Have spent a couple of hours today responding to some misguided locals on nextdoor.com about "relocating" raccoons. In a couple of words, you don't. NYS law requires that a raccoon trapped by homeowner or licensed pest control can either be let loose in the same yard they were captured in (assuming they were in an attic, a shed, a garage,) or euthanized. There is no legal in between. Pest control outfits will tell the homeowner (usually if they have kids) that they are releasing the raccoons in "the local park." This is probably true if the "release" involves submerging the trap in the pond for five minutes. With firearms and even the discharge of a bow all but a felony offense in Nassau county and much of Suffolk, the only legal alternative to drowning is a spear. People need to understand that unless the pest control person wants to risk their business license or a helpful neighbor wants to end up in the back seat of an ENCON officer's vehicle, they need to SECURELY cover their garbage cans or dump ammonia on any leftovers in them. These same misguided locals all want to call the town or county. Nope. Its state law and only the DEC will respond informatively.
