Marga Trautmann-Winter, with a trapped raccoon behind her, says the animals eat fruit from her trees and leave her backyard, where her grandchildren like to play, covered in droppings. "They look very smart, but I think they are very dangerous," she says. (Henry Chu / Los Angeles Times / September 27, 2012)

Germans can do nothing as the imported pests raid gardens, get into roofs and even ride the subway, filling an ecological niche unmolested by natural predators.
By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times

September 26, 2012, 6:34 p.m.

NIESTE, Germany — The masked intruders who come regularly after dark don't fill Marga Trautmann-Winter with dread so much as irritation — lots of it.

She finds evidence of their larceny at daybreak in her backyard, where plums have been pilfered, cherries picked and apples appropriated from her small orchard. But if she's lucky, she manages to turn the tables and ensnare one of the thieves, as has happened about 20 times in the last two years, including one recent morning.

The bandit lay curled up in a metal cage, its drowsy expression turning to wariness, then narrow-eyed aggression as Trautmann-Winter approached.

"They look very smart, but I think they are very dangerous," she said, as the captive hissed and bared its teeth. "And they are a problem for us."

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-germany-raccoons-20120927,0,4292188.story?page=1