Overview
- Guests at Grand Geneva Resort’s Ristorante Brissago in Lake Geneva were startled around 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 when a raccoon dropped into the dining room and bit a patron who tried to catch it.
- Walworth County Sheriff’s deputies found the animal barricaded in a back dining room, contained it with a trash can, and body-camera video shows they briefly weighed using a Taser before deciding against it.
- Animal control and wildlife operator Matt Snorek used a catch pole and cage to trap and remove the raccoon, which he described as large and aggressive during the capture.
- Because the raccoon bit someone, authorities euthanized it for laboratory testing, and the Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services later confirmed a negative rabies result.
- The episode, captured on video and recounted by local officials, drew national coverage as responders emphasized the rarity of such encounters and noted that winter conditions can drive wildlife into buildings.