An out-of-state raccoon gave workers and animal control a fright after sneaking into a warehouse in Boulder, Colorado, in a truckload of pallets.
The Boulder Police Department (BPD) shared the raccoon’s wild tale on February 2, 2023, following the critter’s escapades in a local distribution center.
“Local distribution center employees had spotted the raccoon when he hopped off their truck the night before inside their distribution center. The truck was hauling pallets from Louisville and the raccoon crawled up in between them. When the truck unloaded at the distribution center in Boulder, the raccoon went with them. Employees looked but could not find him again until the evening when they saw him squished—upside down—between lumber along the wall,” BPD explained.
The warehouse workers called police and BPD’s Animal Protection Supervisor J. Whittle spent 45 minutes attempting to peacefully remove the raccoon, but “he was pretty agitated at that point” and there was concern that the animal might bite.
The raccoon eventually escaped after Whittle slid a panel up. The animal began running through the warehouse while Whittle and workers tried to catch and kennel him.
“He slid through the catch pole once. I said, ‘I got him! I don’t got him!’” Whittle said.
“That’s when the one employee showed up clutch with the kennel. I grabbed the trash can and the raccoon darted away from that right into the kennel,” she said.
Once the raccoon was captured, Whittle got the name of the Louisville location where the truck picked up the pallets and arranged for the raccoon to return home.
“He had plenty of hiding spots and trees and dumpsters,” she said, “and I hope he found his family and friends back in Louisville.”
Check out video of the incident from BPD below.
It might not be Phil the groundhog or an @boulderosmp bear taking 400 selfies but we think this video of our Animal Protection supervisor trying to free, then capture then safely release this raccoon from a local business will make your day #GroundhogDay2023 #bouldercolorado pic.twitter.com/16mFbPBEhP
— Boulder Police Dept. (@boulderpolice) February 2, 2023