A raccoon broke into an ABC liquor store in Ashland, Virginia through the ceiling early Saturday morning and proceeded to drink its way through the inventory before passing out facedown on the bathroom floor. The masked bandit wreaked havoc inside the store, breaking several bottles while consuming rum, moonshine, peanut butter whiskey, vodka and even seasonally appropriate eggnog, according to Carol Mawyer, the public relations manager for Virginia ABC. Its ceiling entrance triggered the security system, prompting police and animal control to respond to what they thought was a human intruder. When an animal control officer arrived, they found the raccoon unconscious on the bathroom floor, placed it in a carrier, and transported it to a shelter where its hangover lasted about an hour and a half.
Chief Jeff Parker of Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter said his department frequently deals with sick and injured raccoons, but this boozy break-in was something completely different that deserved to be shared on social media. The post went viral, spreading from local news to national and even worldwide coverage, much to the chief’s amazement and delight. After the raccoon awoke with no apparent injuries except perhaps remorse, it was safely released back into the wild to hopefully think twice about its life choices. The incident joins a long history of animals getting drunk, from birds eating fermented berries to chimps in Guinea sneaking into villages to dip folded leaves into cups of fermented sap, proving that humans aren’t the only species that occasionally overindulges.
