Raccoon Encounter

[semipro]

It was a great night last night for a fire. The flames were dancing in the Oslo but we needed more wood. I grabbed my wood carrier and a flashlight and headed out the back door with two of my dogs. As I headed towards the stack I heard a big commotion and lots of growling. I thought my dogs were harassing the cat, they often do, usually with a bad ending for the dogs. Instead they had found an unlucky but plucky big ole raccoon. Before I knew it they were playing tug of war with that raccoon and I decide to get involved. I kicked and yelled at the dogs and finally got them off the coon. I'm not sure whether that coon thought my leg was a dog or a tree but in either case it decide to climb it. Having none of that I jumped around and yelled enough to shake him off. He found a tree nearby and finally got away. I caught my breath, got some wood and stoked the fire.

Man I love heating with wood!

 

[allhandsworking]

Wow I would need to change my shorts and have a drink after that!

 

[albertj03]

WOW - sounds like fun! My Racoon story started one night when I heard one of my trash cans fall over outside. I looked out the back door and there it was on the ground, I figured the wind knocked it down so I went out to pick it up. When I picked up the trash can I thought it felt really heavy and right as I thought that two HUGE racoons came flying out of it. The thing that freaked me out was that one of them brushed my hand when it was coming out. I dropped the can and yelled "HOLY S%^#&!" Now I always give the trash cans a little kick to make sure there is nothing in there before I pick them up.

 

[Rockey]

"Coons. Mama would just sweep them off the porch with a broom"

 

[BrotherBart]

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.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

I've never swept them off with a broom. But I have with a "BOOM!" Make nice hats.

 

[semipro]

Wow I would need to change my shorts and have a drink after that!

I left that part out.

 

[semipro]

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.

Yeah, I was glad he never made it any higher than my knee!

 

[JustWood]

Yur lucky! Coons are known to forage on apples, berries, and NUTS! :bug:

 

[littlesmokey]

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".

 

[weatherguy]

Your lucky it was a coon, my dogs got into a tug of war with a skunk, the dogs won the battle but the skunk won the war. My wife made me strip butt naked before she let me in the house to shower, the dogs spent quite a few nights in the basement.

 

[BrotherBart]

Your lucky it was a coon, my dogs got into a tug of war with a skunk, the dogs won the battle but the skunk won the war. My wife made me strip butt naked before she let me in the house to shower, the dogs spent quite a few nights in the basement.

In 1955 Dad bought our first new car. A shiny new 1955 Chevy. The third day we had it he went out to the garage and started his new pride and joy to drive it to work. A skunk was asleep under it and fired off when the car started.

Wanna lose that new car smell real quick...

 

[heatwise]

we had a mother racoon with 4 little ones in our chimney this summer. at first i had thought it was strange to hear scratching noises in the basement. after a few days i decided to open the fireplace cleanout, turns out its the little ones inside the old furnace chimney. after checking what was behind door #2 i guess it didnt latch properly. a few days pass and im still trying to see if they will all just climb out , then my wife informed me that theyre are furry things in the basement and she is being growled at, i went down with a broom and shut the cleanout door . then i grabed the fireplace gloves and a laundry basket. i picked up #1 and got it to the back door to let it out. then again with #2. i decided to get the two last ones scince the first 2 trips went well, they were feisty and started to climb out of the basket, i had to gently shoo them with the broom to get them out. by this time the momma was theyre answering to their tiny crys. we now have a cap over the chimney. im just glad the momma didnt come inside the house and i was able to get the little ones outside. we know the racoons are well because trash nite thay raid everything and create a big mess, pete

 

[gibson]

We have a new labrador pup, now 11 weeks old. About a month ago, my wife was nice enough to get up and take the pup out for her middle of the night bathroom break. She said the pup was freaking out from the get go, yelping to go back in the house, acting like she never had before. Then my wife heard something up in the tree. There it was, a raccoon hanging on for dear life on a thin branch. Safe to say that the dog crapped in the house that night and wifey is no longer on the overnight shift. Pretty amazing on the instinct or sense of smell on the then 7 wk old puppy, imo.

 

[semipro]

After it was all over with my 1st thought was how lucky I was that it wasn't a skunk, having had some encounters with them in the past. That smell you get when you're driving past a dead one on the road is nothing like being up close and personal with them

We have bear in the area too and I'm not sure what I'll do if the dogs get into it with a bear.

Your lucky it was a coon, my dogs got into a tug of war with a skunk, the dogs won the battle but the skunk won the war. My wife made me strip butt naked before she let me in the house to shower, the dogs spent quite a few nights in the basement.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It takes a pretty darned good dog to fight a big coon but I've seen plenty of them. Makes for a whale of a fight. The last one was our yellow lab who found one in a hole during early winter. He fought for a long time before he could get it drug out. That coon did not last long.

One should not be drinking when reading Lee's comments. lol

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Yur lucky! Coons are known to forage on apples, berries, and NUTS! :bug:

My vote for the quote of the year. lol

 

[Detector$]

They're cute but I regret having NOT shot this one... almost 100% sure he was rabid. A few hours later I was freaking out about the thought of him being in the woods around our house, our 3 yr old, our dogs, and our neighbors cats and dogs (that might not be vaccinated). Next time its the shotgun for those critters. Read the wikipedia page on human rabies. It'll scare the crap out of you.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Curious why you think that coon is rabid? I'd take a shotgun to it too but don't see anything that would cause me to think it is rabid.

Around here they are really getting to be pests. I thought we had them bad but talking to a neighbor, he had already got well over 20 coons and his renter called him one afternoon to tell him there were 18 in his yard right then!

 

[katwillny]

Thats a great story. Two years ago i was sprayed by a skunk as i was getting wood. To this day i make sure i bring wood inside before it gets dark. I still smell it sometimes.LOL>

 

[szmaine]

After it was all over with my 1st thought was how lucky I was that it wasn't a skunk, having had some encounters with them in the past. That smell you get when you're driving past a dead one on the road is nothing like being up close and personal with them

No, nothing at all like it...
as I leaned on a camping trip to our cabin (= shack) in Canada. We're in bed, husband hears rustling/scratching outside the cabin (suprise suprise) at the garbage bag he left out there. He tip-toes to the door, opens it quietly and I hear him yell " Seamus, get it!" and then immediately "Let it go! Let it go!". Then before I had a chance to take a last gulp of air - he lets the dog in the cabin. Literally, eye-watering! I told him he had to take that dog down to the shore with the Dawn dish liquid IMMEDIATELY!

"But why me!?" Yeah, right, why you?

 

[weatherguy]

Thats a great story. Two years ago i was sprayed by a skunk as i was getting wood. To this day i make sure i bring wood inside before it gets dark. I still smell it sometimes.LOL>

That is one nasty odor, my wife wouldnt let me get near her for a week, and even after that she swore she could still smell it.

 

[katwillny]

I bathed in tomato juice for a few days.. and ofcourse made some nice bloody marys in the process.

 

[semipro]

They're cute but I regret having NOT shot this one... almost 100% sure he was rabid. A few hours later I was freaking out about the thought of him being in the woods around our house, our 3 yr old, our dogs, and our neighbors cats and dogs (that might not be vaccinated). Next time its the shotgun for those critters. Read the wikipedia page on human rabies. It'll scare the crap out of you.

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

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.

Any wild critter around our place would have to be a really threatening or really yummy (in combination with us really hungry) to get shot. So far, when it comes to everything but mice, we have a live and let live attitude. You could drive yourself crazy trying to kill everything that might annoy you in the country. 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.

BTW: hydrogen peroxide is incredibly effective against skunk oil. We've bought it by the gallon in the past to treat dogs and people. Combined with some dish soap it breaks down the stinky organic compounds in the spray.

 

[bmwloco]

I think there is a raccoon trying to get in the attic, now... or maybe one tenacious opossum. We shored it up good, but I need to get on a ladder and sure. In the light of day of course.

Post that, I plan on using a safe trap and transferring whatever it may be over the river and well away. Opossum have a 25 mile range...not sure about Raccoons.

Nature bats last I guess. Let the games begin!