Raccoon startles family before being captured

Tamara Church and her family got quite the surprise Tuesday morning, when they heard a racket and discovered a raccoon in their backyard.

The "god-awful racket" began around 6 a.m., she says.

"I got out of bed and looked out our window and could see this group of crows just going crazy," Church said.

"We looked out and didn't know what they were doing."

She says her husband looked out the window and saw the raccoon on the roof.

No one knows how it got here, although it probably hitched a ride on a truck from the Maritimes.

Raccoons are not native to Newfoundland. The wildlife cavalry was called to capture it, using a tranquilizer gun.

The raccoon in Tamara Church's tree was number six in the province this year.

There has been one in Port aux Basques, three in Bull Arm and one in Conception Bay South.

The raccoon discovered Tuesday in St. Johns was euthanized.