Swarms of marauding raccoons 'released on Hermann Goering's orders' spark chaos in German cities triggering explosions, guzzling booze and invading homes
Football fans flooding into Germany for Euro 2024 may expect to contend with disgruntled locals, rival supporters or even the German police - but there's one more foe of which they must be wary.
The humble raccoon, often seen as a cute and cuddly furry friend with humanlike hands and a loveable expression, has become a blight in several German cities, breaking into houses and raiding rubbish bins - all while enjoying a spot of booze.
Raccoons are native to North America but were introduced to Germany in the 1930s when the head of a local forestry association decided to release four of the tiny terrors onto the banks of the Eder River close to the Edersee Dam.
This move earned them the moniker 'Nazi raccoons', as the infamous Hermann Goering - commander of Hitler's fearsome Luftwaffe during World War II - was in charge of forestry and nature conservation at the time of their introduction.
With no natural predators, the population exploded - so much so that there are now around 2 million raccoons thought to be spread around Germany.
Euro 2024 organisers expect to host the same number of football fans from across the continent and beyond over the course of the month-long tournament, and raccoons have become so habituated that the unsuspecting footy nut could find themselves being chased by the fearless furballs - or perhaps having their beers stolen.
Dozens of raccoons are seen flooding German streets
The humble raccoon, often seen as a cute and cuddly furry friend with humanlike hands and a loveable expression, has become a blight in several German cities
Raccoons are native to North America but were introduced to Germany in the 1930s when the head of a local forestry association decided to release four of the tiny terrors onto the banks of the Eder river close to the Edersee Dam
With no natural predators, the population exploded - so much so that there are now around 2 million raccoons thought to be spread around Germany
A raccoon is seen scaling an apartment block as a disgruntled resident tries to shoo it away
Clips have shown them rifling through waste bins and getting drunk on spilt booze - which of course leads to yet more chaos
A slew of footage out of Germany has shown raccoons in all manner of strange and often chaotic scenarios.
They have earned a reputation for sneaking into people's homes and settling in their lofts, or lounging on balconies in apartment buildings.
Other clips have shown them rifling through waste bins and getting drunk on spilt booze - which of course leads to yet more chaos.
In one particularly frustrating incident, a raccoon managed to somehow climb a 130-ft-tall crane at a building site before nesting in the operator's cab, forcing police to scale the structure and eject the furious mammal from its new nest.
The German city of Kassel, close to the dam where the raccoons were first released in the centre of the country, is known nationwide as the animals' 'hometown' and has leaned into the joke, marketing itself as the raccoon 'capital of Europe'.
Footage taken by Kassel residents shows hordes of raccoons flooding the streets, particularly at night when they appear far more active.
People have been strongly discouraged from feeding them for fear they will become even more bold.
More than 30,000 raccoons are believed to be living in and around the city of 200,000 people, meaning there is roughly one raccoon for every six human inhabitants.
But the animals have spread far and wide, overrunning the German countryside and invading other towns and cities, so much so that Germany's capital - some 200 miles from Kassel - has been forced to contend with their meddling.
People have been strongly discouraged from feeding them for fear they will become even more bold
Raccoons are now seen as an invasive species in Germany and are routinely culled
A raccoon goes bin diving in Kassel - the 'raccoon capital of Europe'
Hunter Michael Reiss hangs skinned raccoons in the meat processing room at his wild butcher farm shop 'Wildererhuette', where he processes racoon meat into sausages and meatballs, in Kade, state Saxony-Anhalt, Germany April 11, 2024
Some 200,000 raccoons were caught and killed last year by hunters and pest control firms, who in the absence of firearms use traps to snare the cheeky mammals
In 2017, a raccoon triggered an explosion at a powerplant in the Siemensstadt neighbourhood of west Berlin, somehow managing to short-circuit a 110,000-volt transformer before scarpering into the nearby woods.
German nature authorities are now forced to perform regular culls of the animals to prevent them from decimating ecosystems.
They are seen as an invasive species, with conservationists warning bird and reptile life in German woods and forests are at risk because the raccoons can run wild with no threat from predators.
Some 200,000 raccoons were caught and killed last year by hunters and pest control firms, who in the absence of firearms use traps to snare the cheeky mammals.
Some butchers have even taken to processing raccoon meat given its availability.
One butcher in particular, Michael Reiss, launched the 'Wildererhuette' farm shop in the town of Kade in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt region, and has started selling raccoon sausages and meatballs to curious locals.
