Bad News Raccoons - non fishing

[poshie]

Raccoons are very thick this year. And they are so cute! NOT! Several years ago, our black lab (since gone to dog heaven) met up
with one of our visitors out on our patio late
in the evening. It slashed her right above the paw on the first joint....we didn't realize this
until I saw blood all over my utility room.
The cut went to the bone and took 40 stitches
to close. End of story Jen.
It's funny...wildlife doing strange things.
In the past two weeks, we have had some contact with birds in odd places. I've had a bird in the house twice.
And while at a drive thru coffee shack, we had a bird perch on the windshield wiper and then we had several birds land on the outside mirrors of our car and wait to be handfed at a MacDonalds. Obviously they have become people food eaters.... :depressed:

[OceanBlue]

Racoons ARE cute, but like all wildlife, they should be left alone and not encouraged to have contact with humans. Fortunately, they typically do not attack domestic animals unless they are threatened or protecting young. To reduce the likelihood that your pet will come in contact with racoons, feed pets only indoors & keep garbage cans tightly sealed (bungee cords usually work fairly well) Keeping pets indoors at night is the obvious insurance.

Racoons can carry parasites that are deadly to humans, therefore, they should NEVER be handled without proper knowledge and protective gear. If you find a sick or injured racoon, stay away and contact the Audubon Society or local animal control for help.

[Snakebite]

My dad had two raccoons get into his office at the ranch via the cat door and trashed the place. Answer, lead poisoning! I talked to Jennie this morning and somehow raccoons had gotten into her house. She was working on the same solution.

[Paddlefish]

We had a mother raccoon and four offspring who'd appear in our back yard each evening just before dark. The youngsters were all over everything, checking out possible pet dishes, climbing bird feeders, etc.

One evening when the ground was wet, we watched the mother proceed to suck nightcrawlers right out of the ground, slurping them up like a kid eating spaghetti. :grin:

[Jim]

lead poisoning is our answer.

Jim

[poshie]

:shocked:
And how is that done...lead poisoning??

[Jennie@ifish]

So, you read the front page, huh, Posh?
It was awful!
I used to come from the family of thinking critters are cute... Until they killed my CUTER pets. I'm growing toughened to life amongst the wild things.
I've lost two cats to critters.
I had Bill teach me to use the gun, but what can you do when they are INDOORS?
Jen

[crabbait]

Posh II - Administer 230grns of lead at about 900fps, subcultaneously. That ought to do it. If problem persists, reapply.

When I was about 13, my little brother woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me about an enormous racket going on outside his bedroom window. I woke my other brother and we went to investigate.

We found the trash can lid thrown off and a racoon buried in the can throwing out refuse while looking for the good stuff. He was completely inside the can except for his tail and his hind feet which gripped the rim.

We snuck up behind the 'coon and shoved him into the now half empty can with the lid. We then placed a concrete block on top of the can and went back to bed confident that we had captured a racoon and could go about building a proper home for our new pet in the morning.

Just after dawn, there was another enormous ruckus ourside my little brother's window. Unbeknowst to us, it was trash day. Seems the trash man didn't realize the significance of the concrete block and lifted it off the can along with the lid so he could carry the can to his truck. The racoon, reclaiming his freedom, used the trashman's chest and head as a springboard while departing the neighborhood.

The trashman was really p.o.ed until he realized, by our disappointment at his releasing our pet, that this was not a practical joke or racial slur.

[MADWIZERD]

crab bait
Administer 230grns of lead at about 900fps <font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">that sounds like 44 cal flat nose to me

i think inside a house thats a little to much lead to give them..enless you want to patch the holes in your houses siding.. :tongue:

small critters =think small lead

well placed 22 cal. scope sighted in for close range and give them some lead sun glasses.give them the lead, there wont be to much of a mess to clean up with small lead placed right..

o heres a good one....how about one of those stun guns that shoot the tazers..no mess at all

hey just trying to help here.. :grin:

[poshie]

:grin: I'm not working with a full deck! :grin:
Hey Jen...I always read your column. .. :cool:

[will_e_fish]

While camping at Beverly Beach last year for Siletz Chinook the masked bandits aka racoons got two coolers of food. Lesson learned the hard way via thirty hungry raiding racoons. Last time I leave cooler unprotected at a campground. I ate and left coolers out as I was way too tried from fishing all day and slept in van waking up to the sound of munching and mayhem. The only people in the vicinity were yurt campers and I woke the up with all the yelling and commotion fighting off the thirty theives.
The only weapon I could grab was by big salmon net chasing them to the trees and bushes, while they growled back defiantly, trying to make a stand for the goodies they were destroying. Not really running off like I thought they would just out of reach to hiss and growl standing around to eat what was left. About 80 to 100 bucks of food lost to them. One cooler had a flip handle that they had to move to get at stuff like butter, cottage cheese,havarti cheese, smoked salmon,bread, cookies, muffins ,eggs, one small hole in the top of a cantalope to hollow it out and avacados. The only thing the couldn't manage was opening bottles of microbrews. All was lost or destroyed expcept for the beer and they made a mess. Thought I had an idea they were clean eaters and washed everything before they ate it, wrong.

Told the camprangers about it said oh yeah they were aware of it,but they were trying to do something about it. Told us good thing we were not bitten as they carry diseases.

Not being lawful in discharging weapons in a campground , I keep thinking of going back with some goodies laced with some time release industrial strength laxative that would be activated every time they smelled food. Cruel? No just paybacks.

[sinker]

Vet told my mom the raccoon population runs in cycles. It builds and then they get a disease, can't remember which one, it's one dogs get too. Anyways, the disease knocks their numbers back now and then.

[Jennie@ifish]

Crafty little critters!

Bill put out the trap last night. It's a live trap and that little critter has learned to take his paw, lift the catch and eat the food without getting caught! All food is gone, the trap is sprung and no one is in it!!!

ARGH

J

[Trick]

LOL...Crabbait. :grin: I bet the garbage man needed to change his shorts after that.

Raccoons are h*ll on cats and small dogs. People feed these critters on occasions and these animals get used to the easy food. When the family moves or leaves for extended periods of time, neighborhood pets become the next easy target. Raccoons are alot meaner and powerful than they look.

One thing i've noticed the past few years is that I've been seeing many more racoons around. The other thing I've noticed is the opposums seem to fewer and farther inbetween. It leads me to believe the racoons must be eating the opossums??? Just a guess.

[OceanBlue]

Trick? You mean to tell me that you actually think raccoons eat dogs, cats and opossums?

I, too have noticed fewer opossums. But I can tell you with no uncertainty that if they're killing a cat or dog or any other critter even close to their size, it is because they feel threatened. I have cats and there are raccoons in the neighborhood. I have watched the 'coons and the cats together. The cats are curious, but they leave the 'coons alone. Likewise, the 'coons ignore the cats.

The neighbor behind me has a small dog. I've watched 2 'coons sit treed until after the sun came up and the neighbor let the dog. The coons were scared to even walk across the fence, 6 ft above the little mutt.

Where does the idea come from that these creatures kill cats and dogs for food or any other reason but to protect themselves?

[papa bear]

Last year they took to eating our ducks (Khaki Campbell -- they lay 300 eggs a year, so I didn't feel like sharing). I set up a little corral in the barnyard with one of the coon-killed ducks in it. Slept on the roof of the barn (shed roof). Flashlight taped to barrel of .22. Three nights. Score: me -- 7. Coons. 0. It was sad but they were really all over us. :depressed:

[Killertraylor]

I had one in my back yard last year and I was afraid he would hurt my Springer Spaniel. Most rental places rent the good "Have a Heart" racoon traps that have a long plate that they can't miss once they enter the trap to eat. The one I rented got me 3 squirrels, two birds, the neighbors cat, and finally Mr. Coon. I took him out to Sauvie Island and let him go. Thought about shooting him and making a cool hat, but then decided he just needed a change of scenery.

Technically I think you need a permit to transport them and release them on State forest land - they were selling them at the rental place.

I'm not sure what I'd do if one came in the house - I shot one off the porch one time at the request of a neighbor lady that was worried about her outdoor cats and it was really a bloody mess - I don't recommend it.

[FM2]

Why do we say possum but it is spelled ohhpossum :whazzup: :rolleyes:

[hawgcatcher]

We seem to have raccoons show up every so often. We have an outside cat and it gets fed out on the back patio. Well one night, I glanced out and there was a big ole coon, helping himself to the cat's food.

The cat was sitting about a foot from the coon and watching it. He must not have liked to share because all at once, he reached out and slapped that coon with an open paw of razors.

"Oh Lord". I thought, no way am I going out and rescue that cat from a mad raccoon. Whoa be that stupid cat.

Well wonders never cease. That ole coon, turned his back on the cat and backed up, pushing the cat away and back and never missed a bite. That was one lucky cat.

Yes you do need a permit to transport a coon in a trap but all it takes is a call to Oregon Wildlife (provided they still have personnel to answer phones after the budget).

[CHUMSALMON]

we also have a racoon problem, we have several outside cats at our office. we of course feed them every day. during the months of comming to work in darkness we always see them eating the cat food. well, one morning i was the first one to work, and i come walking around the corner and here is stumpie (he is the racoon with no tail) sitting by the front door. well, the damn thing growled, hissed, and then lunged for me. well, that was all it took to set me off. i managed to finally get inside and grabbed the first thing i could (happend to be a 4 foot long cardboard tube from a reem of paper) I then proceeded to chase old stumpie around the parking lot trying to whack him with the cardboard tube. he finally ran up a big maple tree. i had just started climbing the maple tree, when my boss and another co-worker drove in. they laughed so hard they were crying. they thought it was halarious seeing a 250lb man climbing up a tree with a tube of cardboard , trying to whack a 15lb racoon.
so, yes i agree with everyone else, they are nasty little critters.

[Jennie@ifish]

I think what happens is the dog corners the racoon and that's how it gets hurt.
I don't think they eat opossums, but they sure eat my chickens! YUM YUM.
GRRRRRRRR
J

[6wapiti6]

A few years ago I found a dead racoon in our yard. I thought it was from rabies, but found out it was from mange. They were really a problem for a while, but just seemed to disapear after a week or two. i wonder if it was from the help I gave them with a CO2 pistol?
Really though they are very tough animals. We used to hunt them with hounds back east for the fur. (meat not bad either). Tree them and the shoot them with 22's. If they were not dead when they hit the ground, they could do a number on the dogs. Used to get upwords of 25 to 30 dollars for a good fur. Then the anti's came along and the fur market dried up...Oh well those were fun memories!

[Lepper]

RAcoons are some of the meaniest animals I have ever run into... They hiss and make funny noises at you not very friendly at all.... The best racoon I have found is a dead one....