Sheriff’s officers in Washington’s Kitsap County regularly receive calls about animals: stray livestock, problem dogs. But the 911 call they recently received from a woman chased by dozens of raccoons swarming her home near Poulsbo stood out.
The woman reported having to flee her property after 50 to 100 raccoons descended on it and were acting aggressively, said Kevin McCarty, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office. She told officers she started feeding a family of raccoons decades ago and things were going fine until about six weeks earlier, when the numbers went from a handful to about 100.
“She said those raccoons were getting more and more aggressive, demanding food, chasing her day and night – scratching the outside of her house, the door. If she pulled up her car, they would surround the car, scratch the car, surround her if she went from her front door to her car or went outside at all,” McCarty said. “They now saw this as a food source, so they kept coming back to it and expecting food.”
It was not clear what caused their numbers to suddenly explode. Both the sheriff’s office and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife determined no laws were broken, McCarty said.
“This is a nuisance problem of her own making,” he said. Video from the sheriff’s office shows raccoons foraging around trees, and officers responding to the call observed 50 to 100 of them, he added.
Bridget Mire, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said by email that it is illegal under state law to feed large carnivores such as bears and cougars. Although municipalities or counties may have local statutes that prohibit feeding other wildlife, it does not currently violate state law, she said.
Regardless, the agency discourages people from feeding wild animals. For example, raccoons can transmit diseases, and food can also attract predators such as coyotes and bears, according to Mire.
The department referred the woman to wildlife control companies that are certified and able to capture and remove animals such as raccoons, she said.
Poulsbo is about a 90-minute car and ferry ride northwest of Seattle.