Raccoon Pack Attack -- What Handgun?

I grew up coon hunting with hounds and don't remember a single coon failing to drop stone dead from the tree when hit properly in the head with a 22 lr round. Careful placement is in order of course but since it is treed there is plenty of time to get off a careful shot. I need to dig up the picture of my brother and I and approximately 50 freshly thawed coon hides on a clothes line getting ready to go to market. Haven't done any coon hunting though since the mid 1980's. We did use a hand snare once to drag one out of a tree and no doubt they can be nasty and chew you up with the opportunity. Just take a look at a shredded ear or two on an old coon hound.
 
Suburban racoons

Although I do live in the suburbs, my house is only a few hundred yards from several thousand acers of open space or park land which teams with wild-life since there is no hunting of any kind allowed. Just tonight in someone's front yard, we saw 2 very large buck mule-deer anyone would be proud to tag during hunting season and later display the impressive rack in the rec-room.

During the summer we used to leave windows in the house open at night without a whole lot of thought to let the cool high plains breeze provide relief from warm day-time temps. One night my wife wakes up hearing weird noises in the kitchen. She investigates finding a family of racoons that have come right through the screen of the window above the cat food. They are upset they have been found out and are hunching and hissing at her. She opens a nearby door and forces them out with a broom. For some reason I was sleeping really soundly that night and never heard a thing...

Racoons don't ever seem to forget a place where they find food. Begining the next night we stopped leaving ground or deck level windows open, but about two weeks later my wife and I were watching TV about 10:00pm and we heard one of the little buggers leap for the kitchen window above the sink and try to use its power-tool-claws to come through that screen. I scared that one off before it could completely come inside. After that we just used the AC at night with even second level windows closed- we figured they could probably get up to those if they really wanted. They never did get inside again, but were pests around the property doing everything they could to get into trash, etc. and wouldn't leave us completely alone until we got a black lab pup as a family pet. The dog seemed to annoy them enough that they moved to easier pickin's, like a neighbor that has no dog.

Anyway, they do cooperate in "packs" or "families" and they can be mean. I used to think they were cute, but now believe they are just varmits and I wish I could "deal" with them within city limits. I have heard that it isn't uncommon for them to carry rabies and caution anyone who'll listen that you want to keep kids and pets away and never, ever leave food out for them (something a few neighbors come to regret doing).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!
 
Drifting the topic, somewhat, but this can be important:

Whenever a wild animal (especially rodents) start acting "friendly" rather than fleeing, watch out! One symptom of rabies is atypical behavior.

If it hasn't happened already, those "cutsey" animal shows and cartoons are going to get someone badly hurt, because that someone doesn't know how animals normally act, and expect them to be friendly and cuddly like on TV.

People have already gotten mauled when they went into animal pens at zoos, wanting to pet the cute predator.:rolleyes: The idiots really seem to like polar bears (who also like them just fine :eek: )
 
I have had to shoot 3 racoons in the neighborhood here. There is a creek with a cople of wooded lots they stay in. The ones I had to shoot were at the request of the animal control officer (long time friend). I have a nice air rifle set up that is quiet. Unlike the his issued Glock .40 S&W.
All 3 showed sighns of not self grooming for a while. 2 of them were having constant seizures. 1 was so weak he was barely moving, and rail thin. I put all down with 1 shot. None of them ever knew what hit them.
All were sent to the lab in Austin for rabies testing. None of them had rabies. 2 had distemper (this is a slow painful death sentance for dogs) they have progressive seizures till it either does enough brain damage to kill them, or they go into cardiac arrest. The other had parvo. This one is bad news to dogs. I have only seen one case of a dog that survived(cost the owner a lot of money to save her).
If you have dogs make sure they have all of ther shots up to date. Rabies is only one of the diseases that racoons can carry.
 
PLEASE remember that incidents such as described here are pretty rare! There's no need to shoot 'coons on sight! The vast majority of the time they are as eager to leave us alone as we, them.
 
bighoss said:
here in Oregon they seem to really like getting run over by cars
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+1

I hate it when they get stuck between my real duals on my one ton. Normally a 9.50X16.5 8ply well get the job done, a 12.00X16.5 is over kill IMHO.:rolleyes:
 
The last one to bite the dust here on my place was just a tad slow getting to the tree line one night when I let my American Bulldog out to sniff the evening air. It was all over pretty quick. I don't know what kind of gun he woud prefer for such doings, provided of course he had opposable thumbs and the ability for more complex thought.
 
I have used my Ruger Sr9 as a back up on many of my hunting adventures and have taken down a few coons with it. The high cap is great for packs of coons or yotes...
 
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