gives me chills.”
Klein’s encounter with the
seemingly sick raccoon mirrored
others’ daytime run-ins
with the typically nocturnal
animals, which this fall began
spreading the distemper virus
in Prospect Park , after an
earlier outbreak plagued raccoons
in Manhattan’s Central
Park over the summer.
Distemper — which is
spread by contact with infected
animals’ saliva, or fl uids
in their coughs and sneezes
— doesn’t affect humans, but
the virus can prove deadly to
pups, which, like raccoons,
will suffer brain and nervoussystem
damage resulting in
severe confusion and death if
left untreated.
Following confi rmation
of the distemper outbreak
STAY AWAY: Dog walker Randi Lass spotted this sickly raccoon in Windsor Terrace on Nov. 25. Randi Lass
among area raccoons, Department
of Parks and Recreation
offi cials instituted a still in effect
advisory to locals, warning
them to leash their dogs,
avoid wildlife, and seek immediate
treatment if they or their
mutts are scratched or bitten
by a feral critter in Brooklyn’s
Backyard.
Agency workers to date collected
Still Jewish Family owned
and Independently operated
BY COLIN MIXSON
Addled raccoons possibly infected
with the dog-killing distemper
virus are wandering
out of Prospect Park and onto
the streets of surrounding
neighborhoods, according to
residents who reported no less
than three sightings, including
one Kensington woman
who claimed the masked bandits
are literally falling from
the sky.
Local Phyllis Klein said a
“huge” raccoon fell — either
from a tree, or off the side of
a building — feet from her
head during a midday Dec. 11
stroll along E. Seventh Street
between Church and Caton avenues,
before the beast limped
off in a daze.
“I wish I could unsee
it,” she said. “It still
STILL SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF BROOKLYN AT OUR NEW LOCATION
1700 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Our helpful and experienced staff remains the same
Our telephone number remains the same
718-338-1500
COURIER L 6 IFE, DEC. 21–27, 2018 M B G
some 87 Prospect Park
raccoons — dead and alive —
to be tested for the virus, of
which, only seven tested positive,
with the most recent positive
case dating back to Oct.
23, according to Parks spokeswoman
Meghan Lalor.
But some Brooklynites,
like Klein, claimed to spot sick
raccoons in Kensington and
Windsor Terrace long after
the last animal from the park
tested positive for distemper,
suggesting the borough’s
masked bandits may be unwittingly
transporting the virus
beyond the park while searching
for food.
Dog walker Randi Lass
said she came in contact with
Raccoons
on the run!
Apparently sick critters seen on streets
following distemper outbreak in P’Park
Continued on page 27