Missing raccoon captured

The missing raccoon, which had been on the loose since 22 Oct., has been captured in West Bay, the Department of Agriculture confirmed on Tuesday afternoon.

The animal, one of two found in a shipping container that came from the United States, was found near Republix Plaza in West Bay, not far from where it escaped last month.

The other raccoon, a juvenile male, was trapped the same day the pair was found. Samples from that raccoon were sent to the United States for testing and full results are pending.

The DoA, in a statement announcing the raccoon’s capture, said it was due to the keen eye of a bus driver that the animal was snagged.

“In responding to a tip from a bus driver, five DoA team members from animal welfare, animal control and the Veterinary Services Unit attended the area where the animal was spotted and captured it,” Brian Crichlow, Assistant Director of DoA said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

He added, the DoA is grateful to the bus driver who saw the animal, stopped his bus, reported it and waited until the department’s team arrived.

“His quick actions were integral in us capturing the animal,” Crichlow said. It is unclear what will happen next with the animal. The Compass reached out for comment on plans for the captured raccoon.

Local social media site Everything345 was in the areas in West Bay when the DoA animal control officers nabbed the raccoon from its hiding spot on Tuesday, and recorded the animal’s capture. That video can be viewed below.

The team at DoA and all the agencies involved in the search, Crichlow said, were “relieved” that the animal has been caught.

Fred Burton, Department of Environment terrestrial resources manager, in an interview with the Compass following the raccoon’s capture, also expressed relief.

“We all owe thanks to the member of the public who spotted and reported it, and the rapid and effective response from Department of Agriculture. Excellent news,” Burton wrote in his emailed response to the Compass Tuesday afternoon.

He said it is not likely the raccoon was a threat to the local ecosystem given its short-lived freedom.

“Because of its young age there is no possibility that it could be breeding, and we know for sure that there were only two of them. We will all know the sex of the second one once DoA have had a proper look at it,” he said.

Burton suggested that the raccoon most likely survived on discarded food from people and/or pets, rather than hunting for itself.

“They are fastidious eaters so the risk of passing on any disease to anyone’s pet via food is not high. When DoA ascertain its rabies status we will know retrospectively if that threat was real or hypothetical,” he said, adding, “nothing in the behavior of either of them suggested any hint of rabid behavior to my eyes at least, so fingers crossed they are both negative on that front”.

The Department of Agriculture worked in conjunction with Department of Environment in the search for the raccoon.