Hi everyone, I have a new neighbor that is .... rather unwelcome. The house next door has a raccoon living underneath the siding. Several months ago, I came home from work at night and witnessed a raccoon scurry into this hole in my neighbor's house. I managed to take some pictures/video and knocked on their door to show them, explaining where to find the nest and suggesting they may need to call a professional to have it removed. The woman was horrified and thanked me for letting them know.

It has been over 3 months and I noticed the hole hasn't closed up, but hadn't seen Rocky again until this morning. My dog had been chasing something in the yard at night, but we have a lot of stray cats in the neighborhood that occasionally wander back there. The neighbors on the other side of us leave cat food out, and I've even seen a raccoon at their automatic feeders.

Now I'm concerned Rocky has gotten a little too comfortable. My question: do your neighbors have an obligation to have a raccoon removed? He's very cute and I feel bad for him, but I have a dog and a baby in the house so I am very concerned about rabies. I don't think he's rabid as I've only seen him at dawn/dusk and he behaves normally, but that could change.

My neighbors have a dog too (a beagle) so I am shocked their dog isn't losing their ever loving mind having a raccoon under his roof. We are not close with these neighbors but friendly enough and I tried to be as non judgemental as possible when showing them the photos in March. But they've clearly done nothing about it, so I'm not sure if it's a financial issue or they just don't know who to call.

We live in East Providence down by the water, so wildlife is not unusual on our street. We have turkeys, skunks, coyotes, etc. all the time and I accept that they live here too, but Rocky has got to go. Any advice? Is there anyone I can call?

Thank you! 🦝

Neighbor Raccoon