A raccoon gets drunk in a Virginia liquor store
By NJ Chicaa
@NJChicaa (125481)
United States
December 3, 2025 8:48am CST
I saw this story on the news this morning and found it funny even though I shouldn't have. An employee at the store found a ceiling tile broken and bottles of scotch and whiskey smashed all along an aisle with the alcohol in puddles all over. The raccoon aka "trash panda" (I love that term) was found passed out on the floor in the bathroom.
Animal control was called, the animal was picked up and it was taken to the local animal shelter. It was fine after it slept it off except for possibly having a massive hangover.
It was then released back into the wild.
I am about to start teaching about cellular respiration (breaking down sugar to produce energy for cells) and that includes fermentation. . . which always involves talking about the production of ethyl alcohol. I tell the students about the story of the moose in *I think* Minnesota that ate fermented apples that had fallen off of the tree and were broken and pecked/nibbled by animals. Bacteria and yeast got into them and the alcohol built up. The moose got drunk and went on a rampage throughout the town to the point where the police told everyone to go on lockdown.
If you get bored there are all sorts of videos on YouTube of drunk wild animals. I'm sure there are of drunk domesticated pets too but I don't think it is funny to intentionally get your pet hammered. 
It was then released back into the wild.
I am about to start teaching about cellular respiration (breaking down sugar to produce energy for cells) and that includes fermentation. . . which always involves talking about the production of ethyl alcohol. I tell the students about the story of the moose in *I think* Minnesota that ate fermented apples that had fallen off of the tree and were broken and pecked/nibbled by animals. Bacteria and yeast got into them and the alcohol built up. The moose got drunk and went on a rampage throughout the town to the point where the police told everyone to go on lockdown.
If you get bored there are all sorts of videos on YouTube of drunk wild animals. I'm sure there are of drunk domesticated pets too but I don't think it is funny to intentionally get your pet hammered. 9 people like this
8 responses
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (16446)
• Torrington, Connecticut
14h
jajaja I saw the article earlier on my news feed
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (199535)
• United States
14h
They had that on the news last night along with the video. It was hilarious.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (162841)
• United States
12h
Several years ago I watched a video of an elephant eating some fruit that had fermented and then went on a rampage through an African village. Nobody got hurt but they had to rebuild a lot of the village.
Yeah, intentionally getting a pet drunk isn't funny to me, either.
I hope you have fun at work today.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (207421)
• United States
9h
I read about the raccoon. I'm glad they took it to the animal shelter to sleep it off!!! Poor thing.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (366517)
• Rockingham, Australia
4h
I read this on my news feed this morning. He certainly looked plastered, spread-eagled on the floor.
@JordanLader (6654)
• Sparta, Tennessee
13h
My husband saw this last night and I really thought he was joking.
1 person likes this









