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Traps yield raccoon, possum and cat after raccoon attack

Staff file photo by CHRIS URSO (2009)

Neighbors inspect raccoon traps and cages Sunday in Lakeland.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 6, 2009

Updated: 10/06/2009 05:52 pm

TAMPA - A raccoon, a possum and a feral cat were trapped overnight in separate cages in the Lakeland neighborhood where a 74-year-old woman was attacked by a pack of raccoons.

The raccoon will be tested for rabies, which will require it be euthanized. The possum also will be euthanized; the cat will be taken to animal control.

Traps will remain in the neighborhood "until we feel as though the level of concern has certainly been addressed," Polk County sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Wood said today.

On Saturday, Gretchen Whitted heard a noise outside her home on Waterford Drive and saw five raccoons in her backyard. The animals moved to her front yard and she opened her front door to wave them away. When she did, the raccoons attacked, biting and scratching her. Whitted fell and the animals continued to attack.

Deputies don't know whether the raccoons had rabies, so Whitted was treated for rabies as a precautionary measure, Wood said.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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