The raccoons may have been displaced from the shores of the Gowanus Canal because of the ongoing construction at the large Lightstone site. In effect, the problem seems to be worse along Hoyt and Bond Street near 2nd Street, the block adjacent to the construction site.
Concerned homeowners have reached out to Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, who sent out the following message to the community asking for help.
There is a growing raccoon population in Carroll Gardens – including a large number living on the block bounded by Bond/Hoyt and 2nd/3rd. They appear to have come from previously empty lots and warehouses near Lightstone.
SOME BASICS: Raccoon populations do not grow as quickly as rodents but they do grow. They tend not to be aggressive, but can carry rabies and usually leave eggs with roundworm [in their feces], which is a health hazard.
We will be scheduling a walk-through with the NYC Dep’t of Health to evaluate how to alleviate the situation -- but first, we need your help to collect more information!
Here’s what we need from you:
· personal reports of raccoon sightings in your neighborhood,
· pictures and videos of raccoons if you can capture any,
· offering your space for inspection if you suspect any raccoon activity in and around your home -- and finally,
· asking your neighbors to do the same.
From talking with animal rescue people, the ideal time to relocate the raccoons is the month of September!
Please contact Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon’s office with any of the above information at 718-246-4889, or drop by at 314 Smith Street.
Incidentally, one of my neighbors just told my husband that she saw a raccoon in her backyard a few days ago. I have not yet spotted it.
Have you noticed this increase in raccoons?
(The photo of the raccoon above was taken by me a few years back in Sunset Park)
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15 comments:
I live on Carroll between Clinton and Henry and this summer a mama racoon and her two young cubs took refuge under our roof deck during the day - climbing up 5 flights of the fire escape to reach it! I am not sure they are still there, I haven't seen any activity, but their resilience is IMPRESSIVE.
A raccoon got in our neighbor's koi pond a couple weeks ago and ate a few fish :(
Saw one in my back yard one night a couple of weeks ago (block of Carroll/Court/President/Clinton), perched atop a transformer. My backyard pond was wiped out of goldfish recently and I've found empty snail shells as well.
I live not too far away in Red Hook and we had a family of six raccoons living in our backyard this summer. Haven't seen them in a few weeks though.
I live across from Prospect Park. The raccoons come in gangs particularly on garbage night. I have a grape arbor and in August when there are a lot of ripe grapes the raccoons will stay on that day and night. Nasty feces with ringworm everywhere along with lots of ruined grapes. During that time we cannot go in the yard at all. My children must stay inside. Rabies are always a concern with raccoons. They have chewed their way into the building (old frame house) many times. These animals are vermin. Property owners are legally permitted to trap and kill. You can hire someone to do this but it is expensive. For years now I have been doing it myself. It is the only practical way to deal with them. Relocation just inflicts them on someone else. They may be cute but they are worse than rats.
LETS KILL THEM ALL!!!
I saw one crawling on top of my fence in my backyard on 3rd Place between Court and Clinton, then it went through the adjoining back yard, climbed up the ladders of the back of a house on 2nd Place, and climbed onto the roof whereupon I lost sight of it.
I ran over a 'coon on PPW; it ran out between two cars and I couldn't stop. Also, ringworm ≠ roundworm.
I think they are still there. I found raccoon poop on my fire escape this week. I live on Clinton between president and Carroll.
There are always plenty in the Slope area, especially up around the cemetery, but there seem to be more this year. I've seen more of them in our backyard & out front than in recent years (saw one tonight), & our neighbors report the same thing. I've also noticed them out on Fifth & Sixth Avenue at night.
We get pairs of raccoons and an opossum on Third Street at night. They're healthy and hungry; I agree that they seem displaced. YOU MOVED TO BROOKLYN. IT HAS SOME NATURE, PEOPLE. If you want sterility, take your kids out of their French classes, stop AirBNBing your ground floors and and move back to Manhattan.
We had a opossum in our boiler room at the back of our house on Pacific Street. He or she left voluntarily at night when we left the door open.
New Yorkers have covered the land with concrete, cement, and ashphalt, and have poisoned what little soil is left. We've filled the wetlands, buried the streams, and polluted the water for miles and miles around. We've cut down the trees and the few that remain struggle to survive. Koi ponds and flower gardens are no replacement for the wetlands and forests we've destroyed. Who is the vermin on this land?
New Yorkers say they're tough yet so many are scared of furry little animals. People advocating killing raccoons would destroy what little nature remains. If you think we can't coexist with raccoons, how does everyone else? They're common in the suburbs, and across the rest of the country. You can even find bears not far west in New Jersey. Somehow things work out fine.
What wimps some of you are. What selfish, shortsighted, timid wimps. Go bury yourselves in a bunker and hide.
I find it natural that we should have raccoons and opossums, but I DO NOT find it natural that people leave their half empty coffee cups on my stoop or use my garbage can to deposit their dog shit.
I would love to feast upon the bloody entrails of a freshly trapped raccoon or opossum.
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