Apparently, German Raccoons Like Drinking Beer Just As Much As People
As cute as they are, raccoons can be a nuisance sometimes. The little garbage bandits are fully capable of causing a good amount of damage to homes and gardens, and they will live in your house rent-free should the opportunity present itself. They don't give two hoots, but since they are inherently shy creatures, they are likely to run away should they see a human approaching.
An occasional bold raccoon is not uncommon, but imagine the havoc they can wreak if inhibition were taken out of the equation. Better yet, imagine them drunk. Of course, we're tempted to think these masked mammals could be funny drunks, but ask some Germans, and they might tell you some tales of horror.
Apparently, some raccoons have been terrorizing German homes by breaking in and destroying property, harming and killing pets, and some have taken to stealing beers and getting drunk in the process. "These animals, which are so cute at first sight, have become a plague in some parts of the country," a German newspaper reported, per The Telegraph.
The problem is brewing out of control
Berthold Langenhorst, the director of communication at Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, told The Telegraph that raccoons like beer and that he has witnessed them enjoy it. Over the past few decades, Germany has seen a rapid rise in the raccoon population, and it seems like they are getting more and more comfortable around people.
Reports of raccoons getting drunk are not new. They previously made headlines after appearing disoriented in public in West Virginia. While it was initially assumed that they were rabid, it was later discovered that they were intoxicated after eating crabapples. Another raccoon was found hammered after it broke into an alcohol warehouse in Brooklyn and helped itself to some bottles of beer.
Sharing a bottle of cheap beer or two with raccoons on a lonely Friday night seems very tempting now, but we don't recommend it since we don't really know if they are friendly drunks or if the alcohol is even safe for them to consume. Regardless, it's nice to know we have something in common.