Raccoon Encounter

[gyrfalcon]

I've had the rabies series of shots in the gut before. I wonder if that gives me an immunity now?

Give your doc a call and ask, or call your state's rabies hotline. I think it does give you protection, but I'm not positive.

I have no reason to believe the coon that tried to crawl up my leg the other night was rabid but I didn't have much time to pass judgement anyway; what with all the distraction of the jumpin' around hollerin' going on.

Perfectly normal behavior for it to go after you since it was under general attack.

We have a special relationship reserved for mice, if they're in our house or vehicles we try to kill them fast and mercifully. We no longer bother with the humane traps as you just end up starving them to death.

You said it. Even if you remember to check and empty the "humane" traps, the critters have peed all over themselves by the time you get to them, and letting a shivering soaked mouse out in a field in the middle of winter is doing it no favor. My attitude is same as yours. I hate killing things and leave them alone unless they're really causing problems. But mice in the house are beyond the pale, so I use snap traps. Farmers around here generally use those glue traps, and though I can understand why (with dogs and barn cats, etc., poking their noses everywhere, poison and snap traps are out), it's still a horrifying way for any living creature to die.

 

[firefighterjake]

Out our way, any, YES, any contact with a racoon means a rabbies series. There aren't many and it is usually an infected one that makes contact. They freak me out. Had a cat for years that thought of them as healthy mice. Dumb lug of a cat would take on ones even bigger than him. We had a sign "Beware of Guard Cat".

HehHeh . . . I have a cat like that . . . she has a thing for gray squirrels even though some of them appear to be almost as big as her. She chases them nonetheless.

 

[firefighterjake]

Great stories . . . of course what makes them great is that I wasn't the central character involved with a skunk or a scared raccoon scampering up my leg.

Just FYI . . . they no longer need to give the rabies shots in the gut now . . . but you typically do need to get a series of shots.

 

[westkywood]

I would NEVER get that close to a cornered coon. They are vicious and will attack with vengence, not to mention they can carry rabies...

 

[TANSTAF1]

We lived with a raccoon and her babies in the area above our fireplace (which we have never used). Until we pulled the ivy off we used to seal it off and put moth balls and ammonia in the fireplace so they would not again decide it was a good home.

We are still thinking on what to do - insert or whatever as we would only use this for atmosphere or in an emergency - not for heating or as a supplement for heating. But as a minimum when I get the chimeny for amy gas furnace fixed, we are adding a wire mesh or cap to the fireplace chimney.

 

[tickbitty]

I've had the rabies series of shots in the gut before. I wonder if that gives me an immunity now?

Give your doc a call and ask, or call your state's rabies hotline. I think it does give you protection, but I'm not positive.

I have no reason to believe the coon that tried to crawl up my leg the other night was rabid but I didn't have much time to pass judgement anyway; what with all the distraction of the jumpin' around hollerin' going on.

Perfectly normal behavior for it to go after you since it was under general attack.

We have a special relationship reserved for mice, if they're in our house or vehicles we try to kill them fast and mercifully. We no longer bother with the humane traps as you just end up starving them to death.

You said it. Even if you remember to check and empty the "humane" traps, the critters have peed all over themselves by the time you get to them, and letting a shivering soaked mouse out in a field in the middle of winter is doing it no favor. My attitude is same as yours. I hate killing things and leave them alone unless they're really causing problems. But mice in the house are beyond the pale, so I use snap traps. Farmers around here generally use those glue traps, and though I can understand why (with dogs and barn cats, etc., poking their noses everywhere, poison and snap traps are out), it's still a horrifying way for any living creature to die.

I agree, humane traps can be inhumane. I only had one cat who was any good at killing mice either. These traps are the best ever

I got them at Target and they almost always get the "whole mouse" (as opposed to just getting a face or a leg or whatever, shiver!) and are easy to unload like a chip clip without having to touch the critters. Just put them back on the floor with the peanut butter still intact! I had a major mouse prob in my last house but got 9 in one night and never had another one. Sad. Lame cats. My cat was a pacifist.

 

[madison]

I've been trying for weeks to trap one living under the deck, it is smart enough to roll the trap over to dislodge the bait and eat it. two skunks later, I am about to give up with the trap.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I agree, humane traps can be inhumane. I only had one cat who was any good at killing mice either. These traps are the best ever

I got them at Target and they almost always get the "whole mouse" (as opposed to just getting a face or a leg or whatever, shiver!) and are easy to unload like a chip clip without having to touch the critters. Just put them back on the floor with the peanut butter still intact! I had a major mouse prob in my last house but got 9 in one night and never had another one. Sad. Lame cats. My cat was a pacifist.

Around here, we have two periods where there's an influx of mice, and generally peace the rest of the year. When the weather first turns really cold, the mice are all getting serious about finding holing-up places for the winter, and some of them have the bright idea to try the house. My traps usually end up catching 6 or 10 in those first few cold days, then nary a one until summer. In mid-summer, I usually get a smaller influx of obviously very young mice for about a week. And that's pretty much it. Maybe once or twice a year outside of those two periods, my non-pacifist cats will find one and there'll be one heck of a rumpus for a while. But they don't kill them intentionally, they just want to play with them for as long as possible, so I often end up confiscating the mouse and tossing it outside rather than let the cats mangle it and have it crawl under someplace and expire in the house.

 

[savageactor7]

^This is where we get our wood after dark.

One good thing about being up north...the bugs go dormant. After dark we have to leash the dogs too many skunks raccoons etc.

 

[tickbitty]

Do you call that your "entertainment center?"

 

[Corriewf]

I may be wrong but that coon in the pic drinking, I doubt it would drink if it was rabid.

 

[savageactor7]

whoops guess I should have put the carrot on the right side LOL

 

[begreen]

We have regular raccoon visits and raids to the garden. A troop of them can strip an entire tree of fruit overnight. They got so bad I started trapping them with a Hav-a-Hart trap and relocating them. BB has it exactly right, get one of these guys cornered and they can be seriously ornery. I had a piece of 10 x 10 plywood in the bottom of the trap to weight the treadle and make it more sensitive. One beast that I caught had shredded the plywood to dust by the next morning. I treated that old dude with the greatest of respect.

A few nights ago we heard a large crash on the porch. I thought the wind had blown down a hanging plant, but as I turned on the porch light, there was a pair of coons looking up at me. It took a bit to figure out what they were up to. One had what looked like a chunk of wood in its mouth. Then it dawned on me. They had shinnied up the porch post and reached over to grab a suet cake the was in a holder. Sneaky buggers! They love bird food. The only way I could keep them out of our main feeder was to mount it on a tall piece of 3/4". But that didn't work for long. As heavy as they are, they are good climbers. So I coated the pole with vaseline. That stopped them. Wish I had a night camera to see them trying to climb a greased pole.

 

[semipro]

I've had the rabies series of shots in the gut before. I wonder if that gives me an immunity now?

Give your doc a call and ask, or call your state's rabies hotline. I think it does give you protection, but I'm not positive.

I have no reason to believe the coon that tried to crawl up my leg the other night was rabid but I didn't have much time to pass judgement anyway; what with all the distraction of the jumpin' around hollerin' going on.

Perfectly normal behavior for it to go after you since it was under general attack.

We have a special relationship reserved for mice, if they're in our house or vehicles we try to kill them fast and mercifully. We no longer bother with the humane traps as you just end up starving them to death.

You said it. Even if you remember to check and empty the "humane" traps, the critters have peed all over themselves by the time you get to them, and letting a shivering soaked mouse out in a field in the middle of winter is doing it no favor. My attitude is same as yours. I hate killing things and leave them alone unless they're really causing problems. But mice in the house are beyond the pale, so I use snap traps. Farmers around here generally use those glue traps, and though I can understand why (with dogs and barn cats, etc., poking their noses everywhere, poison and snap traps are out), it's still a horrifying way for any living creature to die.

I agree, humane traps can be inhumane. I only had one cat who was any good at killing mice either. These traps are the best ever

I got them at Target and they almost always get the "whole mouse" (as opposed to just getting a face or a leg or whatever, shiver!) and are easy to unload like a chip clip without having to touch the critters. Just put them back on the floor with the peanut butter still intact! I had a major mouse prob in my last house but got 9 in one night and never had another one. Sad. Lame cats. My cat was a pacifist.

I was reading back through this old post (trying to recall the funny thing that CaptiveLee said) and noticed this picture of the happy looking mouse next to the trap designed solely to obliterate it. I find that strangely humorous, kind of like the sausage ads showing the happy pigs.

 

[Lucky Phil]

I've been trapping 'coons last week; I got 4 smaller ones, but the mother is a tough one. I was using a live trap from work, but when she got caught in it, she darn near tore it apart. The inside was all full of mud, the trip flap was all bent up, as was the trip wire attached to it. I'm trying a 55 gallon drum for a trap, and see what happens.

 

[BrotherBart]

As heavy as they are, they are good climbers. So I coated the pole with vaseline. That stopped them. Wish I had a night camera to see them trying to climb a greased pole.

I did that years ago with a bird feeder in the back yard on a pole. Greased the pole and got a lot of entertainment from the squirrels leaping from a nearby tree and then sliding down the pole.

 

[begreen]

Raccoons are back in the neighborhood. My neighbor has started picking them off with his pellet gun. I'm leaving notes outside that there's candy and apples across the street.

 

[HeatsTwice]

This guy and his brother/sisters will come in our cat door if we are not careful. Then we have them in the house. You can always tell when they've been in by their smell.

Whats funny about this peticular one is that he always comes to visit my office at the same time every night. I haven't got the heart to shoot it.

 

[oldspark]

They make great pets until get big and tear the hell out of things, like screen doors because they want in, my one dog used to play with the coon but the other 2 killed it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ah ha. Another thread dug up and dusted off.

Coons can make pets but even as a pet they can do damage to lots of things. I know they can surely wreck a lot of corn in a little time.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

<shudder>

The other night I had a juvie possum in the mudroom where I keep the chicken and dog chow and where I walk through about 30 times a day. Looked like it wasn't his first buffet either. The sheepdog took care of him, but really wish he would have dragged it outside instead of leaving me with a bloody mess to clean up.

 

[ratkillingdog]

Check out my handle. In honor of the best dog that ever lived. Maddie was a little border collie that could not sit still. If we weren't working cows, she was hunting varmints. Her partner was an 80 lb aussie. Coyote nabbed a cat one morning right off the back porch and overestimated his ability to run with a mouth full of cat. Little dog got a mouth full of heel and big dog caught up. RIP in coyote hell.

 

[NH_Wood]

I bet you got a feel for the strength those suckers have. Being a small member of the bear family, when cornered they can tear you a new one. Or two. Or three.

You are fortunate.

Bear family? Joke? Cheers!