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Each year, Patterson resident Jim Downing notices giant, furry cat-like creatures traipsing by his home, gazing at people with glowing marble-like eyes.

“They’re cuter than heck, and they’ll just sit there and look at you,” he said.

Believe it or not, those critters are raccoons, and though they are native to the region, they seem to be getting more attention lately.

Several Patterson residents say they have noticed them for the first time this year, and many local residents say raccoon encounters appear to be on the rise.

“They’re getting a little bolder as far as coming out,” Amberina Court resident Frank Ponce said.

Ponce said raccoons regularly knock over a tin of cat food at his house. He has known about raccoons being active in the area for close to two years, but he did not see one until nearly two months ago.

Ponce said he has had as many as three in his backyard at one time, adding that neighborhood dogs often announce their arrival.

South Del Puerto Avenue resident Madeleine Silveira said she has lived in Patterson for 40 years and never spotted a raccoon — until this year.

“I was just walking close to our back fence,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Downing said it appears the raccoons come via the Patterson Irrigation District canal on Sperry Avenue.
“That’s kind of like their highway,” he said.

Though Downing said neighbors have reported several of the creatures this year, he said he personally has only seen two. He has trapped about five or six raccoons over the years and released them back into the wild.

Ponce said none of the raccoons he’s seen have been aggressive toward humans, though he heard that one had killed a neighbor’s cat.

However, Christine Nicasio, executive director of the Hughson-based Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center, said raccoons are nothing to be trifled with.

“A full-grown raccoon can tear you up,” she said. “They have pretty vicious teeth and claws.”

The wildlife care center helps rehabilitate orphaned and injured animals. Nicasio said raccoons are increasingly turning up in residential areas throughout Stanislaus County as residential development encroaches upon their living area.

“They belong there,” she said. “It’s their habitat.”

Raccoons, known to travel along waterways, are adept with their hands, she said. Nicasio noted that a raccoon at the wildlife care center routinely snuck out of its cage at night and defecated in a footbath before sneaking back in again.

“They’re pretty crafty little things,” she said.

Philosophies vary about what to do with the creatures. Ponce said most people in his neighborhood are sympathetic toward them.

“Nobody wants them destroyed,” Ponce said. “Everybody wants them to be caught and moved to another place.”

Still, raccoons can carry diseases — including rabies, canine distemper and encephalitis — according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a result, any raccoon caught by the agriculture department’s wildlife service, which is under contract with the Stanislaus County Agricultural Commissioner’s office to trap the critters, are euthanized according to state Department of Fish and Game guidelines.

“We can’t relocate them (because of) disease issues,” said Wade Carlson, district supervisor with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s wildlife service.

Carlson said raccoons annually show up in the Patterson and Newman areas, and he does not know of any statistics indicating they are on the rise.

    Still, he noted wildlife services staff are only aware of raccoons that have been reported.

He said people can take preventative steps to keep raccoons at bay. For example, homeowners can use insecticide on their grass to kill grubs that are a raccoon food source, and they can remove any fruit sitting on the ground. They should also keep all pet food indoors at night and make sure to keep trash lids tightly sealed. The federal agriculture department also recommends that foundation vents be fitted with slotted covers and that attic vents and chimneys be screened off.

Nicasio said raccoons also hate lights and loud music — and both can be used as a deterrent.
Both Nicasio and Carlson stressed that people must never feed raccoons. That can make the scavengers dependent upon humans, Nicasio said.

One thing is clear — interactions with the creatures will likely continue as housing construction stretches farther into rural areas. Nicasio said people within raccoon habitat will have to grow accustomed to living alongside the creatures, though she said it’s sad to hear that some raccoons just sit and stare as people walk by, a sign that they’re getting used to humans as neighbors.

“They should actually look at you and take off,” she said.

To reach Jonathan Partridge at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it