A raccoon was captured Wednesday after it was noticed in a shipping container of household goods and furniture that came from Maryland to Hawaii, according to a Department of Agriculture news release.
On Tuesday, a moving crew was unloading furniture from the shipping container at a home in Iroquois Point on Oahu when they spotted the raccoon. The movers immediately closed the shipping container and alerted the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture dispatched inspectors to the moving company’s property, where the shipping container had been moved, and they set several traps in the container.
In the morning, the raccoon was in a trap, and it was dead. It was not clear how the raccoon died, but when asked, the spokesperson for the Hawaii Department of Agriculture noted the raccoon had already been in the shipping container for a long time. The shipping container arrived at Honolulu Harbor on March 19, and authorities do not know when it left Maryland.
A Hawaii Department of Agriculture veterinarian is now testing the raccoon for rabies, as Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that is rabies-free.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.