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(Journalist)
– In Toronto, which is emerging from a strict multi-month lockdown next week, the pandemic has brought residents closer to their local wildlife – and interactions haven’t always gone smoothly. Public health officials say there has been a 62% increase in reports of people scratched or bitten by raccoons, reports the CBC. Calls to Toronto Animal Services about sick or injured raccoons have more than tripled year over year to more than 13,000 in 2020. Authorities say raccoons are not getting more aggressive, but the people who stay behind. home or take more walks in their neighborhood encounter sick animals being bitten when they try to take care of them on their own. Some people have also been bitten or scratched while petting or feeding wild raccoons, which authorities strongly advise against.
“It’s really just that people are stupid,” says Derick McChesney, owner of a wildlife control company, according to the Guardian. “I’m face to face with them pretty much every day. You can be aggressive, especially if there are babies. But for the most part, nothing has really changed with them. Instead, people are no longer at home and unfortunately they are also stupid. ”McChesney says that many people who stay at home all day long realize for the first time that raccoons live in their attics or crawl spaces. “They have always had a unique ability to determine where the quiet areas of the house are,” he says. “They love to nestle directly above the master bedroom” because it’s usually quiet during the day, he says. (Raccoons are usually nocturnal, but distemper can cause them to act like “zombies” during the day.)
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