By Tim Binnall
In a wild story out of Washington state, police rescued a woman trapped inside her home by a swarm of around 100 raccoons that had overrun her property following decades of her feeding the animals. The bizarre incident reportedly occurred last Thursday in the community of North Kitsap where cops were called by a homeowner in distress. When they arrived on the scene, they were stunned to see dozens of the proverbial trash pandas lingering outside the residence. "They were shocked," Kitsap County Sheriff spokesperson Kevin McCarty recalled to a local TV station, "they had never seen that many raccoons in one place. Nobody ever remembers being surrounded by a swarm of raccoons. This was a first."
Perhaps less surprising was why the animals gathered outside the home en masse as the unnamed homeowner indicated that she had been feeding the ravenous creatures on her property for over three decades! The unwise practice seemingly went on without any issues until around six weeks ago when she noticed that more and more raccoons were flocking to her front door. Describing a predicament fit for a horror film, the homeowner revealed that the creatures had taken to incessantly scratching on the outside of her home for food. Meanwhile, simply leaving the residence required a strategically timed snack toss to distract the hungry animals so that she could make it out to her car.
The situation ultimately became untenable last week as the woman found herself trapped in the home by the horde of raccoons that expected to be fed the moment she stepped out the door. Fortunately, the animals were not aggressive with police, who were able to help the homeowner to her vehicle. It is uncertain if she has since returned to the residence, though one presumes that the raccoons are still there. To that end, the woman lamented that she had been quoted a staggering $500 per animal fee to trap and remove the critters, which is understandably a cost she cannot afford. As such, authorities connected the woman with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in the hopes of finding a feasible solution to her raccoon invasion.