Belligerent Raccoons

Five raccoons may be the threshold for the animals to feel brave enough to take on a person with a dog. I remember once walking Sparky late at night in Sacramento, and coming across four raccoons in a driveway. They struck me as awfully insolent, and on the verge of an attack - but uncertain about our resources, they held off. One more raccoon, though, and that might have been enough to trigger a gang attack:

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- An Alameda woman was receiving rabies shots as a precaution after being attacked by five raccoons over the weekend during an ordeal she described as like something out of a horror movie.

The Sunday night raccoon attack in Alameda’s Washington Park was not the first such incident, according to wildlife officials.

...Campos said she felt lucky that she escaped with just one bite and that her terrier Doogie wasn't hurt. It was the dog’s barking that brought on first one raccoon and then an entire pack.

“The other four dropped out of these trees somewhere and all started to run after us,” said Campos. “And then I tripped. Once I fell down, I was worried I wouldn't be able to get them off me, and I was screaming at the top of my lungs.”

County officials know thousands of raccoons are in trees and storm drains, emerging at night to search for food which is plentiful in garbage cans and pet dishes.

Surveillance cameras and calls for service in the area reveal an exploding population. Raccoons are getting more territorial and less afraid of people.

“It's Bay Area wide, but Alameda is a unique situation because it's landlocked,” said Daniel Wilson of Alameda County Vector Control. “So when their population increases, they can't expand out.”

In the attacks that have happened across Alameda since June, nine people have been bitten, usually while trying to save their pets.