Raccoons vs. cats: the battle for campus territory

October 3, 2014

JACQUELINE ALMEIDA
CONTRIBUTOR

Students walking around University of San Diego at night may encounter a raccoon or two as they head across campus. The animals are often spotted near Camino and Founders Halls, as well as in the Valley where the Missions A and B dorms are located. Some students have even reported seeing raccoons outside of the Student Life Pavilion center, or SLP.

However, recently students have spotted not only the usual raccoons, who have been on campus for years, but also the introduction of cats. The cats are attracted to campus by USD community members who have left food for them near the Missions. The new arrival of the cats has lead to a territory war between the cats and raccoons. This battle for territory has been noticed by USD students, who have posted about it on Yik Yak, a popular app used by many USD freshman.

The raccoons on campus always come out at night and many freshmen are, for the first time, experiencing the late night run ins with them.

Freshman Jackie Berens is worried by the many raccoons she sees walking near Founders Hall.

“They’re creepy and they freak me out,” Berens said.

Some students have been wondering how the raccoons have affected USD’s feral cat population. Students said the cats, which live in the bushes along the tall staircase next to the parking garage that goes to Missions A and Missions B, haven’t been spotted lately.

Freshman Caitlin Teno has noticed the absence of the cats around the area.

“I used to see the cats every few days,” Teno said. “I thought it was nice someone was leaving food for them. Lately, however, the food bowls are empty and I’ve only seen raccoons on the stairs.”

Kimberly Carnot, director of Facilities Services and Planning, said the food bowls should not be there in the first place.

“We are aware that some USD community members leave food out to feed cats,” Carnot said. “This just encourages cats and other animals to stay on our campus and may attract less desirable animals.”

Many USD students have commented about the cats and raccoons on YikYak, the anonymous social media site that students use to post their thoughts about life at USD.

One USD student referenced the possibility of a feud between the animals.

“Waiting for an epic territorial battle between the cats and the raccoons,” the anonymous student posted on Yik Yak.

Another anonymous student posted a comment regarding the disappearance of the cats, saying the battle had come to an end.

“Apparently it already happened,” the student posted on Yik Yak. “The raccoons won.”

After seeing these posts on Yik Yak, some students wondered if there is any danger to having the raccoons on campus.

According to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, SPCA, raccoons are not dangerous to humans, as they are usually afraid of humans. However, once that fear is gone they may become territorial over food. If students are approached by a raccoon, the SPCA advises them to yell, stomp their feet, clap their hands and make noise to scare the raccoon away.

The biggest threat raccoons pose is as potential carriers of rabies. Although any warm-blooded mammal can get rabies, raccoons are considered one of the primary carriers of the virus in the United States. Signs of an infected raccoon include being dazed and wandering around, discharge from eyes or mouth, wet and matted hair on face, and repeated loud screaming.

However, the danger of contracting rabies from a raccoon is minimal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only one human has ever died from the raccoon strain of rabies.

Freshman Ally Poucket said she is not especially concerned about the raccoons having rabies.

“They don’t seem aggressive,” Poucket said. “They aren’t scared of humans.”

Poucket said she has even had a close encounter with one of USD’s raccoons.

“I was sitting on the smoking bench and they just came up and sat at my feet,” Poucket said. “We just let them be and they sat there for a little bit.”

Kimberly Carnot of the Facilities Management explained that there is not much that her department can do to fight the raccoons.

“Because USD is located on a canyon, we are essentially sharing a habitat with raccoons as well as other animals,” Carnot said. “USD does some prevention and removal but it is limited by funding, resources and the campus location.”

For now, the raccoons will just continue to cohabitate with USD students, while students wonder what happened to the cats once present on campus.

Kimberly Carnot, director of Facilities Services and Planning, said the food bowls should not be there in the first place.
“We are aware that some USD community members leave food out to feed cats,” Carnot said. “This just encourages cats and other animals to stay on our campus and may attract less desirable animals.”