A ‘plague’ of beer-guzzling raccoons destroying people’s homes and eating their pets is causing a ‘catastrophe’ in Germany.
Homeowners are hit with repair bills of up to €10,000 (£8,600) after returning from their travels to find the pesky creatures have severely damaged their kitchens.
A video posted to social media by the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, shows a raccoon trying to escape the net of a rescue worker poking out of the window of a high-rise building.
When it darts over the window sill to avoid being caught, another net pops out on the other side.
The encounter took place earlier this summer in an office building used by MPs in central Berlin, after the creature climbed several floors.
A video posted to social media by the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, shows the raccoon trying to escape the net of a rescue worker poking out of the window of an apartment building. When it rushes past the window sill to avoid being caught, another net from the other rescuer pops up on the other side
The German Embassy in London tweeted: “A surprise guest was spotted in the German Bundestag today, but the little raccoon (or Waschbär, as we say in German) couldn’t find its way out. With a little help from colleagues, the cute visitor was safely returned to nature.’
In addition to drinking beer, the animals have also been seen munching on fish and rabbits during their invasions.
Germany’s National Hunting Association (DJV) says it will kill a record 200,000 raccoons by 2022 in an effort to contain the population, which had risen from less than 10,000 two decades ago.
Scientists say population growth is almost exponential, and efforts to reduce it by hunting have actually increased the birth rate.
“These animals, so cute at first glance, have become a nuisance in some parts of the country,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine wrote this week.
‘But the problem can no longer be eradicated, so we have to learn to live with it. In less than a century, this strain has made Germany its home. That is a story of both success and suffering.’
The animals have been associated with the Nazis due to the time period in which they were introduced.
There is a popular belief that they were released in Germany on the personal orders of Hermann Göring, the founder of the Gestapo, in his role as head of the Reichsmaster of the Hunt, but this is disputed by historians.
Raccoons were first released in Germany in the 1920s, at a time when their fur was highly sought after.
In the video, the raccoon can be seen on the windowsill of the tall building as the first one just appears. It can then be seen around the corner as a second rescuer tries to catch it
An estimated 1,000 of the animals now live in Berlin, where they have been spotted residing on buses and public high schools, as well as in the city’s allotments.
Berlin’s senate refused to approve the 2022 killing of raccoons, noting that it would rather encourage residents to properly seal their bins, while hunters complained that they were “a real catastrophe for the native flora and fauna.”
It comes as Belgium fends off a raccoon invasion, with at least 60,000 flooding Wallonia in the south and moving to Flanders in the north.
The animals are native to North America, but started showing up in Belgium in the 1980s.
The country’s environmental agency has issued raccoon warnings to prevent residents from feeding them.
Frederik Thoelen of Natuurhulpcentrum, a Belgian nature conservation and environmental protection charity, told The Times: ‘Ten years ago we got the occasional report, but then it was often about escaped animals from people illegally keeping a raccoon as a pet. But now we’re seeing a lot more sightings coming in, and those are raccoons born in the wild.”
“You can shoot them, but no one likes to do that. In Flanders we are now trying to limit the damage by collecting them and then spaying or neutering them,’ says Thoelen.
‘Because they can have such a negative impact on nature, as a country you have to do something about it. The raccoons must not be able to escape. Europe is very careful about allowing raccoons on (its) territory.’