Raccoons in Hawaii?

[DTisme]

Yup, cat. Poor thing.

[terracore]

Agree, cat.

[Radiopeg]

I am glad it does not seem to be a raccoon. The island chicken population would be endangered. I fought those varmints in CA. Nothing cute about those chicken killers-for-fun.

Peace and long life

[terracore]

Raccoons would be running in huge herds that blanket the landscape for as far as the eye can see and destroy everything in their path if it wasn't for rabies and canine distemper which knock them out in 5-7 year cycles. I remember in Oregon at the peak of the population cycle they would be everywhere and you couldn't go 24 hours without seeing one (unless you went to bed really early) and then suddenly... all gone and you could go a few years without running into one. We know Hawaii doesn't have rabies, I don't know about distemper, but definitely somebody bringing in a pregnant female raccoon would be a game changer for the ecosystem unless one of the tropical parasites have an effect.

[msrocket]

I too am glad that it does not appear to be a raccoon. If it is a cat, it's a very large one (hard to see the size and striped tail from the picture).
I have been told there are a fair amount of contraband critters here as pets. I wonder how they get in?

[terracore]

Smuggled in carry-on or US Mail / FedEx / UPS. People mail birds and reptiles all the time. I knew a guy who worked for FedEx and while investigating a rustling sound in a box they discovered an alligator.

[TomK]

I assume that was a small alligator...

[terracore]

I'm sure it got bigger every time the story was told.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I assume that was a small alligator...
...
I'm sure it got bigger every time the story was told.

I even heard they noticed a big lump in the gator's stomach. Officials carefully transported the critter to a vet's office for an x-ray to make certain it wasn't hiding some additional contraband. After studying the image the vet identified it most likely as - - either a dead racoon, but probably a cat.

"One may pretend knowledge of philosophy more successfully than that of arithmetic." -Last Aphorisms (or how about, one may pretend knowledge with an opinion more successfully than with facts)