Racoons invade German towns

Racoons often get into houses through cat flaps

Gangs of nocturnal thieves are stalking whole neighbourhoods in northern Germany's towns and cities.

Unusually strong and agile, they jump onto roofs from tree tops and climb along drainpipes.

People in Germany are split into two parties: those who find racoons cute and feed them, and those who resort to killing them

Biologist Ulf Hohmann

But they are not out to steal cars or burgle apartments - they rummage through compost heaps, overturn rubbish bins and steal pet food.

They are racoons - thousands of them.

They are leaving their natural habitat near German streams and lakes in their droves to make a home in towns and cities, where food, water and shelter are easy to find.

Massive invasion

The furry animals, with their characteristic striped tail and little black mask, are not afraid of humans.

Four racoons were released in Germany in 1934

Once they have chosen an attic, basement or garage as their den, getting rid of them becomes very difficult.

German biologists are now exploring strategies to curb this massive invasion which seems to be spiralling out of control.

There are a growing number of sightings and reports of damage to private property in the outskirts of major cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt.

Racoons are being tagged to monitor activity

"People in Germany are split into two parties: those who find racoons cute and feed them, and those who resort to killing them to get rid of what they consider a real plague," biologist Ulf Hohmann told BBC News Online.

Mr Hohmann's team has led a year-long study on urbanised racoons in the city of Kassel, near Frankfurt, where the highest presence of racoons is recorded.

To draw a picture of the life of urban racoons, they captured and marked specimens with microchips and ear tags to monitor their movements and activity.

The study found that where people resort to killing racoons, the animals tend to compensate by reproducing more.

Advice

"A person who had his house invaded managed to trap and kill as many as 40 racoons in one year, but nothing changed," Mr. Hohmann said.

Racoons can turn handles and open doors

"What we rather advise people to do is to invest in effective strategies to protect their homes, like trimming tree branches that stretch near the roof and covering drainpipes to prevent racoons from climbing along them," he added.

"It can be costly, but it certainly pays off."

Traditionally hunted for their precious fur in their native USA and Canada, racoon pelts became popular in Europe at the beginning of last century.

The first two pairs of racoons were set free in Germany in 1934.

More of the animals escaped during World War II, when a stray bomb hit a racoon farm near Berlin.

Mr Hohmann said that racoons have already crossed into most neighbouring countries and will eventually spread to the whole of Europe.

Meanwhile, distressed German home owners will have to pioneer ways of keeping this furry menace at bay.

Pictures copyright of Ingo Bartussek, reproduced with kind permission