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Raccoon in the Garage!
Mom went out into the garage Sunday morning and
quickly came back into the house. She said the garage was all messed up. She
thought an animal might have gotten in. I went out to take a look.
All of the cabinets where I keep my tools were opened, and there were things all
over the floor. The bikes were knocked over and there were animal droppings in
several places. I started putting stuff back in the cabinet when I saw something
move and heard a low growl. I almost jumped out of my skin. There was a big raccoon in the cabinet!
I moved the cars
and cleared a path for him, and then banged a stick on the cabinet. I expected
him to see daylight and bolt, but all he did was back into the corner of the
cabinet and growl even louder.
Click the pictures
for larger images.
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At this point I started thinking that maybe there was
something wrong with this raccoon because it didn't want to leave; perhaps he
was sick or maybe even rabid. I was out of my league and out of ideas. I did not
want to
hurt it and I certainly did not want to get bitten, so Mom called the police. Within minutes a squad car pulled
up, followed shortly by an Emergency Services Unit truck.
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The two ESU cops had apparently dealt with this sort of thing before, because they had gloves, poles, and a noose with which to snag my unwelcome guest. Meanwhile the raccoon had braced for battle and had wedged himself in tightly behind the cabinets. Clearly he wasn't going to leave willingly.
While one ESU cop on the left prodded the raccoon with the pole, the other
cop stationed
himself at the right side of the cabinets with the noose.
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As soon as the raccoon poked his head out, they snagged him and dragged him
out of the garage. The raccoon was growling and fighting mad. I guess I would
have been too.
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I was not sure what they were going to do with it, but I thought they would
take him away. Instead they brought him out into the middle of the street and
released him. The raccoon immediately climbed to the top of the nearest tree.
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Some time later one of my neighbors told me they saw the raccoon climb down and it disappeared behind my other neighbor's house.
I appreciate the quick response of the White Plains Police Department and I thank them for a job well done.
So how did the raccoon get in? We think that the previous night when Mom went out for a walk she left the door open, and in that fifteen minutes or so the raccoon snuck in. Obviously we have to be a lot more careful about not leaving the garage doors open at night.
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