Overview

• Trapping data show 275 raccoons captured in Gironde between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, with totals continuing to rise.
• Trappers say raccoons defeat standard cages, spurring upgrades with anti-return doors and the use of marshmallows as targeted bait.
• Experts detail mounting impacts on farms and wildlife, including poultry raids, fruit damage, predation on nesting birds and rare amphibians, and potential disease risks.
• Authorities point to fast reproduction and the absence of natural predators as key drivers of spread, with residents in hotspots now authorized to set traps.
• Current populations stem from earlier introductions, notably a 2000s escape from a Cadaujac exotic-animal farm and pets kept by U.S. military personnel in the Aisne, with major hubs in Gironde and the northeast.