They're back. Clawing at the screen, scratching at the glass, and even trying to lift the window open.
Two relentless raccoons tried everything they could to break into Toby Williams’ 3rd story apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She says she’s, “totally positive that if I opened the window, they would have just walked right in.”
Sitting with her two-year-old daughter Cleo, on her lap, Williams is amused by the antics, but only to an extent. Back in July, Williams woke up to a ransacked kitchen and a self-strangled raccoon in the silverware drawer. Since then, the rodents have tried at least three more times to get in. Williams, in between laughter, says, “The troubling part is that they don’t seem at all scared. I mean, I tapped on the window at one point.”
Williams isn't the only one in the area with the same problems. Just two doors down, her neighbor, Kristina Caroll, snapped photos of four raccoons going wild around her kitchen and dining room.
Brendan Lorber lives in greenwood heights. His backyard, a lush tangle of trees, shrubs, and a pond, is invaded every night “by four or five [raccoons] at a time. They bring all their buddies and just trash the joint.”
Like Williams, Lorber also has a two-year-old girl, Aurora. He worries because, “A year ago I heard about we found out two other children in Brooklyn that had been nearly killed from parasites raccoons carry. That’s when we became concerned for our daughters well being.”
The Lorber’s put up an electric fence, the raccoons burrowed under it. They added planks into the ground the fence, the raccoons figured out how to wing on vines into the yard.
Williams just decided to keep her windows shut.
One local trapper describes the raucous rascals as even smarter than your average human, at least when it comes to survival. The Department of Health says there’s been no up-tick in raccoon complaints. The Department adds that neighborhoods like Park Slope and Greenwood Heights are more prone to the critters because of their proximity to parks. Officials warn residents to stay away from the creatures and call 311 with any problems.
