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Virginia’s new party animal, a viral drunken raccoon, honored with cocktail recipes

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Raccoon gets drunk at Virginia ABC store, passes out in bathroom

You may have thought you’d seen the last of the drunken, rascally raccoon who broke into and ransacked a Virginia ABC liquor store in Ashland last week.

Now, after recovering from a hangover due to his bender, which included drinking peanut butter whiskey, Virginia ABC has released cocktail recommendations that pays tribute to the viral masked bandit.

“Whether you’re craving tangy, scrappy or sparkly mischief, these creations deliver full woodland chaos in a glass,” the ABC said on its Facebook page Friday, announcing the “Three Cocktails Straight From the Raccoon Recipe Vault.”

The cocktails include a “Rye Rascal Sour,” a “Midnight Masked Gin Fizz” and a “Trash Panda Old Fashioned,” and fans of the woodland raider can find the recipes here.

Virginia ABC drunken raccoon-themed cocktail recipes
Virginia ABC released new drunken raccoon-themed cocktail recipes after a trash panda invaded its Ashland story Nov. 30, 2025. (Courtesy Virginia ABC)

The cocktail descriptions salute the raccoon’s drunken escapades. Describing the Rye Rascal Sour, Virginia ABC wrote that it’s “tangy and rich like something your favorite troublemaking raccoon would proudly recommend after enjoying the good stuff from the top shelf.”

The party animal went viral after it broke into the ABC store, knocked over and smashed bottles of liquor, and was found intoxicated and passed out in the store bathroom on Nov. 29.

After the intruder was safely captured and transported to a nearby animal shelter, it was given several hours to “sober up before questioning,” the shelter joked in a post on social media. The county shelter said the raccoon showed “zero signs of injury, other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices.”

After Virginia ABC posted the incident on social media, photos of the passed-out raccoon lying between a trash can and a toilet spread all over the internet — even making it into the pages of The New York Times.

In addition to the new cocktail recipes, Hanover County, Virginia, officials launched a limited-edition T-shirt campaign featuring the plastered trash panda lying next to a bottle of booze. Proceeds from those sales will support the county’s Animal Protection and Shelter services.

Gracie the Giraffe, who went missing after wandering off a Texas ranch, is finally found

Gracie the Giraffe, who went missing for about two weeks in Texas after wandering off a remote private ranch, was finally found Friday — and the open range appeared to have agreed with her. The giraffe was spotted about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) south of her enclosure during an aerial search in the Texas Hill Country, according to Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson. He said Gracie's owner, Vick Jones, contacted a veterinarian and began putting together a team to bring the giraffe safely back to the ranch. “She’s in good shape,” Jones said. “She’s standing there, swishing her tail.” Gracie, who is about 3 years old and weighs at least 1,200 pounds, was found within a half-mile of a pond and creek and had plenty of vegetation to feed on, said Jones, adding that she appeared to have been in that area for about a week.
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