Rolle said of Lucy. "Then I heard this hideous sound - a coyote-type high pitch ...

"It was vicious. They were focused on ripping her apart."

Lucy had been a member of the family for seven years. Rolle received rabies shots as a precaution.

Rolle still gets upset talking about it.

"I'm afraid of them," she said of the raccoons. "I carry an iron pipe with me" when I go out at night, she added.


'They were so cute'

Kim and Tony Benjamins are still mourning the killing of their favorite cat, Novalee. She was ripped to pieces, and it was hard to identify her.

"I see Kim sit by Novalee's grave in their front yard every day ... talking or just being with her kitty," Keeton said.

Tony Benjamins said that in previous years, raccoons would come within 5 feet of cats with no problems.

"We used to love the raccoons. They'd have their babies this time of year, and they were so cute. Even though we lived in the city, it was neat to have wildlife around."

But this year, things changed.

"They went nuts," he said of raccoons. "We got a dog" - a German shepherd-Rottweiler mix - to scare them away.

Hall, her husband and a neighbor actually helped save one cat's life.

"We were right there trying to get him off the cat," she said. "The cat was screaming, and the raccoon was ferocious. My husband and a neighbor grabbed a shovel and a bat, and they were waving them until it took off. It was scary."

She said she doesn't know whether neighbor Kathy Wood's cat, Sweetie, will recover.

One thing that also saved Sweetie's life is she's overweight.

"It couldn't pull Sweetie under the deck. But it pulled so hard it hurt her internal organs," Hall said.

The neighbors hired trapper Tom Brown, a nuisance wildlife control operator from Rochester.

Brown said of the raccoons, "They are in command up there."

He said he's seen packs this big, but none so into killing. There was one in Rochester that killed a peacock last winter and another in Grand Mound that killed three chickens. But nothing like this.

Brown said there is an overabundance of food in the area with many fruit trees.

"And the good folks feed them. They're cute as a bug's ear," he said, adding, "I wouldn't mind being a raccoon up there."

Normally, Brown said, he can fix a problem in a few weeks, but he has set traps there for six weeks and caught only one.

"It was with sardines and cat food," he said. "For bait, I use what they've been feeding them."

Brown said he hasn't trapped more because raccoons are intelligent. They teach their young, the same as beavers do. He said one big male boar is the main killer, and he's tasted blood, and he wants more. He's usually helped by one or two others.

"The boar's likely been in a live trap before," Brown said.

Carrell added: "It's highly unlikely you will ever trap him again, and he'll teach the others to stay away."

Brown said he's going to back off for a while until the food supply dries up.

"Then they'll be a little less persnickity," Brown said.

He said his goal is to make them feel uncomfortable. Until that happens, they aren't likely to leave.

"We have our favorite restaurants; they have their favorite routes," he said.


'It's like a freeway'

Keeton said the raccoons travel their route so often they've worn a path.

"It's like a freeway in the back yard," she said. "It's like clockwork. They come between 9 and 9:30 every night."

Corwin said the raccoons are brave.

"They come on my deck and beg for food at my window," Corwin said.

Keeton said she's lived in the area for six years and never seen anything like this. She said Fish and Wildlife, the city of Olympia and animal control ­- nobody has any answers on why this is happening.

But Carrell said: "I talk to people until I'm blue in the face - do not feed cats and dogs outside."

Donny Martorello, also of Fish and Wildlife, said if people don't feed raccoons, or any wildlife, there won't be a problem.

"Raccoons adapt really well living in suburban environments," Martorello said.

Keeton said she knows people have invaded the raccoons' territory, but Hall added they have coexisted peacefully for a long time.

"You've got to watch which ones are bad," Hall said. "It's not all of them. We just have to arm ourselves with pepper spray."

Keeton added: "It may sound silly, but a lot of the people here truly feel scared and terrorized."



Tips on keeping raccoons away

Don't feed them.

Don't leave any food out that they can get to.

Clean your grill. The odor can attract them.

Don't put your trash can out where they can get to it.

Keep your lights on. Raccoons like to avoid being seen.

Keep gates closed to make it harder for them to get close to the house.

Source: Donny Martorello, state Department of Fish and Wildlife


http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs...NEWS/608210327

[fast98dodge]

Dude, thanks for the warning!!!

I was gonna head to the Westside to pay my cable bill, but now I'm too scared. I think I'm gonna mail it to them instead...

Does anyone know, do killer raccoons eat cable bills?

LATE EDIT: I have a weird feeling from looking in other threads that your buddy FORD lives here in Oly... I bet you're hoping he lives on the Westside...

[Phatie]

Dude, thanks for the warning!!!

I was gonna head to the Westside to pay my cable bill, but now I'm too scared. I think I'm gonna mail it to them instead...

Does anyone know, do killer raccoons eat cable bills?

LATE EDIT: I have a weird feeling from looking in other threads that your buddy FORD lives here in Oly... I bet you're hoping he lives on the Westside...

I have nothing against FORD at all. This country needs FORD, and I've tried to make that abundantly clear. I've had hippie friends all my life, and am not against other people ingesting recreational LSD; I just don't do it personally.

When I lived in Cali, there was a raccoon in my tree out front that was over 3 feet long, and resembled a bear. I've always known them to be dosile, but it looks like they can get attitudes and spread mayhem. Next thing you know they'll be protesting against the war in the middle east.

[fast98dodge]

You may be onto something, Phatie with the raccoons protesting...

If you are familiar at all with Olympia, the Evergreen State College is on the Westside. They are a bunch of bleeding heart liberals who like to protest just about anything that one can protest about... The raccoons are on the Westside. Coincidence? I don't think so...

[Darkstar]

Just do what we do in these parts for that kind of problem...SHOOT THE FUCKERS!!!!

[ZeoBandit]

If firecrackers don't do anything to the racoons, GET BIGGER FIREWORKS!!!!!!!

[Genghis_John]

I can relate to this.

We had a few kittens come up missing. I found what was left of them. Whatever killed them picked them clean.

Last night, my dogs were going nuts so I went to check on them and found a whole "troop" of raccoons trying to break into my garage. I pulled out my trusty Remington 12 gauge and blew a few of them away. It seemed to do the trick as the others scattered. I decided to wait and dispose of the raccoons the next morning. Weird thing is that the next morning, the dead raccoons were gone.

Don't let the little bastards fool you. They look cute, but their actually a nuisance. If you have pets (cats/dogs) you don't want these fuckers around. Shoot em.

[Buschman]

The ladie in the article said she carries around a pipe, fuck that. Like Genghis_John said, get a shotgun - raccoons won't be able to stop a load of buckshot coming there way. I've never had a problem with raccoons where I live, but I'm really surprised with all the trash people leave sitting out there isn't a huge infestation of those little bastards.