Public Safety Announcement - Raccoons are dangerous

[Aerows]

Last edited Sat Nov 30, 2013, 10:18 PM - Edit history (1)

and probably people smarter than me already know this. Never, ever feed a tiny, cute raccoon. Or a juvenile raccoon that takes to you and bonds. Never ever, because 37 lbs. cat killers, dog $1,000 stitches needing injuries, human maiming, home destroying, and property disassembling critters come of it.

Run them off the second you see them, and secure your trash and your home so that nothing is even halfway enticing to them.

[elehhhhna]

1. they're great until maturity when`

they are from hell

neighbor had one. a devil, it was. they freed it finally, duh.

[Aerows]

2. "great until maturity"

Pretty much describes them. Then they become a plague.

[elehhhhna]

40. describes the young of any species really

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. Sounds like a nightmare.

I used to have a tree in my backyard that was part of the local raccoon circuit. Sad to see the tree go (storm damage) but at least the raccoons finally re-routed.

[Aerows]

9. It's a serious problem

I'm sure we have diverted some of their land, but they also just charge in and get dangerous. I wish we could live peacefully, but between dogs, cats and opossums, we have a lot of trouble with raccoons.

[msanthrope]

4. We have a arrangement with the one that visits our back alley. We make a lot of noise if

we are unavoidably emptying the garbage at night. We pick up the garbage it dumps out of the trash can. We don't let the dog in the back at night. We avoid eye contact.

All in all, I think it's a good bargain.

[Aerows]

7. Ha ha.

Funny.

This is an issue here, though.

[msanthrope]

11. I'm told they dislike moth flakes. I've never had the courage to anger the huge

raccoon that likes to come watch me grill, but you could try that.

[Aerows]

17. they are nocturnal

and if they truly start moving in, you will be as frustrated as everyone else gets when they move in.

One won't watch you barbeque, they will wait until you go inside, let it cool down and raid the grill for droppings. A garbage can becomes a buffett, and they prey on pets. We are talking about animals that get upwards of 35 lbs as a matter of course, and get far bigger with teeth.

Make fun all that you like but they are a severe problem in some areas.

[msanthrope]

38. Oh..I'm not making fun...the one who likes to watch me grill will come get the grease

from under the grill..I've found the soup can that catches the drips dettached many a time.

He's huge...he's a rat killer, too.

[Aerows]

5. As a "bonus"

an opossum died under the porch. I wondered why the cat kept sniffing around the porch and there was a funky smell (only about 2 days, but still, EWWWW!, and it has been below 32 for two nights!).

It had bite marks but it crawled under there to die. What a lovely family get together project.

We pulled it out, sacked it up, and sealed every entry way. Opposum vs. Raccoon. Lovely.

I just love nature.

[Aerows]

6. Forgot, my cat has a head wound

minor, I cleaned it out and used copious amounts of hot water and peroxide to her majesty's displeasure, but she is inside for the current future.

It's wild out there.

[msanthrope]

12. Ah, shit---does she have her shots? nt

[Aerows]

15. Yes, and she has an RFID chip, as well

I love her dearly, and I do everything I can to make certain she is cared for. She's fine. I bathed the spot with hot water on a towel and then with some Hydrogen Peroxide.

[msanthrope]

16. Keep bathing it, and if you have some Neosporin, put a little on it. nt

[Aerows]

21. I will

These raccoons attack like wolves, with a bunch of them coming in different directions. It's extremely intimidating and, well, fucking frightening. That is the LITTLE ones that are only about 10 lbs. Three of them, and it's rather frightening.

[loli phabay]

8. erm, did no one tell you about raccoons before. raccoons are evil period

And thats without rabies and distemper in the mix..

[Aerows]

10. I knew nothing of them

Until I got a first hand experience with them.

[loli phabay]

13. pretty much if they take a liking to your property then you need to get rid of them

[Aerows]

19. I know that now

I didn't know that then.

[backscatter712]

14. They're wild as hell, and definitely not good pets. n/t

[lunasun]

18. Attacked our pear tree in a pack* Scary as all hell -Ammonia rags around property help But because

of the smell being offensive to some humans as well as raccoons , producers now have scented the store item
It wasn't that easy to find ammonia with out a lemon or clean scent added
We did not want them near our fruii

I layed the rags and kept all animals in!! Kids were warned .
One popped it's head out of the tree into my flashlight one night

i went out because two or more were fighting in the tree and really the raccoon looked crazed when it caught me eye to eye

I have been at campgrounds that have resident coons around and they are just quasi-tamer beggars
and for the campground are more nuisance that campers feed them
But some can be real big
and wild is what you get when they stop being young ins

[Aerows]

20. These attacked in packs

and that is enough to scare the shit out of a human being. Even small ones, all of them rushing you from different directions is scary as shit. Include a 35 lbs. one in the mix, and see if you aren't scared to death.

[Aerows]

22. They are dangerous to children, too

when they get clumped up in a pack. They can take down a large dog, never mind a small child!

[lunasun]

28. Yeah when they pack as a large family and travel or you travel in their space....

Do not pet!
hey can take down a young women and she just crossed their turf at a fast pace!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/07/raccoon-attack-sends-woman-to-hospital/

I really couldn't tell what was out there number wise noisy as hell and thrashed my area .
They only traveled to the tree at night but I didn't get too near !
After that crazed one popped it's head out into the flashlight, it was a few more paces back after that time

[backwoodsbob]

37. shoot or trap lethally the biggest one

leave it out in the yard for a day or two as a warning.

Sorry if that sounds cruel but it is the only sure fire way to run them off.

I've dealt with plenty of coons....they won't stop until you show them that coming onto your property can be lethal

[Warpy]

23. There was a huge one that used to pop out of trash cans

and chatter at me when I was walking home from work at midnight. I just said hello to him and kept walking.

Some animals are meant to be wild, never caged. Raccoons are just below wolverines and badgers on that list.

[Aerows]

24. I must agree

They can be friendly, but when they stop being friendly ... which is any time you attempt to stop them from doing something, it's a disaster. They are very cute, curious and intelligent.

It's their intelligence though, that can fuck up the works on everything because they get vicious during the breeding season (late Oct. to ear. Dec.)

[Mr.Bill]

25. Like a mad dog with a paw full of razor blades. n/t

[dballance]

26. One word - RABIES. /nt

[Drahthaardogs]

39. Not often. Lots of distemper though

Skunks are bad for rabies

[Omaha Steve]

43. Raccoon distemper is vaccine resistant

And can infect treated dogs.

[Scootaloo]

27. Common sense - don't feed the ferals or the wild animals, folks

They aren't going to reciprocate your kindness, you're just a free ride.

[Dan]

29. Taste good...

[northoftheborder]

30. They can get into nearly anything with their little fingers. They are smart animals.

I tried to keep them out of the trash cans, tying the lids on with bungee cords, weighting the tops with concrete blocks - nothing worked. had to keep in the garage.

[RKP5637]

31. Yep, they are. We were having an outdoor dinner party once at night on a large

open outdoor porch on the second story lit by dim kerosene lanterns.

Someone heard some noise in one of the large adjacent trees to the porch ... suddenly, a family of 5 raccoons were on the porch, we all scrambled inside, good thing too.

They climbed all over some of the tables (the racoons, LOL), took/ate what they wanted and left. We never did have a dinner party like that outside again on a fully open porch in the middle of the night.

[irisblue]

32. how is your dog? n/t

[dlwickham]

33. I once saw a raccoon family

in the parking lot of where I used to live

it looked like mama, papa, and baby raccoon; thought it was pretty neat to see a family like that

[Arugula Latte]

49. I think they are cute from a distance.

However, I recently saw a group of them climb our back fence. The neighbor's dog was barking like mad. A few seconds later I heard the worst yelping ever. The dog got about four bites, one of them very deep.

[dlwickham]

54. they were probably about 5 feet from where I was standing

I got out of my car and turned around there they were

[Skittles]

34. I had one in my apartment once

I lived in a second floor apartment and my sliding glass doors were open - I went to the bathroom and when I came out I walked past the kitchen and was startled to see my cat on top of the fridge - he'd never been there before - then I saw how his eyes were huge and ears were back and I looked in the direction he was looking, towards the living room, saw the coon and high-tailed it back to the bathroom and shut the door.....then I opened it a bit and screamed to my cat YOU'RE THE ONE WITH RABIES SHOTS....GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Then I armed myself with all kinds of potential projectiles - pill bottles, makeup tools and came out and slowly walked the hall and looked in the living room just in time to see the coon casually leaving through the sliding door entrance onto the patio....I ran and locked the doors.

Later when my bf came over I was telling him about the incident and he said, "OMG you don't want a raccoon in your place....they'll trash it bad......it would look.......(looking around)....kind of like it does right now." (my cue to hit him)

[Hassin Bin Sober]

50. LOL. My neighbor's Burglar alarm went off one evening when she wasn't home.

The cops were buzzing everyone in the building so I went down there with my keys and let the cops in her condo.

The cops drew their guns and told me to stay in the hallway while they looked around. I was surprised they were taking the alarm so seriously but whatever.

After a few minutes, I heard one cop say to the other "I don't know, maybe they live this way ask that guy to come here".

LOL. They asked me if she lived "this way" or has she been ransacked.

I still tease her about it.

(not like I'm any better. my house looks like I'm fencing stolen power tools as I always have some project going)

[Skittles]

59. LOL

I'm not so much cleaning-challenged as I am disorganized - it's just a running battle

[Coyotl]

35. I really loved our pet racoon Ricky when i was growing up. Ricky was harmless.

O.K., to be fair, he did eat the fish out of the aquarium once. Otherwise, he was perfectly amiable. He like to curl up around the neck when we took him to town, and was shy around strangers. He would hide under cars when strangers tried to pet him. He got along fine with cats, dogs, horses, cows, even the chickens, everyone.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

36. You mean Sears optical lied?

http://m.

[dembotoz]

47. cringe when i see that

[OnionPatch]

41. When we first moved to the mountains 18 years ago

We thought the raccoons on the porch were adorable and put scraps out for them nightly. (Duh! Fresh from Florida, we used to smirk at the tourists who fed seagulls, so you'd think we would have known better.) The raccoons began multiplying, bringing all their friends and relatives. After a month or so, they virtually demanded the food and would stand on the windowsills staring through at us if it wasn't forthcoming. There would be up to 10 of them out there each night and when the crowd grew and they started aggressively scrapping with each other, we saw just how nasty they can be!! They are tough, fast and mean, despite their cute little faces, and I have no doubt one would take your finger off if you got close enough. We withdrew the snacks and never fed another one. It took another month and a lot of evil glares through the window before they stopped coming around. Lesson learned.

[MineralMan]

42. They certainly can be dangerous.

OTOH, they're often not. I wouldn't try to tame one, but I used to have a family of them that visited my home in California. From time to time, they'd actually come in the house through the cat flap. If you spoke to one in the house, it would go back outside. They also came to the back door to beg for food, and I'm afraid I did feed them. One particular one was the friendliest of the group, and would take peanuts in the shell very daintily from my hand with its front paws. The others didn't do that, but were happy to eat them when I tossed them out to them.

Our cats basically ignored them, but would sometimes sit and watch them. I did have one young kitten that walked right up to a racoon and they sniffed noses with each other, but that was it.

I'd treat all raccoons with an abundance of caution, but I wouldn't necessarily be fearful of them if they happen to come around. Same with Opossums. I had one of those who visited my home, too, and it was stupid, but quite friendly in nature. The cats like it, too. I found it in the house a couple of times, too, after it came through the cat flap. It was a bit harder to shoo outside, though. I helped it find the cat door with a corn broom, just guiding it from behind in the direction I wanted it to go.

My wife was more cautious around these critters, and would always call me to show them the door when they ventured inside.

[backwoodsbob]

45. possums are generally docile unless provoked

Coons are EXTREMELY unpredictable.They may take that peanut 1000 times but the 1001'st they could easily decide to take your finger instead.

I don't play around with them. ANYONE who feeds wild coons is asking for trouble.I once saw a large coon who was shot damned near point blank with a 12 gauge kill two dogs.They aren't pets even if they look cute.

I would say pound for pound a raccoon ranks number three right behind the wolverine and the badger

[MineralMan]

51. That's true enough. Still, a guy can take his chances sometimes

to interact, even with a raccoon. That's my choice. I don't recommend it to anyone else. But, wild animals and I get along pretty well in general. It's something to do with body language or something. I had a yard full of jays who would fly down and land on my hands for peanuts. It took me about an hour to teach the first one to do that, and the rest figured it out on their own. A covey of valley quail used to come in my yard, too. They'd walk right onto my hand and peck up seeds. Animals like me, for some reason.

[backwoodsbob]

55. oh I love animals

I have had coons eat out of my hand...and possums...and deer...and wild great horned owls.

Just trust me...dont trust a coon

[CorrectOfCenter]

44. All the raccoons died in my neck of the woods.

The game warden said they all contracted some kind of disease.

I fail to remember the name of it at the moment.

[Paladin]

46. The little bastards.

I can't believe I ever considered them to be cute. Living in a semi-rural area cured me of that.

[Trillo]

48. We have raccoons who come every couple of nights when avocados are dropping on the ground.

Last edited Sun Dec 1, 2013, 03:28 PM - Edit history (1)

They eat them. The feral cats get upset, but they do not get attacked, even though "their" backyard is invaded. They usually wait until night, and if the feral cats haven't eaten all their food, the raccoons will finish it for them.

The raccoons usually bring their young ones, and it seems they have new young ones every year or two. If a dog attacked them, I imagine they would defend themselves, but I think they'd also avoid those yards.

Have you ever heard raccoons mating? It sounds like you would imagine strangling cats sounding.

Once I was on my front porch, I'd been talking to a friend on a cordless phone for some period of time, so I was making a lot of noise, and this raccoon walked right by me, close enough that I could have touched him, though I wouldn't choose to do so. He didn't get upset until I said in surprise, "Oh my god, a raccoon!" Then, he froze, and turned his head to look at me. I think it was the change in voice cadence and inflection which caught his attention. Then he turned back in his original direction and sort of hurried on down the path to the backyard.

I'm guessing your raccoons were desperately hungry.

[Nika]

52. Raccoons are dangerous so we always were very careful about contact with them when we fed them

at the back sliding glass door. You run yours off if you wan to, and I'll fed them if I feel like it.

[libodem]

53. A friend of mine used to live trap them

And then set them loose 20 miles away. She said they were snarling mean and hissed and spat like mad cats.

The rangey old coot in my back yard gave me a dirty look before he skulked back out the gate. He was clearly disgusted. No more outside food for, Ralph. Ever!

[Aerows]

56. Two 30+ pounds rushed the door

I let the cat in and they rushed the door. I thought for a second that it was dogs, until their masks were obvious.

I shit you not, and this is their season to get well fed to breed. I had a group, not just one, but a group of five ready to eat.

I had previously had to fight some juveniles to let my cat in.

You can't reason with them.

[Aerows]

57. Two 30+ pounds rushed the door

I let the cat in and they rushed the door. I thought for a second that it was dogs, until their masks were obvious.

I shit you not, and this is their season to get well fed to breed. I had a group, not just one, but a group of five ready to eat.

I had previously had to fight some juveniles to let my cat in.

You can't reason with them.

[Aerows]

58. Whoa, double post

hiccup at DU?