‘[They] called me "Trash King" in the group chat’: The tale of how one man became the neighborhood “Raccoon Guy”

Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor

Sep 19, 2025 7:00 AM EDT

A man unintentionally became known in his neighborhood as the "Raccoon Guy." For some, this is the dream. Befriending the local adorable trash pandas and becoming their king?! Yes please, sign me up! Unfortunately, for this guy, he had no say in the matter. It was all due to his faulty trash cans. He was cleaning his porch at an ungodly early hour when he heard something in his trashcan. He went to see what it was and was surprised to find a raccoon chowing down on some of his trash.

He tried to shoo the little guy off, but instead, the raccoon stood up as if he was ready to throw hands with the man. The intimidation tactic worked! The man ran inside scared and the raccoons came every day to enjoy their trash. The guy started to kind of get attached to them, though. He named them and was able to tell them all apart. He got new trash cans that were harder to get into, so they eventually stopped coming. But he secretly misses them.

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via Unsplash+ (and Quentin Bounias)

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"I accidentally became the raccoon guy on my block"

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via Unsplash+ (and Nicolas Picard)

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via Unsplash+ (and Vadim Pospelov)

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via ZealousidealPause250
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