Raccoons spread more than garbage

Re Rocky Raccoon’s big city bed of roses, Insight

June 28 It is somewhat disturbing to read the romanticizing of the raccoon, praising its adaptive intelligence and ability to “live the life of Riley . . . wanting to know what time dinner’s being served.”

Instead of praising and celebrating this pesky beast, we should be addressing the real threat these creatures pose to our health, and be brave enough to authorize more definitive management strategies.

Raccoons not only spread garbage all over the streets, but they spread disease to humans and their pets. The raccoon gastrointestinal tract is a sewer for the infestation of baylisascaris, a roundworm that is excreted in raccoon feces — not uncommonly found on people’s backyard decks, lawns and flower beds.

One may become exposed to the roundworm larvae when cleaning up the dry dust of stool. This roundworm can infect people as well as a variety of other animals, including dogs.

Human infections can be severe if the parasites invade the eye (ocular larva migrans), organs (visceral larva migrans) or the brain (neural larva migrans). Rabies is another potential infectious disease risk from raccoons battling with rats.

These diseases are a threat to us all, including our pets. The answer to the raccoon problem is not a tighter green bin, but tighter control over the raccoon population. Trap them, cull them, make hats and coats of them for the needy, but don’t allow them to use your backyard or let “their brazenness give you a chuckle.”

Let’s address this serious problem with serious action. Dr. Lawrence B. Cohen, Division of Gastroenterology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre