Aggressive raccoons terrorize people and their dogs in Oregon neighborhood, videos show
Aggressive raccoon encounters have become so common in an Oregon neighborhood some residents have posted handmade warning signs and even fought back against the critters while walking their dogs, videos show.
A raccoon has bitten at least one person and three dogs in northwest Portland’s Alphabet District, officials with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) told McClatchy News in an email.
The most recent attack happened the evening of Aug. 3 when a resident was walking her dog, officials said. Her dog and the raccoon got into a fight, and she was bitten when she tried to break them up.
The raccoon bit two other dogs in July, KGW reported. But that attack was not initially reported, officials said.
One of the owners told the station the raccoon gave no warning before it attacked their dogs, Rosie and Bodhi, while her husband walked them one night.
“No warning, no hiss, no growl. It just came right out,” one of the owners told the station. She described how the raccoon “was just digging in on her (dog’s) body, holding onto her. If it weren’t for her brother Bodhi and my husband being there to help, I don’t know that she would have been able to get it off of her.”
Both residents and officials believe the raccoon is defending its babies.
“The raccoon involved in the incident is reported to have several young,” officials said. “Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for raccoons to be aggressive towards dogs, especially when protecting young.”
The encounters have been taking place after dark, when raccoons are most active, officials said.
ODFW does not relocate raccoons — research shows doing so can spread disease to new areas, and raccoons don’t often survive relocation, officials said. Officials offered to loan raccoon traps to the community along with advice on how to use them and said they would euthanize any raccoons captured.
The unprovoked attacks have left residents on edge.
Residents posted makeshift signs warning the community of the attacks — many of which have been caught on video via doorbell cameras in the neighborhood.
One video shows someone fighting off a raccoon with a wooden pallet that had been left behind by a construction crew, KOIN reported.
Vincent Jacobi told the station “he had to do whatever it took to get the raccoon away from his dog.”
“So it started coming, and I was clapping and it just ran right over my foot, and they both were circling. So I turned, knocked the raccoon with the pallet, and then just kept knocking,” he said. “It took a couple of hits before it relented and it went (away.)”
One resident hired a private wildlife control expert to trap the raccoon, officials said.
In the meantime, officials said people in the area should “be aware of their neighborhood and where raccoons might be congregating, avoid those areas when walking dogs at night, and keep their dogs on leashes.”
It’s also a good idea to remove anything that could attract raccoons, such as “accessible food waste, pet food, and fruit from bushes and trees,” ODFW says.
This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Aggressive raccoons terrorize people and their dogs in Oregon neighborhood, videos show."
