TORONTO

Mayor Rob Ford says the city has a “serious raccoon problem.”

Ford recounted his “standoffs” with the critters outside his Etobicoke home and made it clear he’s no fan of raccoons.

“Yeah, I’ve had some run-ins with raccoons,” Ford said Monday. “It’s a serious problem.”

“I’ve had some standoffs with some raccoons, seriously. They just look at you, they’re not scared anymore.”

The mayor’s comments came after the licensing committee voted to have city staff report back on possible ways to deal with Toronto’s raccoons. Staff will be reporting back on raccoons and other wildlife issues next spring.

While Toronto Animal Services said they have seen no evidence of the city’s raccoon population “exploding,” Ford maintained the city has a “serious raccoon problem.”

“Some people say, ‘Well, you know we should have the right to euthanize them.’ That’s not my call,” Ford said.

“It’s a severe problem we’re having in the city, it is only getting worse. They’re getting braver and braver by the day. I’m not a big raccoon fan, I’ll tell you that straight up.”

Ford said he’s open to the city finding some way to control the raccoon population.

“Those little critters have become brave,” he said. “It’s funny now, you come back to my place.”

Councillor David Shiner requested the raccoon report in a letter to the licensing committee after hearing from residents about the “explosive growth of the raccoon population in the city.”

“Raccoons seem to have a lot more rights than the residents in the city,” Shiner told the Toronto Sun. “They’re tearing into people’s roofs, they’re tearing up their lawns, they’re knocking over their garbage bins.”

Shiner said he wants staff to outline “some ways to deal with the problem.”

“Residents have rights as well and in this case the provincial legislation doesn’t seem to give the residents any rights to deal with the problem that is really starting to cost them a lot,” he said.

“Raccoons aren’t afraid now and (are) no longer nocturnal … an issue like this, you should be able to have a little bit of control over it.

“They have no fear anymore, they’re not afraid of people,” he added.

Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said the city has always had a “huge” raccoon population.

“They’re never going to go away,” De Baeremaeker said. “Raccoons were here first.”

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How many raccoons live in Toronto?

Toronto Animal Services can’t say for sure but the city does have numbers on how many dead or injured raccoons staff encounter.

Here’s a rundown of the city’s raccoon numbers:

2014 (up to Aug. 17):

Dead - 1,574

Injured or In Distress - 619

Euthanized - 405

2013:

Dead - 4,398

Injured or In Distress - 2,455

Euthanized - No number provided

2012: