Alias 0591 from the Netherlands, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
ASHLAND, Va. — A Virginia liquor store is cleaning up after an uninvited late night customer crashed through the ceiling, raided the spirits aisle and passed out on the bathroom floor. Staff at the Ashland ABC store arrived after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday to find shattered whisky bottles, glass soaking in puddles of booze and one very drunk raccoon sprawled between the toilet and the garbage bin.
Investigators determined the animal had fallen through a ceiling tile, landed inside the store and then moved straight to the bottom shelf, knocking bottles to the floor and sampling what it could before eventually staggering into the washroom. By the time employees arrived, the so called masked bandit had given up its rampage and settled into what looked like a deep, alcohol assisted sleep.
Local animal control officers collected the raccoon and took it to the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter, where it was monitored until it sobered up. The animal showed no signs of injury and was later released back into the wild, its brief career in smash and grab mixology apparently over except for whatever headache and regrets might follow.
The store has swept up the glass, mopped the floors and resumed normal business, although staff now have first hand experience in just how well raccoons adapt to life around humans and their leftovers. For now, the hope is that the animal’s next forage sticks to garbage cans and compost bins, and that the ceiling remains firmly in place for the rest of the holiday season.
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