A White Rock man says he no longer feels safe after a gaze of raccoons punched a hole in his ceiling and ransacked his house.
Ken Rechik, who lives on Sunset Drive, was vacationing in Costa Rica when he received a call from his neighbour last week that someone B次元官网网址� or something B次元官网网址� had broken into his house.
He cut his trip short and came home as quickly as he could, Rechik told Peace Arch B次元官网网址 on Monday.
B次元官网网址淲e went into the house and there was a gaping hole in the garage and tracks all over, it was raccoons,B次元官网网址� Rechik said.
Rechik took a PAN reporter for a tour of his home Monday. There was a hole, about a foot in diameter, in the 10-foot ceiling of his garage. The raccoons, Rechik said, ripped away protective wiring and dug a hole through his wooden-shingle roof to get access to the garage attic.
There was evidence to suggest that the raccoons spent significant time in the garage: the garage door was engraved with scratch marks and items were overturned and scattered about. The garage still had the musky smell of animal.
From the garage, the raccoons apparently climbed up a wall to enter the house through an open bathroom window.
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Inside, they ate mounds of sugar, smashed RechikB次元官网网址檚 motherB次元官网网址檚 crystal, overturned tables, went through drawers, dug up and overturned nearly every plant in the house, chewed wires, ate a speaker, and defecated and soaked the carpet with urine.
It seems the only thing the raccoons didnB次元官网网址檛 do, oddly enough, was go through the pantry.
ItB次元官网网址檚 not the first time Rechik has had trouble with the animals, but itB次元官网网址檚 the first time they were inside his house.
B次元官网网址淚 phoned a roofer, now IB次元官网网址檓 going to put wire right through across (the roof). Put barbed wire, make it look like a (Third-World) house, I donB次元官网网址檛 give aB次元官网网址�. Do you want to come home to this?B次元官网网址�
Rechik says he feels helpless in his battle against the raccoons. ItB次元官网网址檚 not a policing issue, and the City of White Rock has been little help, he said. However, former councillor Bill Lawrence brought him a raccoon trap a couple years back.
B次元官网网址淚 would have rather it be a burglar because at least the cops will do something. The cops donB次元官网网址檛 do anything, the city doesnB次元官网网址檛 do anything and itB次元官网网址檚 not the first time,B次元官网网址� Rechik said.
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He said the raccoon problem has gotten worse over the last three years, and one recently killed a neighbourhood cat.
B次元官网网址淲hat do I have to protect me? Nothing. What am I going to do? Throw a spoon at them? These are aggressive, theyB次元官网网址檙e getting more and more aggressive.B次元官网网址�
Rechik, noting that heB次元官网网址檚 lived at the property for 25 years and has paid more than $100,000 in property taxes, says the city should be doing more work on raccoon management.
City officials were not immediately able to comment.
