680 West End Avenue.
A raccoon somehow scrambled into the window of an 8th floor apartment at 680 West End Avenue on the corner of 93rd Street on Tuesday morning, surprising an 8-year-old boy who was getting ready for school, ABC News reported.
8-year-old Rio Mullins was getting ready for school Tuesday morning on West End Avenue when a raccoon apparently got in through a window. When Mullins spotted the furry intruder, he says it stood up and looked right at him.
“I was like, ‘what?!’ – I was so scared, I just immediately shut the door. I was like, creeped out. I didn’t want to go in my room. It smelled,” Mullins said.
Police told ABC News that they think the critter climbed the fire escape.
“The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit responded to the incident and captured the critter, which appeared docile, in a cage,” the Post reported. “Authorities will either bring the raccoon to the Animal Care Centers of NYC or release it into nearby Riverside Park, an officer at the scene said.”
If only Maurice Sendak were alive to turn this into an amazing illustrated children’s book.
If Rio’s parents read this, please tell me you have a photo you can send us?
Have a sudden hankering for raccoon pictures? This one in Central Park is pretty adorable.
I hope they don’t bring it to NYCACC as they will just euthanize it as they do every animal that goes through their doors. Why mayor Deblasio doesn’t do something about this is beyond me. We kill healthy animals every single day of the week
These city vermin are sure sophisticated!
They are not vermin!! They are wonderful animals living in nature as intended!!
Even in the country, they are vermin! Getting into everything! Besides We ARE NOT in the WILD! We live in a city! Nature is sparse here, if you haven’t noticed!
There is a large family of raccoons living in Riverside Park around 90/91sts, up in a tree. There is also at least one skunk, recently seen in a garbage area in the front of one of the brownstones on WEA between 90 and 91st!
How can you be joking around like this? Raccoons are dangerous, aggressive, can leap at your face, and can be carry disease! There is a plethora of raccoons in the UWS. We see them on our fire escapes all the time! That it came INTO a child’s room is cause for alarm, not charm! Asking the parents for photos? This is not a cute little darling bird or something.They do not belong inside an apartment, especially in a child’s room.
Subletting to raccoons is not allowed.
😉
Good catch, Jean! Everyone, grab your pitchforks!
Hope they tested the animal for rabies.
I hope the animals are treated humanely. I love walking in Riverside park around 108th street at dusk and seeing a family of raccoons peering out above from the large stones in the park wall. It’s heartening to see examples where we can live respectfully and harmoniously with wildlife.
If it was out in the morning, it’s probably a mother looking for food..
I had a great joke too, then I read that the victim was only 8…. Ugh.
I have seem two raccoons right outside my window hanging on to the adjacent scaffolding in the past couple of years. I was told that if a raccoon is seen in the daytime, it is rabid. Not sure if this is true. Also I was told by the doorman of this adjacent building that a raccoon was caught in a woman’s apartment on the 12th floor. It apparently had climbed up the side of the building. Location : 88th and West End, no fire escapes. Same area as the story’s raccoon.
I learned from a wildlife expert that it is not uncommon for raccoons to be seen during the day, especially mothers looking for food for their young. Rabid raccoons are more likely to display odd behaviors, like walking in circles.
In this age of fake news, I would ordinarily not believe this for one second.However, it is such a fantastic New York story that I choose to BELIEVE!
Someone told me of Raccoons : maybe @ Hamilton Heights X Central Harlem. Maybe that was an animal , some officers tried to catch — in vain, in another nabe — I saw some of the search. Wot, that animal was wile…. There was 1 upSTate N.Y., more than 50 years ago. No rabies, please.
I saw one climbing straight up the stone wall in Morningside Park. They will go anywhere for a snack.
Give me 42nd Street!
I saw a raccoon drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s and his hair was perfect.
I saw an UWSer in yoga pants drinking a kale smoothie at Trader Joe’s and her hair was disheveled.
LOL @Leon
Werewolves in NYC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Send lawyers, guns, and money.
I agree with Maria. Raccoons look
cute, but they can be very dangerous
even when they don’t have rabies.
Unlike most other animals that live
near humans, raccoons have NO FEAR
OF US, they are very powerful,
and their behavior is unpredictable.
It’s best to think of them as
very small bears, but much less
shy than bears. They are attracted
to anything that smells edible,
or anything that sparks their
curiosity.
That boy did exactly the right
thing. Get something impregnable
between you and the raccoon and
call for help.
I’d rather they returned
the raccoon to Bear Mountain
State Park in Sullivan County
than to Riverside Park.
Why do
you
write like
this?
Awwwww….that is so cute.
Do you think if I dangled a chicken leg or something out my window I could get a visit from one of those little cutie pies??
Ever since “the incident” my family isn’t allowed to adopt dogs or cats anymore but one of these would be a real big hit with the kiddos.
First, NYC raccoons are part of a new splitting off of the raccoon family tree, according to a show on Nature. Citified raccoons have very different traits from their shy, nocturnal country cousins. Our are out in the Ramble all day and night, and they are NOT rabid!!! They are very used to people and see us as a readily available food source. That’s because the tourists, despite signs, continue to feed them. Stupid, they are not. See people= beg (adorably, on hind legs with front paws in a prayer position) = get all sorts of snacks.
That said, they are precious and entertaining to see but they are still wild animals. They snarl, growl, and will bite if threatened. Look, take photos, but keep your distance…and don’t feed them! They are really overweight!
Release it into RSPark?!? Wtf?!? These are rats with a fashion sense. You wouldn’t release a rat, you’d kill it. These rodents bring disease and danger to our parks and now our homes.
That’s what you get for living in the WILD, WILD East
Sometimes when I go jogging around 6:00am outside Riverside Park, I would see a small group of raccoons running about in the park. These bandit eyed cuties can get dangerously close to you if they think you’re going to feed them. They’re getting more bold & brazen if they are hungry.
I remembered an online video where I saw a lady in a Canadian park feeding 10 Raccoons in broad daylight with people & cars nearby. It reminds me of feeding pigeons.
I saw a raccoon up a tree on 100th between Amsterdam and Columbus a couple weeks ago. It was night–a couple had spotted it and was taking a picture.
I live near the park. One night last month I awoke to a slight bumping sound in the lighted walk-in closet. Moths don’t get that big, it was a bat, possibly hindered by my bright closet ceiling light.
I propped the front door open onto corridor and windows, turned off my apartment light, went to the floor with a blanket to protect my eyes and hair, and as helpfully as I could sound, repeated “Go out the door!” It did.
I once woke up on a rainy Saturday night to the sound of scratching at my 3rd floor bedroom window (also the window onto the fire escape). When I pulled back the drape, I saw a young raccoon sitting there, pawing at the window frame. He gave me such a look, like “WTF do you want?” that I had to laugh. But then he did waddle away, maybe to scratch at someone else’s window.