Raccoon Tased - Unfazed
Bill Hyde had a rough Tuesday night. He and his wife thought an intruder was in their house. Here’s the rest of the story from the Associated Press. I’m diggin’ how police chased the “suspect” through the house.
DALLAS — The masked burglar turned out to be a raccoon — and it wasn’t fazed by a “tase.”
Police got a 911 call Tuesday night from an 85-year-old man who heard noises near his front door. Officers surrounded the house and soon realized their intruder was a raccoon — which by then had gone down the chimney and gotten inside the house.
With officers in pursuit, the raccoon took off through the house, ripping up blinds, pulling down drapes, knocking over a lamp and toppling a flowerpot. Finally, Officer Daniel Ek tried to let it out the back door — and that’s when the raccoon apparently turned threatening.
Ek used his Taser on the animal, but the raccoon ran up the chimney with the stun gun’s prongs in its back. An animal control officer tried unsuccessfully to flush it out with ammonia.
A neighbor helped secure the front of the fireplace to keep the raccoon from getting back in the house. The next morning, when the neighbor returned to put a cap on the chimney, the raccoon had escaped.
From The Associated Press
Photo by Michael Mulvey/Dallas Morning News
October 24th, 2008 at 8:39 am
As safety engineer for this site let me just say: Please do not tase a raccoon if they get in your house. They are probably just looking for food or a nice place to stay. Plus, its not nice!
October 24th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Thank you, kimmy. I thought you were off today because of your upcoming birthday, but it’s nice to see that you’re hard at work, protecting this site.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:26 am
tommy, ever tased a raccoon in your police days?
October 24th, 2008 at 10:57 am
lovely downtown broadmoor and ritzy south highlands are raccoon heaven! i’ve made many a raccoon call in my years of patroling these neighborhoods. on one occasion a raccoon crawled into a apartment on anniston. single good lookin chick living there alone called the police and we chased the critter out thru the dryer vent hole….where he had came in. the lady stated she was too scared to stay in the apartment that night and was going to sleep with the guy downstairs who had been trying to coax her into bed anyway. im hoping he made a contribution to the animal welfare fund.
we didnt get tasers till about 6 months after i retired….i wish we had them long before that….would have saved me from denting my flashlight on the heads of scofflaws. (dontcha luv that word?) its not smart to taser raccoons or any other animal. the stunning effect only lasts a few seconds then you got a 20 pound ball of fur, fangs, claws and fury.
but in reality …..life aint a disney nature cartoon and a wild animal in your home is dangerious.
i seem to be rambling this morning…..new flavor creamer for my coffee (mint mocha) and im drinking more caffene than i should…..
October 24th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Safety Engineer’s do not stop because it’s their birthdays, I mean you have one coming up and are you off?? NO MAM!!
October 24th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Nice perspective there, tommy!
kimmy, yes, but I’ve arranged for the mail to stop on my birthday. And none of us will have to go to work on that day, either.
October 24th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
The raccoon’s last words were, “Don’t tase me bro!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzkd_m4ivmc
October 27th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I give the police credit for giving chase. You know it must have scared those old people out of their wits.