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. :(