Talk about a shell game.
Mets fans at Citi Field got an unexpected ballpark encounter Wednesday when a furry gray paw poked out from a small opening in the stands just in front of their seats and began sweeping the concrete for dropped peanut shells.
The mystery limb belonged to a crafty raccoon that appeared to have found an ideal hiding place inside the Queens stadium, perfectly positioned to snack on food scraps left behind by fans on game days.
“Holy hell!” Scott Reynolds shouted as he recorded the bizarre and hilarious scene.
“Oh my god!” a woman is heard saying in the video while the raccoon’s paw carefully feels around the area near the hole, seemingly hunting for a salty treat.
Reynolds said he and his family had been eating peanuts and tossing the shells in the stands, a familiar game-day habit, when they suddenly noticed the unusual visitor.
“We soon realized that it was a Raccoon,” he said.
The video also captures another hand sliding a hot dog toward the opening to help feed the so-called trash panda. The snack quickly disappeared into the gap before the paw popped back out to collect its meaty reward.
“He took it!” a laughing woman’s voice can be heard saying.
Although it was a bit unnerving at first encountering a wild animal somewhere so unexpected, Reynolds said ultimately, “we laughed and enjoyed the extra show.”
