Raccoon attack

[bcp]

Sounds like maybe they have lost their fear of people due to being fed.

Bruce
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Raccoons attack jogger in Pierce County | Local News | The Seattle Times

She was on her way home from a jog in Lakewood's Fort Steilacoom Park when her dog got away from her and chased two raccoons up a tree. When she went over to grab the dog's leash, several other raccoons came out of a bush and started to scratch her legs.

They chased her for about 75 feet, then several knocked the 28-year-old woman down and continued the attack.

"They were on top of me, just biting my arms and legs and sides," she said Tuesday. "I was just trying not to let them get to my face."

 

[rekees4300]

Never heard of raccoons attacking people but they can put up a good fight when cornered. One in the 40+ lbs. range is a match for a coon dog! :groundhog:

 

[KTurner]

Never heard of raccoons attacking people but they can put up a good fight when cornered. One in the 40+ lbs. range is a match for a coon dog! :groundhog:

We lived in a nearby city with a population density of ~2700 people per square mile. Our house was on a 0.25 acre lot. One night, my wife had let our dog into the fenced (6' privacy) back yard and had gone onto the back patio. She saw a raccoon start chasing the dog, who started high tailing it across the yard to the house. My wife jumped into the house and slammed the sliding glass door shut immediately after the dog came through. The raccoon was still chasing the dog but was able to stop just before running into the door. The next day or so, we saw the raccoon relocating her babies out of a tree in the back yard. The dog had gotten between the raccoon and this tree when the chase began.

If you're looking for a laugh (not my story, but a good one).... "if you've ever heard a raccoon growl at midnight on a cold December evening when you're standing there in your bathrobe and a pair of slippers with nothing but a $3 Wal-Mart flashlight and a single-shot .22 rifle in your hands"

Keith

 

[EE_Bota]

We lived in a nearby city with a population density of ~2700 people per square mile. Our house was on a 0.25 acre lot. One night, my wife had let our dog into the fenced (6' privacy) back yard and had gone onto the back patio. She saw a raccoon start chasing the dog, who started high tailing it across the yard to the house. My wife jumped into the house and slammed the sliding glass door shut immediately after the dog came through. The raccoon was still chasing the dog but was able to stop just before running into the door. The next day or so, we saw the raccoon relocating her babies out of a tree in the back yard. The dog had gotten between the raccoon and this tree when the chase began.

If you're looking for a laugh (not my story, but a good one).... "if you've ever heard a raccoon growl at midnight on a cold December evening when you're standing there in your bathrobe and a pair of slippers with nothing but a $3 Wal-Mart flashlight and a single-shot .22 rifle in your hands"

Keith

That was a great story. I like how that guy writes.:laughing:

 

[rswyan]

Never heard of raccoons attacking people but they can put up a good fight when cornered. One in the 40+ lbs. range is a match for a coon dog! :groundhog:

A few years back during winter I went out of our basement which is at ground level to get wood for the stove. We have an in-ground pool and the water level had been lowered so that they shallow end was dry. There was a good-sized coon down in the shallow end at the water's edge about 20' away ....

I tossed a small log (maybe 2" diameter) at it ... as I recall I didn't actually hit it, but apparently came close enough .... that coon came right up the steps out of the pool and charged me, growling and hissing the whole time.

At about 2' away it met another, larger log that did connect .... with it's head .....

Given their claws and teeth, I think they could probably do a pretty good amount of damage to human flesh .... and given the fact that they are a carrier for a variety of zoonotic diseases - including rabies and raccoon roundworm - I can't figure out why anyone in their right mind would want to be actually feeding them ....

 

[Lady Tonka]

Given their claws and teeth, I think they could probably do a pretty good amount of damage to human flesh .... and given the fact that they are a carrier for a variety of zoonotic diseases - including rabies and raccoon roundworm - I can't figure out why anyone in their right mind would want to be actually feeding them ....

Totally agree! Dad let our big flock of chickens free-range on the farm when I was growing up and came to terms with "acceptable losses" from the local predators for not keeping the hens and eggs behind fencing. However, he came to loathe raccoons for their evil habit of grabbing a chicken and taking a few bites out of the LIVE bird (witnessed twice in DAYLIGHT). Then came the night when our black Lab was attacked by a big boar coon and, wow, what an indelible mental image with the dog snarling and squealing in pain while trying to dislodge the coon and Mom steadying the flashlight for Dad to get a clear shot with his rifle. Our dog was badly injured before the coon was killed. Dad made a sign the next day for the chicken roost area: "The Only Good Raccoon Is A Dead Raccoon" and started trapping them regularly.

When we started raising chickens in retirement, hubby made our chicken coop a "Fort Knox" with aproned hardware cloth fencing and a roof over the run. I'd love to let my flock free-range but my area of Washington has LOTS of raccoons. I would be upset if I found out any of my neighbors were pulling a Disney and feeding the "cute raccoons" to keep them around.

 

[Pete Judd]

We are getting more racoons on our side of the valley. The new garden/winter chicken run will be as coon proof as I can make it. Wire 8 inches under the soil and out, fence over 6 ft to keep the rats with antlers out, and electric wire around it on 2 inch standoffs 6 inches apart all the way up. Friend on this side of the valley caught one trying to take down his roster in the chicken yard the other day, and the 22 solved that problem, the roster is still missing a lot of tail feathers.

 

[vtsnowedin]

A bit of revenge is mine. A raccoon has recently put an end to all our hens, leaving me with one lonesome rooster I haven't had time to put in the pot. The raccoon got to the chickens by digging all the way under the coop and coming up inside the fenced yard. I left the door open now expecting the coon would return and save me the trouble of doing in the rooster. Sure enough I herd him start to cluck and move away from the coop about 1:30 this A.M. I put a flashlight over the yard and there was the coon pro suing the rooster past the garden. I went to fetch the 12 gauge but when I returned to the deck it was gone. I took a walk with flashlight and gun and didn't see the big coon again but I caught three kits in the chicken run. Three down and at least one big one to go. I'm thinking Have-a Hart trap and sardines, The "have a hart" part is to just be sure I don't catch one of the cats.

 

[MrPete]

I used to coon hunt with a friends family in my younger years. I can tell you, I don't want to be on the recieving end of a p***ed off coon. They are the most vicious animal I have ever seen. I think I would rather be attacked by a bear! That was an awesome story, I am glad I didn't have to do his laundry the next day!

 

[vtsnowedin]

I used to coon hunt with a friends family in my younger years. I can tell you, I don't want to be on the recieving end of a p***ed off coon. They are the most vicious animal I have ever seen. I think I would rather be attacked by a bear! That was an awesome story, I am glad I didn't have to do his laundry the next day!

I have to agree with that wholeheartedly. On a courage per pound of critter basis raccoons are near the top of the list and never give up until you prove it to em.

 

[xtn]

The first weekend after we bought our acreage last year, we had a little party with some friends over for hotdogs on a camp fire. We heard noises in the garage, and found a coon stealing cat food. The only thing we had was by sons' paint-ball guns. We cornered him in the garage and lit him up. He was half neon green by the time he made a run for it, and more pissed than an ambushed coon. Well, maybe exactly as pissed as that. The next weekend I set out some cat food and waited in the bed of my truck after dark with my .17 and got him.

xtn