Raccoon sausages: a butcher’s answer to Germany’s overpopulation problem

To gain control over Germany’s rapidly growing raccoon problem, a butcher from the northeastern city of Kade has begun turning the creatures into sausages, CNN reported on Wednesday.

Michael Reiss, who opened his shop ‘Wildererhütte’ in 2022, told CNN that the idea came to him when planning a standout product for a ‘Green Week’ international food fair.

According to CNN, Reiss asked local officials if, instead of throwing raccoons away after they've been killed, he could process and turn them into food.

After receiving approval, Reiss made what he called his ‘raccoon balls’ – meatballs made from raccoon meat – to the fair, which he said were a hit both at the fair and with customers at his shop.

His popularity grew, and soon, Reiss was selling a total of seven raccoon meat products, including salami. 

“We’re the only place in Europe selling raccoon meat,” Reiss told CNN.

“People come from all over, sometimes driving 150 kilometers (93 miles) to come to my store and combining it with a day trip because they want to try raccoon.”

Everyone seems to likes it

“It is well received. I’ve never had anyone say it’s disgusting or that you can’t eat it. Honestly, everyone likes it,” said Reiss.

According to Reiss, raccoon tastes “Not too dissimilar to other meats you know.”

“If you eat two sausages, you’d know which one is raccoon. But if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t realize that anything is too different,” he said.

Researchers at the Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt estimate that Germany has a raccoon population of nearly two million.

No longer protected, raccoons are now able to be hunted in almost every German state.