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A woman didn’t think much about feeding the raccoons near her house until nearly 100 of them showed up in her yard.
Earlier this week, the unnamed woman called the police after she was unable to get inside her home in Poulsbo, Washington, because of a raccoon invasion. According to Kevin McCarty, a spokesperson for the Kitsap County Sheriff, the woman explained that the large number of raccoons in her yard started around six weeks ago, but she had been feeding them for over 35 years.
“Somehow the word got out in raccoon land and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal,” McCarty told local NBC affiliate KUSA. When deputy officers showed up to examine the scene, they were “shocked” to find 50 to 100 raccoons at the property.
“They had never seen that many raccoons in one place. Nobody ever remembers being surrounded by a swarm of raccoons. This was a first,” McCarty recalled.
According to one of the woman’s neighbors, Wendy Cronk, she also noticed the increase of raccoons in “about the last month or so,” she told KUSA.
“I’ve had several raccoons in the yard recently. My dogs have gotten in a scuffle several times with a raccoon. I’ve even had to take one of my dogs to the vet after tussling with a raccoon. And I’ve also noticed there’s been a lot more hit raccoons up on the main road here.”
She added that she hopes the problem will be resolved and her neighbor will now stop feeding wild animals. “I just hope that somebody steps in and helps her take care of this problem... and hopefully she’ll quit doing it,” Cronk said.
Following the investigation, McCarty said no one was bitten or attacked and the woman was referred to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“This is a nuisance problem kind of of her own making that she has to deal with,” McCarty said.
The Poulsbo woman claimed she was in contact with an organization that could trap and relocate the raccoons, but they wanted to charge her $500 per animal.
Bridget Mire, a spokesperson with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, told The Associated Press that under state law it is not illegal to feed raccoons.
Mire said an agency wildlife conflict specialist has met with the woman, who has stopped feeding the animals.
“The raccoons appear to have started dispersing now that they are no longer being fed, and we are glad for a positive outcome to this case,” Mire wrote.
“It’s pretty simple,” McCarty added. “Don’t feed wild animals. When wild animals have a reliable food source, they’re going to keep coming back to it. And that’s what these raccoons did until the number of raccoons expecting a meal got out of hand.”
The Kitsap County Sheriff posted a video of the group of raccoons on X/Twitter with the caption: “On Patrol: Raccoon Invasion.”
In the comments section, many people criticized the woman for spending decades feeding the wild animals.
“So she caused this problem. And now they’ll more than likely end up needing to be killed, right? Oh ya, trap them. Trap and relocate approximately 100 raccoons. Who we kidding. Brilliant ma’am,” one commenter wrote. “And her neighbors must just LOVE her.”
Another commenter agreed: “This is kind of like someone complaining about getting pooped on by seagulls after feeding them junk food at the beach.”
