'Plague' of raccoons drunk on German beer raid homes and kill much-loved pets
Hordes of invasive raccoons hopped up on German beer have been raiding homes and slaughtering pets.
Residents in a number of locations across German, including Berlin, are facing bills of up to €10,000 (£8,540) after finding their homes completely trashed by the rodents. Germany's National Hunting Association (DJV) says it's trying to control the surging population and has killed a record 200,000 raccoons over the course of the past year.
However, experts say the hunting could be responsibl for the sharp rise in numbers of the "unbelievably adaptable animal". These animals, which are so cute at first sight, have become a plague in some parts of the country,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung a daily German newspaper, said. It added: “But the problem can no longer be eradicated, so we have to learn to live with them. In less than a century this species has made Germany its home. That’s a story of both success and suffering.”
Earlier this year, officials at the German Bundestag shared a video of a raccoon scaling their official government building (@hib_Nachrichten/Twitter)The creatures, which were introduced in Germany during the Nazi period, are said to have been gorging on pets while intoxicated after getting a taste for Germany's world-famous beer. Nature organisation Nabu spokesman Berhold Langenhorst told The Telegraph "raccoons are funny and clever...and they like beer" before recalling how he watched them knocking over bottles near a lake in order to get to the hoppy liquid inside.
The pests number 1,000 in Berlin alone, and have been spotted dwelling in school buildings, buses, and even local allotments. Earlier this summer, a building used by lawmakers in the centre of the city was invaded by a raccoon which had to be rescued after scrambling dozens of feet up the side of the structure.
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German Parliament officials uploaded a video of the incident showing animal rescuers clambering to capture the creature, which was slipping in and out of their clutches while teetering along a steel beam. Calling the visit a "welcome surprise", Bundestag officials added that they "gave him a little help" because he "could not find his way back alone".
Berlin's hunters are desperate for a green light to wipe out the rodents because they are a "real catastrophe for native wildlife", but Berlin's senate has refused, urging the public to lock their bins properly instead. Nabu says that raccoons are known for hunting down lapwings and red kites, which are endangered species.
Hunters at DJV say that raccoon meat - which is said to taste like goose and venison - should become a national dish and that their fur could be used to make "high-quality, eco-friendly clothes".
The species - which is native to North America - was brought to Germany in the 1920s, but the first pair was introduced around the time the Nazis seized power.
According to urban legends, it was Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring who first ordered they be released. Historians have now proven this theory wrong and it's more likely they were simply released by a local woodsman.
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