The 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' actress admits she has a phobia of the cute-looking animals because they don't show any fear and recently had a scary encounter with one – but came up with a novel way to frighten the creature away.

She told TV talk show host Jay Leno: “Well, you know everybody always says spiders … or a dog [and how] they’re more afraid of you than you are of them and I don’t find that with raccoons.

"I was recently sitting on a side and this raccoon comes right up and I’m expecting it to be more afraid of me and I’m staring at it and it’s staring right back like he’s going to kick my butt! So I didn’t know what to do so I just stood up and I barked at him and he ran away!”

Katie is not the only celebrity to suffer from a fear of an animal – Rupert Grint recently revealed he suffers from arachnophobia.

The 'Harry Potter' actor is so terrified of spiders he checks his shoes every day before he puts them on to make sure there are no unwanted creepy crawlies inside.

He said: "I'm arachnophobic. It's really affected my life. I check my shoes every time I put them on. I check my bed sheets and pillows.

"I'm going to Australia in a few weeks. I've never been before - spiders have always stopped me."
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