Posted on 12/06/2022 6:17:07 PM PST by LibWhacker
“Duke’s dog proof coon trap. I’m up to 61, so far this year.”
Wow! Good job.
Back in the early 90's the coon population at a local metro park exploded and so did the distemper virus. Golfing one day we counted 6 coons that were wandering aimlessly around the course. My dad was the chief ranger at the park and he would shoot the ones wandering along the park roads and have the maintenance crew dispose of them.
My ‘Jennifer Cooniston’ and ‘George Cooney’ would NEVER behave in such a manner! ;)
That said, Beau got a 26# boar coon the other night. His largest ever was in the mid-30# range, so they can get as big as a dog and they will fight you to the death if need be.
This is only partly true. When mamas are nursing they can sometimes still be seen before dusk or just after dawn to extend her hours of scavenging for food for herself till her kits are older. I’ve gotten a few decent backyard wildlife photos during those periods. I don’t make friends with them though. They are wild animals, after all.
My only real experience has been with them tearing up my bird feeder. It’s on a shepherd’s pole & the raccoon climbed to the top & with their weight, literally bent/rode the pole to the ground. At first I thought a bear had done it, but I set a trap & caught a large raccoon.
I’ve heard they can really tear up a hound and if they’ll fight to the death, that makes them a serious adversary.
No thoughts that Jennifer & George would behave so badly (and you likely give them rabies shots). My SIL had a raccoon in the back yard a couple of years ago, obviously neurologically damaged - kept trying to climb a small tree - would get a few feet up, then fall out/to the ground. We called animal control and she picked it up .... said ‘parvo’ was making the rounds and she was being called for a lot of sick raccoons. The ‘coon could still growl, but didn’t put up much of a fight with the catch pole. None of the dogs had been near the ‘coon, so there was no danger to them.
Yep. They can get pretty much any of the ‘dog’ diseases out there.
Beau’s hunt club just had their ‘Rabies Roundup’ on December 3rd and vaccinated 340 dogs this time around!
It’s such a blessing! Rabies shots are $30+ a pop, so you can get all of your dogs vaccinated for a donation. (Beau took eight of our hunting dogs and the Beagle, this time.) It’s the biggest fund raiser for their club. A local vet and a vet tech do the injections, and the shots are donated by the manufacturer.
We do all of their other shots (initial puppy combo shots, Parvo, Lymes) ourselves, which also saves money. Rabies must be administered by a vet. Not sure of the rules in other states.
The only rabid critter I ever had to deal with was a ground hog. It wasn’t fun, but it had to be done before he bit one of my dogs. :(
We get ground hogs under the barn .... after 2-3 years of not having that problem, we did have one this year. My dad just freaks out due to the rabies threat .... ground hogs & foxes (den/have kits under the barn when ground hogs aren’t there) drive him nuts.
Are ground hogs particularly susceptible to rabies? We have all sorts of wild animals around here. Skunks, possums, ground hogs, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and deer to name just a few off the top of my head.
It’s the only rabid one I’ve seen in my life, and I’ve lived ‘Rural’ for almost 40 years, now.
Snakes, though? I run the other way! *SHUDDER*
Small Rodents and Other Wild Animals
Small rodents (like squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rats, and mice) and lagomorphs (including rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.
From 1990 through 1996, in areas of the country where raccoon rabies was enzootic, woodchucks (groundhogs) accounted for 93% of the 371 cases of rabies among rodents reported to CDC.
https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/exposure/animals/other.html
I lost so many chickens one year I set leg hold traps all around my coop. One night I got three including a 35 lb monster.
“I cut you, mayn. I cut you so bad...you wish I hadn’t cut you mayn.”
Lol.. :)
(Reminds me of Miami Vice)
I live in a 2nd floor apartment with a nice deck. One day about noon, I opened the door to let my cat out and there was a raccoon. Called the manager, she arrived with a broom. I was already out with a broom. We both laughed. Racoons have rabies, attack cats, so it’s not funny at all.
I do feed a dear little stray cat on the deck every night right about sunset. She comes and eats a lot of chicken in gravy and some crunchies. She was once someone’s cat, but they moved (or died) and left her behind. Facebook group giving me me suggestions for getting her into a crate. My vet will check her out with no charge, and a neighbor wants to adopt her. I’d adopt her, but my Daisy hates her. Female cats do not get along unless they are from same litter.
I HATE snakes!
Good to know, thank you!
Granted, they HAVE their place in the Eco-systemm but day-um!
They’re sneaky suckers! Never make a sound, always where you DON’T expect them to be!
We have Garter snakes, which are quite pretty, but the Bull Snakes we have around here, that LOOK like Rattlers and are just as big, freak me the heck OUT!
(Reminds me of Miami Vice)
Episode of Family Guy. Really bad cockroaches.
I had a boss that told me once he’d rather encounter a rattlesnake because at least he’d know where it was. Made sense.
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