'Fearless' raccoons caught rummaging through garbage bins in halls of SFU

Simon Fraser University is living up to its reputation as a wildlife hub.

A trio of raccoons was spotted warm and comfortable inside the halls of one of its buildings.

Charmyn Chan had just finished exams last week, when she walked out of the classroom and saw the mammals rummaging through a set of garbage bins.

One of them appeared to be a baby, smaller in size than the other two.

"They seemed really content," she said in amazement.

"They saw me but they didn't seem to care. There were other people as well who were at them, taking Snapchat, freaking out."

The third-year business student says the trio were pawing through bins located on the top floor of West Mall Centre, about a minute's walk from the doorway to a parkade.

She suspects between the cold weather and scent of food, the wily scavengers rushed in when the sensor-activated doors opened.

"They felt a gust of hot wind and said, we're going in," she said.

Chan only stayed long enough to capture the raccoons in a quick video which she then shared with a university community Facebook page. She says she doesn't know what happened to the raccoons.

SFU students react

Many found her video equally amusing.

"They let anyone into SFU nowadays," wrote Paul Sandhu.

"At least they're recycling," commented Dave Cole about the eco-concious rascals.

Narius Minwall tagged a friend in his post and said, "I wasn't kidding, They're fearless."

And in response to a gibe about graduating before the raccoons invaded, Gen Basit responded, "They represent me, scavenging for any remains of my hopes and dreams."

Raccoons and other wildlife make regular appearances around SFU's Burnaby Mountain campus but usually outside of enclosed areas.

In June, a black bear perched next to its sign in what could be described as the most Canadian university photo ever.