|
| Raccoons causing trouble in neighborhood By Lewis Rutherfurd--[ lewis@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, September 5, 2007 4:32 PM PDT Bands of bold, hissing raccoons - rifling through trash cans and jumping from trees to raid pet food on porches - have one Half Moon Bay neighborhood fighting back. It's not much of a fight, to be sure, but it may be an important one for the health and safety of local children and pets. Raccoons, while far from endangered, are protected as fur-bearers under California law and cannot be killed. Trapping and moving them is an option in some areas, but on the Coastside they are plentiful and cannot be dissuaded so easily. But the efforts of the Sandy Cove Homeowners Association and residents like Hester Schell in the neighborhood east of Francis State Beach and south of Pilarcitos Creek, may be right on target to brush back the little marauders. "Instead of eliminating the animal, people have to focus on eliminating things that attract the animal," said Scott Delucchi, a spokesman for the Peninsula Humane Society. Flyers are up in Schell's neighborhood, warning residents to get rid of outside pet food, lock up bird feeders, clean cooking grills and secure garbage lids. "Food, water and shelter; these are the things people should eliminate," said Delucchi. Boarding up crawlspaces and picking up fallen fruit are other tips, he added. All this can amount to sending the scavengers down the street, but getting rid of them is next to impossible. "For anybody who hires a trapper, you're wasting your money," Delucchi said. "Any time a raccoon or a skunk or a possum have identified a yard or a neighborhood as a good spot, then you can trap one, but another will just take its place." Keeping raccoon concentrations low around homes, schools and parks is prudent, though. Aside from prevailing in occasional fatal encounters with small pets, the fastidious nocturnal creatures have a habit of defecating in the same location. This creates raccoon latrines and a source for a nasty infectious parasite, raccoon roundworm. There have been four cases of serious neurological disease from raccoon roundworm in Northern California. The most well known was an 11-month-old boy in Pacific Grove in 1998. Large raccoon latrines were found around that property, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and local disease specialists are interested in identifying other concentrations. "What I'm interested in is looking at raccoon density and hot spots," said Chindi Peavey, a vector ecologist with the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District. Peavey said local residents deliberately feeding raccoons and drawing more of them into the area compounded the Pacific Grove case. A case of raccoon roundworm in a Hillsborough dog has her curious about local patterns. "The biggest risk is really to young children," said Peavey. Raccoon latrines in playgrounds and near residences are particularly likely to lead to roundworm eggs finding their way to children through pets or play. And such locations are often good sources of food and litter. The local drive to eliminate food and access is the best thing to do, she added. "Things are better," said Schell. Raccoons moving in the middle of the night haven't wakened her since the fliers were posted. But Schell is concerned that a combination of factors in the area might make for an intractable problem. "They go from the creek to the Dumpsters," said Schell. A nearby fast-food restaurant may be a source of raccoon fodder, and Schell said she has seen groups of up to 10 raccoons near her house, with more in the trees. "They don't run away, they stand their ground," she added. She is concerned about rabies and other diseases, but blames sloppy garbage collection and local littering for the problem. "They're just being raccoons," said Schell. Peavey agrees. "They're wildlife. A lot of people like raccoons," said Peavey. And even if high concentrations of raccoon latrines were found, "we would never do abatement; what we would do is public education, just like those residents are doing already," she added. |