A man was spotted attempting to ride San Francisco’s Muni Tuesday morning with a dead raccoon in tow.
Passengers riding on the K through West Portal shrieked as the man tried to enter the train at West Portal & 14th Avenue station at around 8 a.m., according to an eyewitness. He was then spotted jumping onto a bench, holding the raccoon by its tail.
The man appeared to be in high spirits, moving quickly, clad in a black shiesty mask, backpack worn on his front, and cap. The raccoon had a bloody head injury.
The man was also spotted “walking up 19th Avenue slapping cars with a dead raccoon,” according to a Tuesday morning Reddit post.
Police responded Tuesday morning to reports of a man holding a dead animal while standing on a Muni median at Sloat Boulevard and 19th Avenue. Officers searched the area but couldn’t find the man, who was last seen walking south on 19th Avenue.
It’s not the first time a crisp San Francisco morning has been disrupted by the specter of a dead trash panda. One Sunday morning in January 2019, a man stormed into the Potrero Hill McDonald’s, pleading for help before laying a dead raccoon down on a table, SFGATE reported at the time. KTVU has the footage from that incident here.
Transit officials were contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.
SF Animal Care & Control spokesperson Deb Campbell said the agency received its first call about the raccoon around 9:20 a.m.
“It is deceased and was left on a bench,” Campbell told The Standard. “Our Animal Control Officers will pick it up.”
Anyone who finds a dead animal is urged to call Animal Care & Control at 415-554-9400 for assistance.