'We love and hate them' The German city overrun by raccoons

In Kassel, everyone has a story about raccoons. Some struggle with a family of them that moved into their roof and simply will not leave.

- By Patrick Greenfield KASSEL

Others recount how a picnic in the park turned into an ambush as gangs of the black and white animals, Waschbären in German, raided the food. Almost everyone seems to have a neighbour who feeds them, to the annoyance of the entire street.

"We are the raccoon city. They are everywhere," said Lars, a Kassel resident, as he tended his allotment by Karlsaue park in the fading light. "When it's a bit darker, they will come out. I sit here in my garden at night and the raccoons come. If your bag is here, they will steal your banana or something. They have no predators, so they are the chiefs. They can do what they want. We love them but we also hate them."

While no one knows the exact number, there are thousands of raccoons in this central German city, a hotspot for the estimated 1.5 million that live across the country.

The omnivorous mammal, native to North America, was brought to Nazi Germany in the 1930s for fur farming, but escaping animals and intentional introductions helped establish a large wild population in the following years. Today, they are increasingly spotted across Europe, with sightings in France, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Austria and elsewhere.