WILD IN THE STREETS OF CAPE GIRARDEAU

Wild animals roam Cape Girardeau's manicured lawns and open fields every night at this time of year -- raccoons, coyotes, deer, muskrats, skunks, beaver, fox and others.

They're foraging or, like raccoons and coyotes, giving birth right now.

Of all the wild animals in the city, raccoons are the most troublesome. Every year, Cape Girardeau Animal Control Officer Charles Stucker traps about 100 raccoons in the city limits. Most are animals that have become a nuisance by getting into garbage cans or sneaking into attics where they keep people awake, or climbing down into chimneys to give birth.

Raccoons aren't to be trifled with, Stucker says. "They'll hurt you. They seem like nice, placid animals, but they bite and scratch."

Stucker's practice is to relocate almost all trapped animals to a large private farm or to the Kelso Bird Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city. Sometimes the Missouri Department of Conservation finds them a new home.

Only sick animals are euthanized. Last year, more than half the raccoons Stucker picked up had distemper. A raccoon with distemper acts much like one with rabies, Stucker said. It displays glazed eyes, moves in circles and goes into convulsions.

The situation shouldn't be as bad this summer because distemper severely depleted the population last year, Stucker said.

Good food sources and habitat are why the city remains home to so many wild creatures, Stucker reasons.

"They're able to breed a higher number of cubs and kits than in the wild," he said. "As long as they have good food sources and habitat, they're going to be here inside the city."

He called the city's squirrel population "unbelievable. Outside the city there's no population of squirrels at all."

Beaver also have been bothersome within the city limits at times. They've been known to dam the city's stormwater drains, although that hasn't occurred in the past five years.

Most of the coyotes live on the city's outskirts, although Stucker removed one from a house on North Louisiana Street.

"He jumped through a window," Stucker said. "He probably had been chasing ducks at the park."

Coyotes rarely are seen during daylight hours, but their howls can be heard at night on the city limits.

Some people are afraid of coyotes because they are large canines, but Stucker said the city doesn't have a problem with packs and he's never had a report of a coyote attack.

"The only problem is when a dog is trying to protect its territory," he said.

A problem did occur at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport when a taxiing plane hit a coyote. Stucker remedied the situation by trapping rabbits in the area, eliminating the coyotes' food source.

He has never successfully trapped a coyote.

Complaints about skunks can occur at this time of year, when they burrow under porches to give birth. Young skunks play with each other like kittens and when they do release little squirts of the odorous secretion they are famous for.

Skunks won't spray once enclosed in a trap.

No case of rabies has been reported in the city in the 15 years Stucker has been the animal control officer. He attributes that record to the citywide vaccination of dogs and cats.

During the city's two-day vaccination clinic held recently, 421 animals were vaccinated. Additionally, veterinarians carry a city license to vaccinate when an animal comes into their clinic.

Stucker isn't saying a raccoon, bat or skunk within the city couldn't be rabid. Sickly animals are trapped, euthanized and tested periodically to ensure the virus is held in check.

The incidence of rabies in Missouri, lower than usual in 1994, is expected to increase this year. Bollinger County has been under a rabies alert three of the past five years.