A Calgary teen says he was “spooked” after being bitten by a raccoon in his backyard this week. 14-year-old Jacob Gotmy was enjoying a dip in his family’s hot tub in the community of Signal Hill when it happened. “Just out of nowhere, I heard something and looked over,” he told CTV News. “It was really quick.” Gotmy was eating a bag of Starburst candy when the critter showed up. He says it lunged at him, biting his elbow, before backing off while Gotmy ran inside. “It scared me away, and then after I was away, it just climbed up there and got [the candy],” he said. “I was just so shocked. I didn’t think they bite you because I’ve seen videos before where they were so chill.” Though the bite was described as “pretty painful in the moment,” doctors say Gotmy will be fine. He’s going through a series of rabies shots now, despite the disease not currently knowingly circulating through raccoons in Alberta. Still, it’s a strange story that has the family on edge. No one has used the hot tub since the Monday encounter. “I’ve never experienced anything like that in all my life here, so it was very odd,” mom Tanya Dunphy said. “I had no idea [raccoons] were here. I also didn’t think they were so aggressive — I thought maybe they would be curious and somewhat cute, but for it to actually come up and just fight for that food was very threatening.” The family’s backyard is a multi-tier green space with a crab apple tree – something that might’ve originally drawn the raccoon in. The mammals have been making themselves known throughout Calgary this year. Exact numbers aren’t tracked, but wildlife biologists note a boom in sightings on forest cameras, and at least one pest control company has received ten times as many calls as usual to get rid of raccoons. The good news: they tend to stay away from humans if a food source isn’t nearby. A provincial public health veterinarian says the family did the right thing. “The way to get a risk assessment done is to contact Health Link 811,” Hollyn Maloney said. “They’ll kind of walk you through that situation and what species it was.” “Right now, they luckily don’t carry disease [in Alberta] that is overly concerning.”
