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Strange Coon

Started by Don P, November 05, 2022, 07:32:17 AM

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Don P

I was grabbing tools yesterday morning when I heard something and a coon had stepped out from under the building and stood there watching me. Full morning and no fear at all. I grabbed a chunk of iron and angled to the truck, went to the house and got the 12 gauge and he politely waited for me to drive back down, get out, jam the shell, fiddle, clear, reload... I made my way onto the porch of the shop so I would be shooting away but there were mowers and stuff he was amongst. I finally realized it wanted to keep me in view so I backed around the corner and it followed clearing a shot between a post and my least favorite mower, I didn't want to hit it but I wasn't gonna cry. Everything stayed tight and the coon didn't make it alas.

I was telling my wife about it last night, best we could guess was rabies or babies ... is there any chance there are babies under there this late?

Magicman

I'm assuming that you looked and it was a female?  A Veterinarian could possibly answer rabies testing.

 
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SawyerTed

Any thing is possible but babies this late would be rare.  

Hungry raccoons will be out and about any time.   Chances are it was just out earlier or later than usual.   Rabies is a possibility.   Animal control or wildlife could advise on rabies and possible testing. 
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   We had one on the porch a few months ago getting into Sampson's dog food. Wife opened the door and he startled her. He ran a few feet and stopped and stood up on hind legs looking at her. I went back and grabbed the pellet gun, came out and he was back at the dish, ran about 6' and stopped and stood up again. I shot him in the head and he flopped and rolled then got up and staggered off up and over the chain link fence gate and up into the pasture. I looked around the next morning but never found him. I am confident he ran off into woods and died. He seemed healthy, just did not want to give up on his food source.
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YellowHammer

Around here canine distemper is much more prevalent than rabies, and one of the primary symptoms is quiet lethargy, being unafraid of humans, and general abnormal behavior, including being out in the daylight.  It does not present like a rabies style symptom.  In some off the cases I've seen, the animal looks mostly normal, just a little "off."  The main symptom is that they are out and about in the daylight and not trying to run and hide.  They may just sit there, or try to eat, or just look around like "What am I doing out here?"

I have also some of them behave very aggressively,  like with rabies, even trying to attack my dogs in broad daylight through a chain link fence, or even climbing up the side of my house, in broad daylight.  

I have had to call the health department several times about distempered raccoons because I see so many of them, and have since talked to both my vet and our game warden, as well as the local animal control services.  I have learned that distemper in raccoons is almost always fatal, is extremely contagious to dogs (that's why its called canine distemper) and will sometimes break through the dog's vaccine and infect the dog is some instances.  My vet said has had to put "many" dogs down that had been vaccinated and then developed distemper because it's nearly 100% fatal to canines, also, and that a distempered raccoon is a very dangerous thing to have around a household with dogs, especially if the dog gets into a fight with the coon.  Even cats can get it, skunks, and little critters like that.

The game warden told me that it's getting very common because "nobody" hunts raccoons anymore and if I see a raccoon in the daylight, and it's not just running away to hide, since they are very nocturnal creatures, or "acting like raccoon should" then it should be dispatched immediately.  The animal control guy told me the same thing, and they all told me anytime I shot one, to call them up and they would come get the body for sampling.  They said it was Mother Nature's way of thinning the population because it is extremely infections and will run through their population like wildfire, but most times the animals die in the woods and nobody ever knows.    

Anyway, we have a lot of raccoons here and canine distemper is much more prevalent that rabies.  Since it's so infectious to dogs, it's not something I want around here.  People can also get it is some rare cases, but apparently the measles vaccine does block it somewhat.

If you Google canine distemper, there is a lot of good information out there.  You might also talk to your vet to see how common it is in your area.  The main thing I have taken from it is that it can infect my dogs and cats even through their vaccine and is not treatable, so is a death sentence to them.    
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

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Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Don P

That describes what I was seeing. My first thought was a belly full of rotten apples, a drunk coon, that was more the behavior but its too late for that. I'll ask around about distemper but it might have just been having a particularly bad morning.

I did call the office line and the dispatcher asked me if I hit it in the head. I'll give MM the same answer. "I don't know, I checked out the mower and was relieved I had missed it  :D".

YellowHammer

"Drunk" is a good description of some I've seen.  It affects their brain, so causes abnormal behavior.
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Don P

I took a poll of the couch and told the 11 and 13 year old they are under lockdown. Raised heads "we're good, tough duty, got any snacks?"

KEC

I've heard it from a wildlife pathologist that coon get both canine and feline distemper. A lot of skunks get distemper, too. In the early stages, they can act placid and lethargic, after a while they become emaciated and their nose and eyes run. Best to kill an animal acting this way and bury it or burn it. When I did wildlife control work we'd get calls about sick skunks. When I got there, there would be a skunk just sitting there, oblivious to anything around him, tilting it's head back and opening its' mouth and closing it, eyes crusted shut. Gray fox are supseptical too.

Southside


Might just be the time of year.  I walked into an old house this week on the Kansas farm and the noise from the basement sounded like a bear was fixin to get.  Figured it was a coon that I spooked so no big deal - but if you were not ready for it you might run back out the front door swearing a poltergeist was coming after you.  
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