Police Assure West Virginia Residents Those Weird Raccoons They Saw are Just Drunk, Not Rabid
It’s hard for raccoons to get their tiny hands on hard apple cider, but the critters of Milton, West Virginia, just found the next best thing.
According to NBC5, the local trash pandas (the Internet’s affectionate pet name for raccoons) are getting drunk off fermented crab apples, which turned boozy after falling off neighborhood trees.
The Milton Police Department discovered the were dealing with furry sots after receiving several calls from residents who had spotted disoriented raccoons that they feared were rabid.
When authorities responded to these calls and collected the creatures, then soon realized that they weren’t rabid, just a little tipsy. The police have picked up several of these drunken animals so far, according to the department’s Facebook page. After taking the raccoons into custody, officers allowed them to sober up before releasing them back into the wild unharmed.
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While it seems most of the raccoons in the Milton area are sloshed and not rabid, authorities still don’t want to take any chances.
“If you see a staggering and disoriented raccoon please do not approach it. It could be sick so call us and we’ll take care of it,” the police department advised on Facebook.
