Video shows nearly 100 hungry raccoons − some allegedly aggressive – swarm a Washington state woman’s home last week in broad daylight looking for their next meal.
The animals were captured on film after the resident from Kitsap County, across Puget Sound from Seattle, called 911 when the mammals surrounded her rural home preventing her from leaving the property, officials said.
In footage shared by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy is heard speaking to the unidentified woman who says the large numbers of raccoons began gathering in her wooded backyard about six weeks ago.
The woman, who lives a few miles north of Suquamish, told deputies she has been feeding raccoons on her property for more than 38 years, sheriff’s office spokesman Kevin McCarty told the Kitsap Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network.
On the day she called for help, the woman told law enforcement she had never seen the wild animals arrive in such large droves.
Only recently, she also said, had they become aggressive.
“She said the normal raccoons are nice, but the new ones scare her,” McCarty said, citing a report from a deputy who responded to the house on Thursday and spoke with the homeowner.
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Raccoons ‘scratch on windows or walls of her home at all hours’
The woman told a deputy, the raccoons visited her property until they were fed, and anytime she attempted to leave her home, McCarty said, she would toss food to them.
The animals regularly approach the home and scratch on windows or walls at all hours of the day, officials said the woman told them, but on a recent day, she called for help because she said she could not leave the property.
Shortly after 1 p.m., when deputies arrived, the woman was able to leave in her car.
At the time, deputies reported, the raccoons were not aggressive.
State wildlife officials alerted of human-created raccoon infestation
On the day of the report, Kitsap County dispatchers alerted the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which referred the woman to its “wildlife control operators” program. The agency connects residents to private trappers certified to deal with small animals.
Under state law, animals trapped by a WCO must be released on-site or euthanized and properly disposed of.
Department spokesperson Bridget Mire cautioned against feeding wildlife because when animals congregate around an unnatural food source it can cause disease to spread, and they can lose their sense of caution around people and even attract predators that may interact with people.
On Tuesday, it was not immediately known what happened to the raccoons.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Raccoons swarm woman’s Washington state home, caught on video
