raccoons

The MBTA's released this video of a raccoon attempting to get down to the Red Line platform at Downtown Crossing on Jan. 20 by way of the up escalator.

He's a little hard to see, but after the startled guy flees, look at :23, 1:05 and 1:28 for the best views.

T spokesman Joe Pesaturo reports animal control took the masked intruder away before Transit Police could issue a citation for fare evasion.

A helpless citizen reports from Roxbury:

Raccoon gang of 4 or 5, seem unafraid of humans. Raccoon don't care, it just does what it wants. Not sure what, if anything, City can do.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports on a terror raccoon that took over Hull and Sheafe streets before it died under somebody's porch last week, creating "a nasty, putrid state of air for days."

Apparently, a large raccoon waddled into the station this morning. From track 6.

Cara posted this photo yesterday afternoon of a raccoon out and about in the daylight in Charlestown. People immediately suggested she call Animal Control because normally the only raccoons venturing forth with the sun up are rabid.

Kristin MacDougall reports there was a raccoon waddling around the Navy Yard around 11 a.m. yesterday.

If it's the same one, s/he walked a long way uphill.

The Brookline Health Department is warning residents to stay away from wild animals after a raccoon suspected of having rabies attacked a north Brookline resident's pet in daylight hours - a few weeks after a rabid raccoon was picked up in Jamaica Plain.

Two bats captured in Brookline also recently tested positive for rabies.

Boston Public Health Commission says it was last night on Amory Street. Come in contact with a raccoon near there? Contact your doctor.

The Globe reports the Rutland Square beast has become a 50-lb. behemoth feeding on the garbage it uses its razor-sharp claws to gouge out of the cheap plastic or paper bags many South Enders use instead of the required two-ply bags.

The South End News reports residents have been asked to delay putting their trash out until the morning of pickup to help send the raccoon on its way - and that a neighborhood association has also warned residents with small cats and yap dogs to keep an eagle eye on their pets outside because a hawk has taken up residence in the square.

The Boston Public Health Commmission reports a raccoon found in Jamaica Plain on Sunday has tested positive for rabies and that a person exposed to the animal is now receiving rabies shots.

The commission plans to distribute leaflets in the neighborhood warning residents about the issue and telling them what to do if they think they've come in contact with a rabid animal. Basically: Stay away from wildlife, make sure your pets' vaccinations are up to date, and beware of bats in your house.

Questions? Contact the commission's Infectious Disease Bureau at 617-534-5611.

Melophobe02120 snapped this raccoon around 5 a.m. this morning on Warwick Street in lower Roxbury - after being awoken by the dog going crazy.

Copyright Melophobe02120. Posted in the Universal Hub group on Flickr.

Overmatter reports on a seemingly drunk raccoon in front of the Gap in Central Square last night - which made it fit in perfectly with the community of perpetual drunks who normally hang out there:

... "Seriously!" he said. "Walking down freakin' Mass. Ave.! A big-ass rac-damn-coon!" ...

Lyss reports that a troop of raccoons now gorges itself on the cat food one of her neighbors leaves out for cats:

... Children are playing, adults sitting on their porches, and three to four raccoons chowing down on some cat food. ...

Jo learns that if your kitchen has skylights and you leave them open to cool off the kitchen overnight, a raccoon might just find its way in and drop 18 feet to your kitchen floor:

... A few minutes later while we all debated how the hell we were going to get him out of the kitchen, he/she hopped up on the window ledge and departed with nary a look back. ...

With photo of the intruder.

Dave captures the cutest backyard thief ever in the act.