Excellent news and bad news for residents of Spokane, Washington: While there have been no reports of “offended raccoons” threatening the general public, town does, nonetheless, appear to have a prankster on its hands.
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, drivers on Northwest Boulevard in Spokane were greeted with a most unusual message on a construction sign.
As a substitute of a typical “Road Work Ahead” or “Slow” message, the sign read “Offended Raccoons Ahead.”
The sign bore the message throughout the early morning commute, said The Spokesman Review, a newspaper based in Spokane.
Mike Biggs, owner of Spokane Traffic Control, Inc., the corporate that provided the sign, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview that the sign had been hacked.
The offender, he said, has not been identified.
“I’ve gotten quite a number of laughs,” Beggs told Fox News Digital.
Wednesday was the primary time considered one of his signs had been hacked to display a unique message than the one intended — and he’s apprehensive the offender may strike again.
“You simply never know,” he said.
Beggs was unsure how precisely the sign was hacked, or what it was originally speculated to read.
He told Fox News Digital that the signs have “three or 4 compartments” that may very well be opened with a little bit of finesse.
“So when you’re on this field in any respect, or have been around them in any respect, almost anybody,” he said, could change the message on the sign.
Beggs joked that the vandal “sure picked the suitable phrase” to make use of on the sign, because the story has taken off far beyond Spokane.
“They might have been loads more brutal,” he said — noting that there have been “horror stories” of signs somewhere else being hacked to display messages which might be inappropriate.
“It might have been worse,” he said.
Raccoons, said the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website, “are a typical sight in much of Washington, often drawn to urban areas by food supplied by humans.”
As for “offended” raccoons?
“As long as raccoons are kept out of human homes, not cornered and never treated as pets, they aren’t dangerous,” said the identical website.
Raccoons can carry rabies, nonetheless, in other parts of the country, the positioning noted — and there are specific and essential signs to listen to indicating that an animal may very well be sick.
Excellent news and bad news for residents of Spokane, Washington: While there have been no reports of “offended raccoons” threatening the general public, town does, nonetheless, appear to have a prankster on its hands.
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, drivers on Northwest Boulevard in Spokane were greeted with a most unusual message on a construction sign.
As a substitute of a typical “Road Work Ahead” or “Slow” message, the sign read “Offended Raccoons Ahead.”
The sign bore the message throughout the early morning commute, said The Spokesman Review, a newspaper based in Spokane.
Mike Biggs, owner of Spokane Traffic Control, Inc., the corporate that provided the sign, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview that the sign had been hacked.
The offender, he said, has not been identified.
“I’ve gotten quite a number of laughs,” Beggs told Fox News Digital.
Wednesday was the primary time considered one of his signs had been hacked to display a unique message than the one intended — and he’s apprehensive the offender may strike again.
“You simply never know,” he said.
Beggs was unsure how precisely the sign was hacked, or what it was originally speculated to read.
He told Fox News Digital that the signs have “three or 4 compartments” that may very well be opened with a little bit of finesse.
“So when you’re on this field in any respect, or have been around them in any respect, almost anybody,” he said, could change the message on the sign.
Beggs joked that the vandal “sure picked the suitable phrase” to make use of on the sign, because the story has taken off far beyond Spokane.
“They might have been loads more brutal,” he said — noting that there have been “horror stories” of signs somewhere else being hacked to display messages which might be inappropriate.
“It might have been worse,” he said.
Raccoons, said the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website, “are a typical sight in much of Washington, often drawn to urban areas by food supplied by humans.”
As for “offended” raccoons?
“As long as raccoons are kept out of human homes, not cornered and never treated as pets, they aren’t dangerous,” said the identical website.
Raccoons can carry rabies, nonetheless, in other parts of the country, the positioning noted — and there are specific and essential signs to listen to indicating that an animal may very well be sick.
