August 9, 2007
Did You Know There Are Racoons in Park Slope?
Here is some photographic proof, courtesy of F.Trainer on Flickr. He explains:
these little beasts were eating some chicken that workers had carelessly left in the yard....they were not scared of flashlights or camera flashes, strangely however, if i repeated the word "chicken" a few times they would scamper off....
Our theory is that these critters migrated south from Williamsburg once they grew tired of feeding on hipster garbage. If anyone spots a coyote in Carroll Gardens, please let us know!
Related:
Racoons in Staten Island
A Racoon in Jersey Who Rode the Bus
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They're on Staten Island too. I've seen them ambling across the streets. They seem very calm and accustomed to people. Hopefully not accustomed enough to actually come in contact, but definitely enough not to freak out.
The splashers! Get them!
They are also in chinatown.... one broke into my apartment and climbed all over everything!
Now, if we could only have bears rooting through trash cans, that would be really cool.
Funny - I was walking to my friend's apartment in the Financial District the other night and noticed an unusually large-ish animal climbing up the sidewalk scaffolding. After a couple of double takes and eye rubs, I realized that it was a raccoon... When I got to my friend's apartment, I told him about my sighting and he just shrugged it off and told me I was crazy. Even though this article is reporting raccoons in Park Slope, I still feel somewhat justified.
all over central park too
Have some compassion! They aren't rats!
I went to school upstate, one day walking to a friend's apartment I saw a skunk. She remarked "well that's how you know you're in the boonies." (Despite the fact that we were inside a city of 100k).
This sparked a huge debate about whether or not there are skunks in brooklyn. I feel like raccoons are close enough to skunks to prove me right.
One came at me while I was grilling on my roof in fort greene. I guess raccoons like hotdogs.... but who doesn't??
cooooons!!!!!!!!!!!
Yup, I saw one in Central Park in the northern part, at the Blockhouse by 110th, and I was really surprised to see one scurry by!
Please remember that raccoons are wild animals, and most of the rabies cases in New York State come from contact with raccoons, not dogs. Keep away and don not try to pet them!
(Former Mountain Man... now in Brooklyn)
I had a raccoon in my kitchen in Park Slope last summer. We were leaving the sliders to the deck open for the cat to come and go, heard a racket in the middle of the night and discovered a huge raccoon who had come in to help himself to the cat's food. And he was not at all intimidated by crazy naked people shouting and waving their arms at him either.
Oh man, there are SO raccoons in Booklyn. I live in Park Slope and there are two raccoons who not only hang out in a tree in my backyard, they play tag in the wee hours of the morning. I've actually yelled out the window at them. Like a crazy person. Drastic measures are called for when my sleep is in jeopardy.
Sitting in Central Park on July 8th, we saw 5 of them near 103rd street pond. They were not scared of people at all...everyone nearby left them alone, but they showed no fear. We could hardly beleive it.
There are a large number of raccoons living quite happily in Green-Wood Cemetary, wandering out to investigate the trash cans in the surrounding blocks. You get somewhat used to them, though at 2am, if there's one in a trash can, I tend to cross the street; I don't think I want to find out what a cranky raccoon is like.
There are quite a few in Crown Heights down by Frankiln and Eastern Pkwy. Please be wary, racoons, while cute will not hesitate to fight when cornered or spooked. They can easily kill a housecat and most dogs under 20lbs for an extra treat they are frequently rabid. DO NOT FEED WILD ANIMALS.
There have been raccoons in Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetery for years. I saw a raccoon in the early morning on East Third Street (Windsor Terrace) about ten years ago. There are rabbits, owls and red-tailed hawks in there, too.
onoe word: rabies.
We live on the southern edge of Park Slope (Windsor Terrace really) and there is a gang of 3 raccoons that stalk our garbage. It always seems odd to see them though, we are many blocks from the park and from the cemetery.
saw one just a few weeks ago in windsor terrace, in one of the little parks that lines the prospect expressway (around 19th street). big guy.
c'mon people, there are raccoons in _Manhattan_. Of course there are raccoons in Brooklyn. When you find some wild boar, lemme know.
yeah, hipster garbage or Park Slope diapers. What's worse?
There is a reason they are hunted with large dogs and rifles back home. Use your dog to tree 'em, the dog should be running around the tree so the coon doesn't tap out (they'll hop to another tree and another and so on.) When coon holds still, take it out with a small game round. Now you've got the start of a tasty stew and a nice hide. In the Army, during FTX we would hunt them with blanks in our M16s and cleaning rods down the barrel, you can kill one at about 25-30 meters with this expedient round. We would always bring onions, taters and spices whenever we went to play war games and cook up a great stew in the field.
Call 311 to complain and they will send to uniformed officers to your front door. What big help and embarrassing!
They must of gotten tired of hanging out in Astoria where
I spotted one last month.
We've seen the occasional skunk near our place in Inwood. When we called 311, they said that no one would come to get them unless we trapped them first, and offered to rent us a trap--yes, rent, as in, we would have to shell out money to do part of Animal Care & Control's job. Uh, no thanks.
Do be careful around skunks, raccoons, and other wild animals. If they're unafraid of people, they may be rabid. Make sure your pets are up to date on their rabies shots even if they're indoor pets; according to our vet, if a pet escapes and is bitten by something, and they don't have a current rabies vaccination, you may face the choice between putting them down and getting some very expensive treatment.
Anyone know if there are still feral dogs in Inwood Hill Park? I haven't seen any in a year or two.
We have them in our backyard. See pictures here:
http://saraschaefer.com/ss/2006/08/post_4/
enough with the rabies paranoia.
We have em in Bay Ridge. I've already caught one and know there are two more at least.
Last summer I saw a family of racoons walking across Carroll Street between 8th and the Park...and up and over the fence into the back yard next to the Adams Mansion.
Not long after that, I was over on Berkely and Seventh Avenue late one night, and I saw something that looked like a large cat come strolling right up Berkeley, across Seventh, and right on up the street towards Grand Army Plaza. It definitely wasn't a cat...I think it might have been an opossum.
haha yeah, i love all of the rabies talk. when was the last reported case of rabies in NYC (other than staten island, but who really cares?)
Probably the safest thing to do is trap them. Hav-a-hart traps aren't that expensive, around fifty bucks for a large one. After you trap them don't call anyone. Either shoot it in the trap or take it to a pond, or if a pond isn't readily available fill up your bath tub, and drown them.
End of problem. Think of all those Yorkies lives you will be saving.
If it's a skunk then I would stand back before shooting it. Not a good idea to bring a live skunk into your apartment or house.
i did know :) i think these are the same guys that climbed all over my building about two months ago.
Anyone else find it ironic that the "guest" who recommends a humane trap goes on to suggest you shoot or drown the raccoon/skunk?
there are racoons in queens, too. bayside, to be specific.
Some open cans of cat food laced with high dose warfarin should do the trick...
had em in clinton hill when i lived there, now we got em in bushwick, they come to eat the neighbor's mulberries ... and my cat's food.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=raccoon&w=18446961%40N00
#35 I don't find that strange. Would you rather sit out on your back porch all night waiting for the varmints to appear and in your attempt to shoot them in the dark take out a few street lights?
I believe the "guest" also suggested not to drown the skunk, only shoot it.
#37 the warfarin seems to be a good idea also. So you loose a few stray cats here and there, but life goes on.
Where there is trash, there will be raccoons. I think that's a pretty universal truth. But it is good to keep in mind that if you have cats that go outdoors, make sure they are up to date on their rabies vaccination. Raccoons can be very vicious and will definitely bite your cat if it gets too close.
Just want to say that they were here first!
Them varmints bett' not steal my car and drive to no Wendy's!!
I don't know where you guys are writing from, but it must not be New York City. There are plenty of guns, but we don't have ponds and back porches here.
Actually number 43, I have a pond in brooklyn and as an update to my previous post at 30...
I just caught another one tonight!
I'll be delivering him to the garden state tomorrow.
#44 STOP! Isn't there a Davy Crockett revival at the Times Square Disney store coming up next week? Plus winter's coming on and those coonskin hats are always warmer than synthetic materials plus they are organic and replenishing if they aren't totally decimated. Think GREEN!
#37 and 39, I hope you are joking (although that'd be a pretty moronic joke). In addition to being inhumane and dangerous, poisoning cats (or raccoons for that matter) is a felony.
Racoons in Brooklyn is not new. They killed several chickens in their coops in Red Hook last year. As for skunks, I'm pretty sure those also exist in Brooklyn. I have smelled the distintive aroma several times in Bay Ridge and South Park Slope.
I have them near my house as well out in Queens ! Roy-Wilkins Park is full of them, You name it we got it out here . Rabbits, Raccoons ,Skunks & the occasional wild chicken . I see them every morning when I get too the Bus stop (Raccoons that is) For some strange reason they don't like the taste of Onions ,Red Peppers, & Tabasco sauce on there food ! (Which is what I spray my garbage with by the way) One nite as I was taking out the trash, I heard one trying to get into the bags in the can Lol . It got a gud taste of the concoction I created and ran away crying ! I haven't had any problems with them since ! This also works on dogs as well, If your tired of the owners letting their dogs shit on Ur property spray some Tabasco sauce on the fences and around the grass area . They take a sniff and run for cover ! LMFAO ! Try it people, It definitely works ! Posted by; "Still Not Amused"
Astoria-- saw one on a neighboring roof last week during a BBQ, near 30th ave and 39th st.
I have them in my backyard. I'm right down the block from prospect park, (kensington) over by the tennis courts. Every night i go to let my three dogs out in the yard, i see 3 raccoons. Yesterday one was creeping out my rose bush to trying to get at my mini pincher. Scary. With all that said, i no longer let my dogs in the yard past dusk.