Stowaway raccoon evades capture until it goes out on a limb in Airport Heights

A raccoon that escaped from a shipment container in St. John's sent conservation officers on the hunt for the creature, that's not indigenousto Newfoundland and Labrador.

The provincial Department of Fisheries and Land Resources said it was notified on Aug.15 of the wayward raccoon but it escaped capture.

It was on the lam for two weeks until conservation officers received a reportWednesday of a raccoon in a tree on Oakmount Street in the AirportHeights neighbourhood of St. John's.

"A single male raccoon was tranquilized and later euthanized to ensure public health and safety. No other raccoons were suspected to be in the shipment container," a statement read.

1 to 2 captures a year

Fisheries and Land Resources says officers captureone to two raccoons per year on the Avalon Peninsula. In most cases they arrive in the province as stowaways on freight shipments.

"Given the prevalence of disease in raccoons and the inability to identify exactly where they originate, it is difficult to relocate them to other provinces," the statement said.

"Because they are not native to the island, these animals cannot be held in captivity here."

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Aside from the travelling raccoons, there is no evidence of a raccoon population on the island.