Jayne Boykin
DUNCAN — Things that go bump in the night this time of year aren’t ghoolies and ghosties, but more likely raccoons in the attics, garages and crawl spaces of local homes.
Duncan Animal Control was called to pick up a total of 19 raccoons last year and, in the first six months of this year, has already dealt with 16 of the masked critters, attesting to the fact that raccoons are on the increase. There is a lot of building going on in the area, and trees are being cut down. The raccoons are looking for food, water and shelter.
They’re cute and plentiful, but the word from both Oklahoma Game Warden Bill Hale and Senior Animal Control Officer Teresa Cabello is, “Don’t mess with raccoons.”
Many local residents have seen raccoons raiding their trash cans, helping themselves to dog food or just roaming around the neighborhoods. The Banner has received several calls in recent weeks about raccoons, and at least one neighborhood was set in an uproar one morning by a large raccoon the residents assumed was rabid.
Because raccoons are generally nocturnal animals, and this one was roaming around in the daytime, residents were afraid that the animal was rabid. While a rabid raccoon can, indeed, exhibit such a behavior, it is also true that raccoons do forage for food in the daytime, especially in urban areas or if mama raccoon has a litter of babies (“kits”) for which to provide. If a raccoon is rabid or has another disease, such as distemper, it will also appear very ill — running in circles for example, or dragging its hind legs, drooling or frothing at the mouth and showing other symptoms. Under no circumstances should one approach a raccoon that is showing these symptoms, and the animal should not be shot or otherwise destroyed except by Animal Control officers or game wardens, Hale said.
“While there is a state raccoon hunting season — December and January — during which raccoons can be legally hunted, it is illegal to kill or transport trapped raccoons during the remainder of the year. If raccoons are a nuisance around your house, you can legally use live traps, but you don’t want to be caught taking the traps anywhere. You could be cited for illegal possession, and you’d have no way to prove why you were transporting the animals. The thing to do is call Duncan Animal Control or me if you have a raccoon in a trap,” he said. Hale can be reached at 580-512-4704.
There is a demand for the animal’s fur, but it should only be harvested legally, Hale said.
Although many people are entertained by the antics of the creatures, and are tempted to feed them, raccoons are wild animals and should not be encouraged to hang around the home, Cabello said. Finding an abandoned baby raccoon and attempting to raise it as a pet is a recipe for disaster. Not only is it illegal, as Hale pointed out, but raccoons can jump several feet and attack a person, inflicting a nasty bite, if it feels threatened.
“Part of the problem is they are so darned cute and people feel sorry for them. A few weeks ago, a teenager found a raccoon under a bush at Lake Humphreys. She thought it was sick, and she picked it up and put it in her car so she could take it home and take care of it. It wound up biting her, and it had to be euthanized so its head could be sent off for rabies testing. Fortunately, the test was negative,” Cabello said.
Sadly, euthanization is the most humane treatment for raccoons that invade a human dwelling, experts agree.
“Raccoons can’t be relocated very successfully,” Cabello said. “They’re very territorial. If an adult male was taken out in the country and released, other raccoons in the area would bully it and eventually kill it. Also, a raccoon suddenly dropped off in the middle of nowhere would not know where to find food and water, and would starve to death.
“The law says that a raccoon would have to be taken at least five miles outside the city limits and the permission of the landowner where the animal is to be released would have to be secured. Few landowners would want people dropping off raccoons on their land among their prize cattle and horses because raccoons can carry diseases that can be transmitted to the livestock,” she said.
“Prevention is the best thing. If residents will seal the openings around their homes with metal flashing and screens, close their garage doors and cover their trash cans, the raccoons will move on to easier pickings. When people leave their garage doors cracked open for their cats to get in, for example, the raccoons will find it a perfect spot, too. They’re really bad chewers, and can chew up wood in a hurry to get into an area.”
Raccoons are highly intelligent and will eat almost anything. Insects, fruit, nuts, small animals such as mice, pet food, birdseed, garden produce, and just about anything else readily available is acceptable to a hungry raccoon. Water garden enthusiasts are often dismayed to discover that raccoons have decimated the koi and other aquatic life from their ponds.
So what does a human do if a raccoon decides to share his or her space?
If a raccoon gets into a house and causes panic among family members, residents should close all interior doors, open one exterior door for the animal to exit, and leave it alone to escape on its own. A broom can be used to gently shoo the animal, which is probably as frightened as the humans, toward the exit. Raccoons should not be cornered, as they will, quite naturally, become hostile and try to protect themselves.
Duncan Animal Control will lend live traps to local residents for free, Cabello said. A resident does have to be at home to sign for the trap when Animal Control officers drop it off. Residents are responsible for baiting and setting the traps and calling Animal Control to pick them up. They must also keep the trap from being damaged or pay a fee to replace it, she said.
“Animal Control officers are on duty Monday through Thursday, except for emergencies at other times. Two officers are generally on duty from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and another comes in and works from 12:20 p.m. to 11 p.m. We can be reached only through the Police Department at 580-255-2112. There is an answering machine on the office number at 252-6608, but that number is only for lost pets. The officers have to be out in the field all day and there is no one in the office to answer that phone. If it was an emergency, by the time we got a chance to listen to the answering machine tape, it would be too late to assist.
“Raccoons love tuna fish, sardines and fishy-smelling cat food, so traps can be baited with those items. Do not trap raccoons over the weekend, as there will be no officer available to pick them up, and the animals will have to sit in the trap all weekend — not a very good thing to do, especially in this heat. Simply bait the trap Monday through Thursday, then trip the trap and start all over again on Monday with fresh bait,” Cabello said. “When the critter is in the trap, call us.”
