Raccoon Shenanigans Abound
Raccoons seem to be making the news quite a lot lately, with stories of these critters doing strange things and getting themselves caught up in trouble popping up all over the country. These guys must want some attention because they are certainly getting themselves into some weird shenanigans recently. Of course, while they are a major pain to most people, with their penchant for digging through garbage, they are still pretty cute little critters. If I didn’t know better, I would think they are using this cuteness just to get more attention from the media and all of us humans in general.
One of the strangest stories to make the news recently involved a raccoon kissing a deer. Yes, you read that right, a raccoon was caught kissing a deer. North Carolina started a camera trap program where they have been leaving cameras all over forests throughout the states, in order to catch candid pictures of local wildlife that could help local biologists understand these creatures better. The best photos are posted on the North Carolina Candid Critters Facebook page each month. This particular photo is certainly one that has experts scratching their heads. The photo shows a raccoon hanging down from a tree limb reaching its head towards a deer standing in front of it with its own neck outstretched towards the raccoons head, in what looks like a picture of the two kissing, complete with their dewy eyes glowing in the dark. The response has been very positive, with people supporting the unconventional union. Raccoon mating season has just started, so it’s hard to tell whether the creature was just frisky and confused or felt like sharing the love.
In other news, a raccoon was found trapped under a grate in someone’s front yard. Meghan Gutierrez saw the poor critter struggling to get loose of the grate while she was walking her dog. While the raccoon had managed to get its head through the bars of the grate, it was clearly struggling to prop itself up, and was getting tired, putting it at risk of suffocating or hanging itself. After calling the non-emergency police hotline, police arrived within minutes, and were able to free the raccoon. Gutierrez commented, “Not the average Sunday morning call, but thanks to their quick actions and response, they were able to help a furry friend out.”
Have you heard of or witnessed any strange or funny behavior in raccoons recently?
