Community Corner
‘Very Intoxicated Raccoon’ Passes Out By Liquor Store Toilet: Weird News & Oddities
Unbearable squatter roars "like a lion with a hiss on top;" rabid raccoon turns on rescuer; zoo's oldest resident dies at 141 (or so).
So, a raccoon busted into an Ashland, Virginia, liquor store the other night, got into the hootch, and then passed out drunk on the bathroom floor, where it remained sprawled out like roadkill until found the next morning.
Yes, really.
Police arrived at the liquor store to find the scoundrel had ransacked several shelves, leaving in its wake an aisle littered with broken booze bottles.
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As one person wryly pointed out in the thread on the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter post about the incident, “This raccoon heard ‘drunk as a skunk’ and said ‘hold my beer.’”
The “very intoxicated raccoon” was taken to the shelter to “sober up before questioning,” authorities said. The raccoon was medically cleared after sleeping it off.
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“After a few hours of sleep and zero signs of injury (other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild, hopefully having learned that breaking and entering is not the answer,” authorities said.
And, yes, there is a T-shirt for that —“Trashed Panda,” it reads beside the picture of the passed-out raccoon. Money raised from sales goes to the shelter where he sobered up. Call it community service.
One purveyor of spirits found a way to capitalize on the drunken raccoon’s antics. It went straight for Virginia Distillery Co.’s award-winning American single-malt, the Lovingston-based spirits maker said in a Facebook post, mock apologizing to the raccoon’s family.
“As a family-owned company, we know what it's like when a relative gets a little ... overly confident in the whiskey aisle,” the post said.
- Read more: 'Trashed Panda' Immortalized On T-Shirt
Speaking Of Poor Life Choices …
Chattahoochee Nature Center officials give a Georgia man who rescued an injured raccoon, later found to be rabid, begrudging credit for good intentions.
His “heart was in the right place,” they said. But everything else about this man’s 50-mile odyssey with a rabid raccoon clutched to his chest put many lives at risk, including children attending a Thanksgiving break day camp at the nature center.
Upon finding the injured critter, the good Samaritan wrapped it in his coat. He clutched it to his chest during the long drive to the wildlife rehabilitation center at the park in Roswell, but along the way, it wriggled free and bit his hands and face.
Undeterred, he returned to his home. He wrapped a blanket around the raccoon, winding duct tape around the bundle to make sure it couldn’t get loose and bite him again. Himself wrapped up in good intentions, he set out anew.
The kids were just getting to the nature center when he arrived. The rehabilitation center, which isn’t certified to care for raccoons, wasn’t open. Wildlife officials were summoned, and they kenneled the rabid animal before it could attack anyone else.
It all worked out OK, even for the hapless rescuer.
“After much forceful insistence on our part,” the man agreed to get treatment at a hospital, officials said.
He gave a fake name, though.
This Squatter Is Unbearable
An Altadena, California, man has found himself in an, ahem, unbearable situation. A 500-pound black bear is squatting in the crawl space under his home and so far has shown no inclination to leave.
Ken Johnson, the homeowner, told local television stations that after installing a security camera, he’s seen the bear coming and going. The bear appears to be holding its ground, as if Johnson is the trespasser.
“I went around to put batteries in the camera, and this huge growl comes out from under the crawlspace, and I just went running,” Johnson told NBC Los Angeles. “I mean, it was the most amazing roar you’ve ever heard. Like a lion with a hiss on top of it.”
Big Stink Over Smelly Tree
A resident of La Grange, Illinois, recently pleaded with village officials to cut down a ginkgo tree that she said is ruining the quality of life in her neighborhood.
The offensive tree is located on the village’s right-of-way. During autumn months, female ginkgo trees drop seeds that smell similar to rancid butter.
The smell alone interferes with neighborhood block parties, but the trees cause other conveniences as well, Jan Zivkovich Kinsley told trustees. For example, a neighbor whose property the tree fronts wears rubber boots and power washes the sidewalk, she said.
“If you think I'm exaggerating what the smell is like, I have a Ziploc bag full of the seeds,” Kinsley told village trustees. “I didn't bring it in tonight because I’m trying to be polite.”
Despite a formal complaint and an arborist’s confirmation of both the smell and the tree’s unsuitability for residential areas last year, the ginkgo still stands. Residents in other neighborhoods with city-planted ginkgos have also complained.
“The village has created a nuisance and made a mistake by planting these trees,” Kinsley said. “This is the last straw for me. I am retired. I want to sit on my deck in the fall and not smell this stench.”
- Read the Patch Exclusive: ‘This Is The Last Straw’: Big Stink Over Smelly Tree
Disappointment In A Can
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An unknown number of people opened Ocean Spray cranberry sauce cans for Thanksgiving dinner, and instead of that well-known gelatinous mass that retains the shape of the can, ribbing and all, they got disappointment.
Social media videos show the situation wasn’t a one-off for a TikTok user who chiseled her way into three water-filled cranberry sauce cans with a sharp kitchen knife.
The method was a major theme in the resulting conversation, with some commenters mocking it, but others defending it as a life skill.
“Y’all worried about the can opener the whole time, not realizing this is pure talent — to be able to use a knife and strategically open a can and not cut yourself,” one person said.
“I’m more impressed by your can opening than I am appalled about the lack of cranberry sauce,” another person said.
And people expecting green beans for the traditional side dish got beets instead, prompting one person to say, “Oh, no, will there be beet casserole with French fried onions?”
Another person called the fail “the best metaphor for 2025.”
Grieving Mom’s Surprising Discovery
A grieving Detroit mother was stunned to find her late son kept a 6-foot alligator squeezed into an aquarium of nearly equal size in his bedroom.
Mark Rosenthal, of the Animal Magic nonprofit exotic animal rescue organization, put a sweatshirt over the alligator’s head, then grabbed its tail to retrieve it from the tight quarters.
“It had no room to move,” he said. “No water, no heat, no light. I don’t know how it’s in this good of shape. It was in horrible conditions.”
Rosenthal went on to say that even a larger aquarium would not have dramatically improved the reptile’s quality of life.
“You’re never going to give an alligator a full life because they get huge, and where are you going to keep it?” he said.
Plans were to move the alligator, which was named Navi the Gator, to a sanctuary in Florida.
Farewell To Gramma
After nearly a century of living at the San Diego Zoo, Gramma the Galápagos tortoise has died.
Gramma arrived between 1928 and 1931 as part of the zoo’s first group of Galápagos tortoises. She was born in her native habitat and was estimated to be about 141 years old. She was the oldest resident of the world-famous San Diego Zoo.
“It is astonishing to consider what Gramma lived through in her lifetime,” zoo officials said in a statement. “As the world around her experienced more than 20 U.S. presidents, two World Wars, and two pandemics, she gently touched countless lives over nearly a century in San Diego as an ambassador for reptile conservation worldwide.”
Gramma was suffering from bone conditions related to her old age that recently progressed before she was euthanized, according to the zoo.
“Her story has become woven into the very fabric of the Zoo community, a thread connecting generations of team members, guests, volunteers, and conservationists,” officials said. “Through decades of technological advancement, she went from appearing in a handful of black-and-white photographs to becoming an ever-endearing social media star.”
A Hare-Raising Rescue
You’ve heard of dogs and even cats alerting their human families to danger. But when was the last time you heard that a rabbit saved the day?
That happened Thanksgiving Weekend in DeKalb County, Georgia, when a rabbit named Coco saved a family from a house fire. Coco’s SOS signal was the repeated thumping and jumping on its cage to wake them as smoke detectors went off.
Erlene Rivera said that because Coco was aware something was wrong, she was able to get her 92-year-old mother and other family members out safely before the flames could engulf the entire house.
Coco also saved the family’s Christmas gifts, which were stored in an area the fire hadn’t yet reached
- Read more: Bunny Saves DeKalb Family From Fire
Stowaway Freed For Thanksgiving
A cat that stowed away in an Abingdon, Maryland, family’s car during a recent road trip to New York was safely extricated from its hiding place behind the car’s dashboard.
After removing the interior panels, the Rescue Engine 4 crew first tried persuading the cat out with food and water. Ultimately, they used The Big Easy, a tool kit typically used to unlock vehicle doors.
“We’re happy to report that this thankful little traveler is back on the road and heading home just in time for Thanksgiving,” the Abingdon Fire Company said on Facebook.
- Read more: Stowaway Freed In Time For Thanksgiving
Parting Shots: Arctic Visitors
A pair of snowy owls are far from their Arctic home, but the Chicago Park District is hoping to make them feel right at home along Chicago’s shoreline, where they have settled.
“We’d like to offer them a great winter stay and welcome, but we need your help,” the Chicago Park District said recently on its Facebook page. “With that in mind, the park district has temporarily closed access to the Montrose Pier, which is where the two snowy owls have been spotted.”
With fluffy white plumage that blends perfectly into snowy landscapes, these majestic and mesmerizing birds have drawn crowds to the beach and pier near the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary on the city’s north side.
It’s not that rare to see snowy owls in Chicago, but the frequency of their trips that far south varies widely each year. A handful are usually spotted every winter, but sometimes there aren’t any. Because snowy owls are nomadic by nature, migration patterns are difficult to study.
With the pair spotted on the pier arriving earlier and staying longer than usual, there’s some speculation there may be an “irruption,” or boom migration, which could mean a dozen or more may winter in Chicago.
Park officials are asking visitors to stay a minimum of 300 away from the owls.
“These birds have traveled all the way from the Arctic and are considered vulnerable due to their population decreasing,” according to the park district. “Help give the owls a warm welcome to Chicago by being respectful and giving them space.”
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