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Has anyone seen recently an increase in raccoon sightings in Southeast Queens? About a year ago while at my mother's house near Baisley Park a raccoon ran accross the street while she was getting out the car towards her. She had to run back in the car as she was fearful. Had not seen one again for about an entire year until recently. I was at my mother's house a few weeks ago and I saw 2 coming out her backyard at 2 am. I also saw 1 who established eye contact with me in Rochdale Village start to come towards me about 3 weeks ago. I was with my g/f and she was so terrifed that she ran inside a building for shelter. The raccoon eventually ran off once he saw us run from him. From the internet and word-of-mouth I am told that they will attack you and that they have disease, but has anyone in our area ever been attacked by one because you never hear of it.
Raccoons actually got in my neighbors roof at one point and had babies and everything. I'm not too far from Rochdale at all. They will attack you and they do have rabies from what I heard.
Im in Springfield Gardens/Laurelton and I have seen quite a few Raccoons. Usually they just dig through the trash or something like that. Yes they can be aggressive, but they'll usually run away if they see you, at least from my experience. I don't know if raccoons in SE Queens have rabies, but I would still be careful. Just don't leave any trash laying around your house or keep them in plastic containers. Remember a lot of SE Queens is still dense forests (Rochdale near the LIRR tracks, Baisley Pond, Brookville Park, Springfield Park, etc) which I'm guessing would be their natural habitat.
We got raccoons also in northwest Queens as well. I see and hear them overnight occasionally. Every time they cross the street they look both ways first for cars before crossing,lol. They are fat but can squeeze through a gate or fence without a problem. Never seen one during the day as that would indicate that they are rabid.
If you have a dog make sure you keep them away,as a dog's natural instinct is to chase them and god forbid if that would happen as they would attack in self defense.
I've seen raccoons many times when I lived in Long Island; they had the habit of stealing the cat's food when you fed him outside. They never did anything nasty, and were often fun to watch. They never hurt our cat either.
Raccoons can be bold, but I don't think rarely (or ever) hurt people. Seeing a raccoon in the daytime does not necessarily mean it has rabies, though a sign that it could have rabies.
Raccoons are all over town! (Take the M train to Metropolitan Avenue--you can see them climbing around on the fencing). And believe me, they don't discriminate by borough; they're here in Brooklyn too. As well as possums...some really big possums.
I got home about 1 am saturday night..and there was a momma and pappa raccoon, and a baby raccoon on my balcony (I am on the first floor with a staircase to the yard), and I could hear a few more in the yard. We have ALOT of raccoons in my area (woodstock/mott haven) and I have no idea why or where they came from. St. Mary's Park near me also has tons of raccoons..and I don't really know what to do about it.
On a side note the baby raccoon was really cute and was just standing there looking at me...he was kinda scared but otherwise pretty cool. I wanted to pet him but I am glad I didn't...they can be aggressive and he has sharp nails.
far rockaway has everything: i have seen raccoons, possum, snails, slugs, frogs, bluebirds, cardinals. we even have lemon sharks on beach 9th, and once every few years, a whale washes up on our shores. we have a lot of wildlife in general.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
With all the death and destruction we have spread in this world I think it would be right to share our living spare with a few Raccoons. There are 8 million people in this city; are we so selfish that we can't make room for a few hundred Raccoons. They are more scared of you than you should be of them.
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