Catherine, who lives in Vien (Anthisnes), still can’t believe it. While watching her night camera, she discovered that a raccoon entered her house at night through… the cat’s paw, even though it had a chip. “Only our cat knows how to get in there, but the raccoon slips in easily after bypassing the flap with its claws. He goes into the two laundry rooms to help himself to cat litter or bird seed balls. That’s pretty amazing, I’ve never heard that and I have to say it’s even a little worrying…”
From hedgehog to raccoon
It has been several weeks since Catherine was aware of a raccoon prowling the area… She had seen it via her game camera placed in front of the hedgehog hide recently installed at the bottom of the garden to observe her new little protégé. . “I had set him a bowl of food.” But in the camera footage, it was no surprise to see the face of a raccoon coming to steal the seeds…”She is a rat and she appears to have swollen udders. We assume she has babies and needs to feed them. It was cute, we weren’t worried.” The days passed until Monday, when the owner discovered leftover bird food in his house and in front of the door. “An animal appeared to have snuck in, opened the lid of the plastic box containing the seed balls and nibbled on them, with some outside. There is only the cat’s limb as access. It seemed impossible to us. We therefore placed the night camera in front of the door, and the following night we were able to discover the person responsible in pictures. The raccoon is extremely agile and fast…”
The animal therefore entered the house, took its little tour, had its fill, before coming out just as easily. If the lady obviously does not mind the animal (“I’m an animal lover”), she is very sad today. She cannot condemn the cat’s limb. “I’ll have to look into how to do something myself. But the problem must be solved because the animal has become comfortable and will come back, and maybe even during the day when we move around the house. I have no options at the moment.”
Not knowing what to do, Anthisnoise contacted the municipality for advice, to find out if other cases had been recorded, while we observe an increase of the animal in Wallonia, ever closer to homes. “Maybe they can do something, advise me, trap the animal in a cage to release it somewhere else…” She also launched a message via Facebook to raise awareness and launch a call for testimonies. “To date, no one in the neighborhood has seen any other raccoons…”
Public waste visited
At the municipality, councilor Michel Evans says that he has not recently been alarmed by nuisances in connection with raccoons. But he knows the phenomenon well, even in Anthisnes. “If five years ago we could observe some traces of its existence, today we can see them with the naked eye regularly: in car lights, in embankments, in gardens. And they are less and less violent, for example discovered, that a public trash can near a forest was regularly the target of a raccoon.But for individuals, unfortunately, we can’t do anything.
Etienne Branquart (SPW): “Remove all food outside”
So what can we do when we observe a raccoon that is too pushy? Etienne Branquart, expert on invasive exotic species within the SPW (Wallonia Public Service), is clear on the question: remove all food near the homes. Without food, he goes elsewhere. Without food, it reproduces less. With a few simple actions, you can avoid attracting them. “Because they are super greedy and have a highly developed sense of smell. You should know that a place rich in food will attract one raccoon at first, but can quickly attract ten.”
What gestures? Make your litter boxes inaccessible, even if it means putting a lock on it (washers are very agile), remove all pet food outside (at least at night because the animal is nocturnal), avoid throwing food scraps in a compost (or have a closed compost bin with a lid), secure your chicken coop (the scavenger is a predator of chickens)…”Of course, all these steps have to be applied to the entire neighborhood, otherwise it has no impact.” To raise awareness of the phenomenon, a campaign has been launched since May: “Stop invasive exotic species” with a section devoted to feeding. “Together with the municipalities, we will also see how they can participate in this information”continues the expert.
And the cat limbs? Yes, it is a weak point in homes. They are regularly forced by raccoons. “Yes, it is common confirms Etienne Branquart, even with high-tech devices. They are very skilled. And there is no solution other than to seal the cat limb or block it from the inside for the night.”
The raccoon, an animal that belongs to the canine family but resembles a raccoon, can become infected with the coronavirus and potentially serve as an intermediary for contamination from bats to humans
©AE/AFP/Archive
100,000 raccoons in Belgium
In any case, the expert confirms a boom in the raccoon population in Belgium, which is difficult to contain. “By extrapolation, the number of test subjects is estimated at 100,000, but there are certainly many more.’ We know that they have been present in Germany since 2006 and that they are gradually colonizing the eastern part of Belgium. They are mainly located in the provinces of Luxembourg, Liège and Namur. “We see this invasion front advancing towards Brussels and Flanders, explains the scientist, and in places already colonized we have noticed during the past year an increase and densification of the population.”
Not harmful, but invasive
The animal is not a pest, but is included in the European list of invasive alien species. And the nuisances are more and more: raccoons disrupt biodiversity in certain areas and can be dangerous for domestic animals (especially cats) and even for humans. “You should definitely not try to tame them. They bite because they are scared. And they are vectors of pathologies that can be transmitted to humans.” There is therefore also a health risk.
To control the population, SPW and DNF currently rely on outreach and occasional trapping operations by forestry agents. “However, DNF is not able to respond to all requests, especially those from individuals.” For the citizen, the solution is still to use a specialized company. “But that just shifts the problem.”
More generally, the region is considering a regional control plan to further curb the spread of the species. “A study is underway to study different strategies to destroy the animal in certain sensitive areas, especially where waterfowl are threatened by this predator. It is e.g. the case at Lake Virelles. concludes Etienne Branquart.
