
The Digest:
An urban raccoon in Virginia was captured sleeping off a bender in a liquor store bathroom after a ceiling-tile crash landing led to a rampage among the whisky bottles.
Key Points:
- A liquor store employee in Hanover County, Virginia, found a raccoon passed out on a bathroom floor amid smashed bottles.
- Animal control reported the raccoon "fell through one of the ceiling tiles and went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything."
- The animal was confirmed to be intoxicated and held at the local shelter until it sobered up.
- After hours of sleep with no injuries, it was released back into the wild with a warning about its "poor life choices."
- The incident aligns with studies showing raccoons are physically adapting to cities, developing shorter snouts and smaller brains.
- Intoxication in wildlife is common; the article cites examples from beer-stealing feral pigs in Australia to bears on "mad honey" in Turkey.
- Experts note trash provides an easy feast for animals willing to tolerate human presence, driving this urban evolution.
Sources: The Guardian, CNN, Fox News, AP