WKBN-TV reports Youngstown police have received more than a dozen calls in the past three weeks about raccoons acting strangely in the daytime.
Photographer Robert Coggeshall says he was playing with his dogs outside his home last week when one such raccoon approached them.
Coggeshall says the animal would stand on its hind legs, show its teeth and fall over backward.
The raccoon Coggeshall saw and 14 others police responded to were euthanized.
The state Department of Natural Resources says the animals were likely suffering from distemper, a viral disease causes coughing, tremors and seizures and leads raccoons to lose their fear of humans.
Source: AP
Reader Comments
I used to live in an apartment complex for a number of years where I became aware of huge numbers of cats left by previous owners. The town was incredibly transient with people coming and going and, evidently, leaving their pets. Large numbers were unspayed/unneutered so, of course, more and more kittens were born each year. I called one cat "Papa Cat" because he seemed to sire most of the offspring. My current oldest cat (who was born there and adopted by me there) looks just like him except he's orange. One day Papa Cat came to my door and meowed. I asked him what was wrong (because I always left water and food outside for the animals), and he kept staying at my doorstep and vocalizing. I took him inside, which was unusual because, normally, he would have bolted. I could see he was very sick. I didn't know the cause, but he was definitely very ill. I told Papa I couldn't do anything for him, but I could take him to the vet for euthanization. I talked to him for a while and hugged him, and when I felt that we reached an accord (I know that sounds weird), I took him to the vet. He was definitely sick and definitely wouldn't leave. I will add that, probably, Papa came to my door because I had already adopted a number of cats (those who, for some reason, had little or no fear of humans...most are terrified of humans...as well they should be) and because I offered food/water.