Residents Frustrated, Worried As Raccoons Overrun Wilkinsburg

WILKINSBURG (KDKA) -- People in Wilkinsburg say they're suffering through an invasion of raccoons.

Stefanie Stephens lives on Laketon Road and says the problem has become unbearable.

"We're like held hostage in our own home," said Stephens.

Emily Jones says one threatened to attack her when she tried to shoo it off her porch.

Stephens says an 87-year-old woman may have had the worst encounter of all: "She went to answer the telephone and when she came back, two raccoons had come through her basement into her dining room and were at her dining room table eating her breakfast."

Wilkinsburg Council President Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson says this problem is well known.

"Just about every neighborhood in Wilkinsburg has a raccoon issue," she said.

She says the borough doesn't have the money to trap them and that the local company that trapped them has gone out of business.

She hopes a new code enforcement director will help by attacking another problem: vacant buildings that have become a home for the raccoons.

Stephens agrees that something needs to be done about the vacant buildings near her where raccoons can get in and out of.

She says she and her family are fed up, "I'm very frustrated."

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter