Raccoons are ridiculous

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According to Conservation, Raccoons do NOT carry rabies. However, they do carry distemper and that was their supposition in this case.
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Cowboy mo, for your sake, that is absolutely, positively NOT true! Often times the culprit is distemper but raccoons are a primary carrier of rabies. Check out the links in my post here in the rabid skunk thread. I also suggest you Google the words rabies and raccoons; more hits than you can read in a lifetime.

10mm for racoons...
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:D I shot an injured raccoon with a Win. Ranger XTP, .45 ACP round from about 4 feet. Trust me, raccoon blood & brains are hard to clean out of a uniform :D.
 
You do have to admire them for their ingenuity and perseverance. Most times when I check the live traps they know which mechanism is keeping the door shut and they are working on a way to remedy the situation.
 
I trapped them when I was a teenager in Missouri. Back when the furs worth worth some money. I had no problem putting them down with a .22lr. In one ear, out the other. Problem was they'd keep looking at me and I couldn't get the shot through the ears. Problem solved when I figured out I could throw a rock or stick, and when the 'coon looked in the direction of the noice...*POP* I never had to shoot twice.

I've eaten racoon, and it sucks. I'd rather eat a carp.
 
Raccoons destroyed almost half of the corn I planted in my garden this year. Wouldn't ya know they had to do it the night before I was going to pick it. I can't wait till fall so I can trap them and get some money for them.
Antique Shooter
 
Any mammal can carry rabies, IIRC.
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True enough, but some mammals are less inclined to be carriers or transmitters such as opossums and armadillos. Squirrels, rats, and mice tend to be affected by it less than most mammals as well.

The first known natural case of rabies in an armadillo wasn't reported until 1989. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC267255/

As marsupials, opossums are genetically predisposed to be less likely to carry rabies.

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As I read more threads on different types of animals, this time on raccoons, I am learning that pretty much any mammal other than rabbits, hares, and squirrels being hunted and specifically being shot do possess a certain very dramatic part of the population that apparently has super powers. There are deer that can run for hours with hearts shot away. Hogs that can stop 30-06 rounds with their butts as well as their shields and have bullets just bounce off their super strong heads. Raccoons and opossums that can absorb numerous rounds with virtually any caliber of pistol and many calibers of rifle and still not back down from a confrontation. Some coyotes seem to have the ability to just let bullets pass right through with with no effect.

Somewhere in there, my guess is that the animals are not nearly a super as the shot placement, trajectory, and penetration are inferior.
 
robhof

Coons also carry a parasitic roundworm, in their gut that can be deadly in people as it can get into the brain, before any symptoms appear. The coon is an intermediate host and the larvae and eggs are passed on through their stools.
 
Coons also carry a parasitic roundworm, in their gut that can be deadly in people as it can get into the brain, before any symptoms appear. The coon is an intermediate host and the larvae and eggs are passed on through their stools
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It's Baylisascaris.
 
I tend to look at my Wife's Merck Manual at times;

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp

In North America, distinct virus variants are responsible for rabies in dogs and coyotes in Mexico and south Texas, red and Arctic foxes in Canada and Alaska, raccoons along the eastern seaboard, gray foxes in Texas and a closely related variant in gray foxes in the southwestern USA.

In North America and Europe, where canine rabies has been practically eliminated, rabies is maintained in wildlife. For many years, skunks were the most commonly reported rabid animal in the USA, but since 1990, rabid raccoons have been the most numerous. Canine rabies became established in coyotes ( Canis latrans ) in southern Texas and Mexico, with the potential to spread throughout much of the USA and Canada. Skunk, raccoon, and fox rabies are each found in fairly distinct geographic regions of North America, although some overlap occurs.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/102300.htm&word=racoons,rabies
 
My mistake for accepting 1 source.

Okay guys, I repeated what Mo conservation said and it was obviously wrong.

Thanks for pointing out the error.
 
I am one of the people who find coons to be entertaining. That said, last year I dispatched many suffering from what my local game warden said was distemper. They weren't aggressive or mean. Picture a coon wobbling around like he's drunk as can be & that is what they acted like.
I hate to bring it up but with a forum this large, someone is bound to be a...umm...marksman of lesser skill shall we say. I have no dramatic stories of needing close air support to dispatch a raccoon. They're no different than any other animal in that shot placement is key to a clean & ethical kill.
 
"theyre coming right for me!"

I hate the coons around here. Those damn things will fight ya. I'd kill one here with no second thoughts.
 
its still fighting after taking enough lead to kill a human on his feet.
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Never had to shoot a coon more than once, head shots kill right now. I use a 22 short. You wreck the meat shooting it up like that.
 
I hate'em. They eat turkey eggs and anything else they can find. Yes, they are tough suckers too.I set live traps with corn and also ride around the property at night on the UTV with a spotlight, .22mag, and a 12 ga. with duck shells(lead)
 
They're funny little buggers, but destructive as all get out. Had a friend, as a kid, who had a pet coon. It was cute & funny, but no way I want one of them in my house.

Haven't eaten any coon since I was a kid & don't have a recipe, but I sure remember coon being awful tasty & a special treat.
 
Need to kill them as they are a prime carrier of rabies.

A friend's mother would cook them for us and they were tasty. See par-boiled them and then baked them. Tasted like beef sorta. Was really good. But I've seen so many rabid ones during the daytime I wouldn't eat them anymore.

And if you've ever had a cabin or even a house in the wilderness you've probably experienced coons "breaking in" and tearing apart the kitchen. My wife grew up in a house on a lake in central Wisconsin and they had coons breaking in (they are highly skilled at it) frequently and had food and flour etc all over the kitchen.

I suggested using claymore mines for hogs in Texas and they also might be good for coons!!
 
Dang right coons are tough, i put three rounds from a 38 in one and he still hung one for a minute(till i put the other three in him):D
 
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