Racoons invade Germany

The war has begun....

It's an invasion that has many in Germany up in arms. Literally. The raccoon population is exploding in the country -- as witnessed by the rapidly increasing numbers of them being shot by German hunters -- and nature lovers are not happy. Worse, the furry interlopers have no natural predators here and are therefore free to breed at their leisure.

They are not making themselves popular. Wine-makers in the region of Annenwalde in the state of Brandenburg have taken to protecting their vines from raccoons with electric fences and guard dogs, while cherry farmers in Witzenhausen in Hesse state complain that the 'coons steal their fruit.

[snip]

Like many animals considered pests, raccoons share several characteristics with humans. They are clever, adaptable omnivores, equipped with thumbs which allow them to, among other things, wash their food -- a habit which earned them their name in German, Waschbären ("wash bears").

Meanwhile the wily raccoons have realised they will probably prosper better in urban areas, far from hunters' guns. "There are now significantly more raccoons living in cities than in the countryside," says Michler.

Update: They are probably the advance guard or a decoy! The squirrels will probably catapult in by air.
Two spies caught passing military plans:

Update: I think this explains their move to Germany:

HIBERNIA, Ind., March 12 After a four-year hiatus the official raccoon cook for the Community Building fundraiser in Hibernia, Ind., has returned.

LaVeran Lorenz, 86, has once again agreed cook raccoon, with some help with the cleaning, for the March 24 event, the Indianapolis Star reported.

It's not like cleaning a chicken, I'll tell you that, said Dina Woods, one of those helping to clean raccoons for cooking. Hunters have caught about 103 so far.

When they told us, we'd already caught 40, said hunter Allus Franklin. Lorenz had been the main raccoon cook for every fundraiser since the early 1950s but she stepped down in 2002. Since then, the 21 members of the Owen Township Homemakers have prepared chili and ham and beans for fundraisers, the Star said.