A boozed-up raccoon who passed out in a store’s liquor aisle is now suspected of a series of break-ins including a karate studio and a driving licence office
A cute but criminal raccoon who won the world’s hearts with a boozy break-in at a store in Virginia is now in the frame for a string of similar crimes.
The stripey bandit went viral last week after wrecking the shop’s liquor aisle before passing out facedown in the toilet. But the “trashed panda” might well be a repeat offender according to an animal control expert who’s been on the trail of the lawless mammal, reports the BBC.
“Supposedly, this is the third break-in he’s had,” said Officer Samantha Martin. She also fears this won’t be the last we hear of the furry offender. “He’ll be back. He’s not a dummy.”
The raccoon is now suspected of breaking into a karate studio and raiding the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for snacks.
After being found passed out in the bathroom of the Ashland liquor store two days after Thanksgiving, the cat-sized outlaw was released back into the wild after sobering up.
Raccoons like the “trashed panda” are getting so comfortable around humans that a new study suggests they’re even becoming “domesticated”. Researchers found that urban raccoons now have shorter snouts than rural ones, a key change when animals abandon the wild.
Drawn by trash to live along us, raccoons might now start to show other domestic traits such as smaller teeth, curlier tails, smaller brains and floppier ears, said Dr Raffaela Lesch from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Officer Martin is certain the masked raider will strike the shopping centre again.
“This is not the first time he’s been in one of the buildings,” she told the county government’s official podcast, Hear in Hanover, on Thursday. “He was in the karate studio. I think he got into the DMV [and] ate some of their snacks one time,” she said.
The county has been selling shirts with the logo “trashed panda” and has already raised $207,000 (£155,000) for renovating and expanding its shelter, Ms Martin said.
The booze-loving creature was living his best life when he was detained in the liquor store and he stayed in good spirits even after being placed in the county kennel, she said.
“I just set him in there, [and] let him kinda relax for a few hours. The sun was beating on him so he was feeling good.” He was released about a mile from the shopping complex, she added. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just having a good time.”
The story has gone viral, in her view, because it’s so “relatable”.
“Everybody’s been there,” she says. “Everybody’s had a few extra and passed out by the toilet, and hopes somebody can come get you the next morning.”
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