In the past couple of years our neighborhood has seen a significant increase in the amount of street fighting, property damage and late night noise-making activity perpetrated by a particular type of local gang. This gang has no regard for private property. They will spend entire nights going where they choose, taking what they want and attacking any innocents they find along the way.

In an effort to promote public safety, I would like to pass along to everyone some of the ways you can identify this type of gang activity in your neighborhood. Be on the lookout for small furry individuals wearing black masks. They tend to congregate and become the most destructive around garbage cans and out buildings. If you see them, do not confront them. They are not afraid and will hiss at you. They will seek out and go after those who are smaller and weaker than themselves. This group particularly enjoys rumbling in the street with cats. They have no regard for their own personal hygiene and have the ability to pass along rabies to those with whom they make physical contact. They raise their offspring to be as continually violent as themselves and they actually have members of the community who are aiding and abetting their neighborhood-disrupting activities by providing them with food and sanctuary.

Who are they? They are the Raccoon Gang. Raccoons you say? Those cute furry little animals? How bad can they be? Actually, they can be really bad. In the last few years they have caused several hundred dollars worth of damage to my own property, caused endless hours of clean up for my family and I know of at least three pets in the neighborhood that have lost their lives to these supposed cute, harmless, little creatures. I am convinced they have forged some sort of unholy, mutually destructive alliance with the squirrel gang, but that is another story.

There are things you can do as a resident to help. First is to remove the easy and available human generated food sources from their diet, namely garbage cans and pet food left outside. Make sure these items are secure. Keep a closer eye on your pets and kids. In the past couple of months I have seen the raccoons out and about in the early morning during daylight hours. Do not feed these animals on purpose. They will not starve. They will simply move away in their quest for easy food. These are dangerous wild animals not domesticated pets. Please take a few preventive measures to help drive this destructive gang activity away from our community so we can all sleep a little better at night.