POULSBO, Wash. — A woman living near Poulsbo alerted authorities after she could not get inside her home because of a raccoon invasion last week.
Kevin McCarty, a spokesperson for the Kitsap County Sheriff, said the woman called deputies Thursday because about 100 raccoons outside her home were "demanding food."
The woman told deputies she started feeding raccoons around her house about 35 years ago without any problems.
Six weeks ago, the population of raccoons "exploded." Now, the animals surround her home day and night hoping for a meal.
"Somehow the word got out in raccoon land and they all showed up to her house expecting a meal," McCarty said.
Kitsap deputies responded to the woman's home and were startled by what they saw.
"They were shocked," McCarty said. "They had never seen that many raccoons in one place. Nobody ever remembers being surrounded by a swarm of raccoons. This was a first."
"I’d say it’s been about the last month or so I’ve noticed it," said Wendy Cronk, who lives nearby. "I’ve had several raccoons in the yard recently. My dogs have gotten in a scuffle several times with a raccoon. I’ve even had to take one of my dogs to the vet after tussling with a raccoon. And I’ve also noticed there’s been a lot more hit raccoons up on the main road here.”
Cronk said she hopes it gets resolved soon.
"I just hope that somebody steps in and helps her take care of this problem... and hopefully she’ll quit doing it," said Cronk.
McCarty said no one was bitten or attacked in the incident. The Kitsap County Sheriff referred the woman to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to address her raccoon problem.
She told deputies she contacted a trapping organization to help, but they wanted $500 per raccoon.
"At this point, it's been determined that the raccoons haven't committed any crimes," McCarty said.
As animal control works to find a solution, McCarty recommends people avoid feeding wild animals.
"It's pretty simple," McCarty said. "Don't feed wild animals. When wild animals have a reliable food source, they're going to keep coming back to it. And that's what these raccoons did until the number of raccoons expecting a meal got out of hand."