German butcher sells racoon sausages in bid combat rodent plague

30 October 2024, 17:45

A German butcher has formulated a bizarre solution to the country’s growing racoon problem.

Michael Reiss, a sausage seller in Saxony, has seen sails of his racoon-filled product soar in recent weeks.

Reiss, 46, first presented the product at the International Green Week, the world’s largest farming and food fair, in 2023.

He said: “The feedback was so great we decided to include it in our range. Before that I’d always just thrown the carcasses away.”

His store, Wildererhütte Kade, is reportedly the first in Germany to sell raccoon sausages, in what could prove to be an ingenious solution to the nation’s worsening racoon plague.

Reiss’ products include a racoon “breakfast” sausage, a liver sausage and even a soup made from the rodent’s bones.

“[Raccoon] has a delicate taste. It’s difficult to describe but if you eat one of my regular Bratwursts and then a raccoon sausage you’ll know the difference,” he said.

“I’ve looked into thousands of faces at my food stand and they looked happy.”

Germany is facing an ever-growing racoon plague, with Reiss telling the Times he had personally culled 200 of the animal in his hunting district this year alone.

“It’s become crazy,” he told the publication.

“As soon as they are hunted, more move in from neighbouring territories to take their place. We’ve got to reduce their numbers because they are threatening amphibians, birds and bat populations. So we might as well process them.”

With the racoon population soaring by two million in recent years, hunters have been unable to keep up.

“We’re not getting to grips with this species and our indigenous wildlife is suffering immensely from them,” he said.