The Forestry Forum

On my front porch you will find some large planters with small palms in them, smaller planters with blooming flowers, one of those "ornamental" stoves that wives have to have, some knick-knacs, some plastic easter eggs in the planters left over from easter and a bowl of cat food that the wife is using to take care of a cat that showed up here that we call Thumbs.  He has huge dew claws.

The past few mornings my wife has found the plastic eggs out of the planters and scattered on the deck.  Then they began appearing chewed and torn with pieces of styro foam scattered about.  Then her plants were pulled from their pots and scattered around the deck.  Yesterday her prize tomato plant (she has actually harvested 3 tomatoes) was torn from its pot and dumped uncerimoniously on the ground.

That was the last straw.

She came to me and said "we've got a Coon".  

"Yes", I expounded, "and should we expect not to have one here in the swamp?"

Shouldn't have said that.

Tonight she said " He's on the porch.  Do you want the pistol or the shotgun?"

"The pistol", I said.

"Well, don't hurt him", she said.

"??????", I thought.

Out the door in my underwear and t-shirt I ran, yelling like a wildman and with a blazing 22 kicking up puffs of dirt at his heels as he high tailed it for the wood at the ditch.  What a sight I imagined it must have been.

I stood on the porch making sure that he had left when I noticed a small mask show itself over the edge of the ditch underneath a small sweet gum.  He was layng there with his head on his paws looking at me looking at him.  I tried not to laugh.

I yelled into the house to tell the wife what he was doing and he inched out of the ditch and lay on the flat ground above it.  I guess it was more comfortable.  He didn't move, I got bored and went inside.

Directly, the wife said to me, "He's back".

I grabbed the camera and ran to the front door yelling and snapping pictures.  

He was moving too fast and they were all a blur.  He ran to the ditch again."He's back", she said again as I sat down in front of the TV to eat my hamburger.  I was getting peaved now because he was interfering with my supper.
I opened the door and he sauntered off across the front yard and headed for the ditch.  Then he decided to come back toward the porch.  

I guess he was going to go under it but I yelled at him.  He sauntered off toward the ditch again stopping every 5 or 6 feet to look at me over his shoulder.  
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomcoon6.jpg)I yelled at him, acting as authoritative as a grown man can act at a coon.  He didn't want to leave.  Finally he went down in the ditch and I guess to the woods.

I decided that no coon was going to stop me from eating my hamburger so when the wife said he's back, I said, " tomorrow night" and continued.  He finished the cat food, examined the plant pots and left.

The wife is out in the yard now calling the cats.  They left for higher ground when that white-headed, bearded, madman ran from the house,half-naked, screaming and shooting at everything in sight.

That's some pretty snappy snappin', to snap a sauntering 'coon like that. I'm just glad that this wasn't the time for you to have the camera pointed backward. :o :D :D

My sister and husband live on the edge of town with a larger rough park area on the backside of their lot.  They have a lot of wildlife come into their yard.  

For a while, they were running a meeting hall with a small concession stand.  Each evening they would clean up and bring a bag of leftovers home.  They would put the leftovers in a pan out in their back yard and keep the porch light on.  They thought it real neat to watch the coons and foxes, etc. come up and eat.  

One night they didn't run the concession stand and didn't have any leftovers.  The returned home at their regular time but didn't put out the pan of leftovers and just turned out the back porch light.  Soon they found their back yard filled with belligerent coons wanting their "entitlements".  They started to break into the house and did do damage to the back door screen.  

Tom,
I've been having my son Jeremiah chase ours away
with his paintball gun.   8)
Pesky little fellers

My friend Bill had a little Spaniel that was a bit of a house dog.One night he heard it yelping at the back door and he ran and opened it.In ran his dog with a Coon on on top of his back.
Bill reached down and tore the coon off of the dogs back and threw it out the door,but not before it ripped up his hand with it's teeth.The coon barely hit the ground,and was back in the house,past Bill, and after the dog.He grabbed the coon again,and had his arm and hand ripped up again as he finally got it out of the house.

His hand was a mess,but he was too stubborn to see a Dr.I asked him if he had thought about Rabies?I think it was on his mind.(I thought we should have locked Bill and his dog in the corn crib for a while,on account of hydrofoby) :o

Like Bibbyman mentioned,they can be belligerent if they don't get their way.

Great pics, Tom.  Did you take those with the new camera your son bought ya?   :D :D ;D

Naw, these were taken with a little inexpensive "fujifilm" digital that belongs to my wife.   She let's me use it now and again if I promise that I won't break it or get it stolen. :-/ :)  

Hmmm, shootin' coon. We've always found that a shotgun works best for the coon around our place. ;D

Did we consider a live trap?  I had some coons gettin in my grainery so I put a live trap out. I was single at the time so I would get a GF to go with me to check the trap at night.  ;D
This place was about 30 miles from the house. Ended up catching 18 of the masked bandits. I know there were more but I got to know the gal well enough I just went huntin at her house.

 8)  8)  8)

When I was doing a little nuisance animal work in the city I pulled a few raccoon out of attics on the end of a snare pole.
Just like having a marlin out of water on the end of a fly rod, lots of action!

Back in the 80's when fur prices were higher that coon wouldn't have lasted long around here. Seemed everybody around here was buying blue ticks and hunting coons every night. I've gone along a few times, and there's alot to be said about staying out of the woods at night. Go chasing a pack of hounds down through the woods and you're guaranteed to trip over every log and rock in the place. Oh yeah, the coon and dogs have to always run through at least one briar patch.

A .22 rifle works good on our varmints. If you're looking to save the pelt you can be firing off a shotgun.

Frickman

 Nice action pics.  

 Frickman
                   I agree with you about the 22. But if they aren't in my yard I prefer a shotgun . We have a neighbor that feeds about 5 lbs. of catfood a night to the coons. If they go away there is no food and the coons come next door to vent their frustration at my house. I really hate picking up trash in the morning before I go to work. So when I know the neighbors are going away one of the guns comes out of the safe for fast draw action. I let them go until they start fightin and I'm trying to sleep,  It seems they always fight outside my bedroom window . >:(All bets are offf after that. many of them don't come back ever again.

My wife hollered through the house "There's a bunch of baby armadillos eating up the front yard".

"Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"Do you want the gun?"

"Nah, I'll get the camera."

"A lot-a-good that'll do"

"You won't let me hurt'em".

So, I got the camera and went out the front door onto the porch and almost stepped on my Porch Coon who ran to the other side of the porch but wouldn't leave.  There were the remnants of cat food in a dish underfoot.  I thought to myself, "wonder where that cat food keeps coming from". :D
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomscoon7-00.jpg)

Looking over the yard there were three baby armadillos rooting around and two black cats standing at bay watching with interest.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomsarmadillo7-03.jpg)

I took a few pictures for those of you who aren't familiar with armadillos.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomsarmadillo7-01.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomsarmadillo7-02.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomsarmadillo7-04jpg.jpg)
And here is proof that they aren't the smartest animal in the woods.  This one was rooting around under my shoe so I stooped over and pointed the camera at him.  Just as I shot he turned and looked away.  Camera shy I guess. :D
(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/tomsarmadillo7-05jpg.jpg)
 He wasn't running away, just interested in digging somewhere else. :D

WAY COOL! 8)
Good job with the pictures! So I see you are going to keep that coon around for a while huh?  ;) :D :D :D

Great Pixs!!!!  Around my house, the only wild life is the neighbors.  No, I ain't even gonna try to take pixs...

Wild life is down around here since the neighbor moved to "Government Housing." :D :D

We do get a few wild animals, but with 8 dogs on the place, all of them can either fly or climb. The ground-bound types don't have a prayer. ;D

Whatsa matter Bigdog, afraid of being called a peeping Tom?
Or are the neighbors "wild" outside?
If that is the case you could do a telephoto lens.
 ;)

(https://forestryforum.com/images/YaBBImages/userpics/ffghost.jpg)
Peeking Tom?

great oictures tom. i have six dogs and i hunt coon cat and bear with three of them so the critters around know better :D except moose they dont to close though just in case. ;D

Our Porch Coon is back.  Well, it's either that or one of his from another litter.  He sure looks the same. 

I saw him from my window the other afternoon as he ambled along the ditch back toward the front of the yard.  He was being real nosy and investigating all of the new growth and recent trimmings.

I looked out my window behind the monitor a few minutes ago just in time to see him walking away from the porch toward the ditch.  I haven't gone out there to see if he is digging in the pots again.  I hope not. 

The wife doesn't know that he is back yet.  I don't think I'm going to say anything.  :D

Quote from: Tom on May 31, 2003, 07:51:37 PM
I yelled at him, acting as authoritative as a grown man can act at a coon. 

I bet that is DanG authoritative.  I have never seen a grown man act authoritative at a coon ;D.  He might just need a good talking to, ya know :D.

This must be a descendant of Porch Coon 1. 

When I was a kid  :D I had a wooden box that I kept nightcrawlers in, and one night a bunch of coons came and started eatin them.  We heard them outside the kitchen so we turned the porch light on, and saw them out there slurpin them up like spaghetti   I was not a happy camper >:(

I have to brace the barn door to keep them out and off the lumber piles where they like to leave their deposit.  >:(

Gotta mommy coon with at least four kits camped out in the barn... Did a finger point and stern talking to her about her squatting on our property but that did no good... ::) We live on a pretty busy road and we've heard a couple cars tootin' at somepin out there ( we got plenty a moose too) in the middle of the night... Hmmmm haven't had road kill in awhile...  ;D

Funny....I read this topic earlier this evening and after supper, what do I see sitting on my porch ??? :D

The porch is about 10 feet above the porch/screen porch below it. He was just sitting out there having a little bath ;D

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11412/jmracoonOP.jpg)

My wife says the cat is eating a lot of food lately. :o I think he is getting some help from the carport coon. ;D The picture is a little fuzzy since I shot through the screen door. I couldn't open the door with out almost hitting the coon during it's late night snack.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/racoon_op.jpg)

Be careful about getting something started, Pigman.  A judiciously placed, favorite, potted plant may bring out the broom and pointed hat.  :D :D   I'll not be responsible for the belly laughs. :D


Spruce Bunny,
That's a cute one.  What drew him to your abode?

Tom, he was very cute and not very big. I have bird feeders out there and occaisionally leave a small bag of trash out there but none lately. Maybe he was enjoying the view ;D

 I have a walker coonhound that is free to roam and she has treed 14 coon in the last 14 nights.And thats just the ones I have found for her when I get home at midnight from work.I have never seen so many coons and I have never had a hound this accurate !

My nephews are invertebrate coon hunters.  The use the woods around my place and my Daddy's place to run their dogs.  Plus, no coon could get within 1/4 mile without Miss Scarlet knowing about it.  So, no porch coons around here :D.

Some of you people are coon lovers.The only way I could get a picture of one is tie the camera to the top of my gun.Anything that tries to destroy my property gets taken care of on this hill.I have chickens and ducks and I like to keep them alive.

The secret to keeping the coons from bothering anthing like potted plants or chickens is to keep them well fed with cat food. If I tried to shoot the coon I would have a hole in the door and probably a hole in the side of the car.


Bob

We had a porch coon a few years ago. We were just sitting down for supper about 5 pm when all of a sudden there was a big commotion at the front door where our mixed beagle and cat were sleeping. My wife ran to the door and there was a medium size coon going around with our dog and cat. Lots of fur flying and lots of noise. She screamed for me to bring a gun and started wacking the coon with a broom. By the time I got there with a pistol she had busted up the fight and the coon was headed for the prune orchard across the road. I ran after him and dispatched him with my pistol. Since rabies cases in our end of the state were rather common we thought it best to call the Sheriff. They sent a deputy over and he took a look at the coon. The deputy said the coon looked healthy and most likely was not rabid.

Well I decided that it was not worth taking a chance so I put the coon in a double garbage bag and placed it in the garage fridge. The next day I dropped it off at our health department for testing. Two days later the health department called and said the coon was rabid. Since my wife had been picking blackberries with shorts on and had scratches on her legs, arms, and hands and had handled the dog and cat right after the fight they said she had to get the shots. In fact they said if she did not show up to get the shots they would be sending a deputy down to the house to pick her up and deliver her.

Things turned out OK and now if we see any coon's around the house they disappear real fast. Don't take chances with wild animals that do not show fear of humans or exhibit unusual behavior. Rabid animals do not look sick.

Well, got no coon pictures but I was looking at the wood in sprucebunny's porch and was thinking that looks a lot like hemlock. Am I close? ;D

I see one of my resident rodents chewed through my barn door. He was out grazing on the lawn yesterday. Yup a 'ground pig' (woodchuck). Gotta get that new lumber and make a new door soon. 78 x 89 inches.

Summer = a lot of work. Winter = vacation. ;D


Just some more of my babel.  :D

Quote from: pigman on May 14, 2007, 10:09:22 PM
The secret to keeping the coons from bothering anthing like potted plants or chickens is to keep them well fed with cat food. If I tried to shoot the coon I would have a hole in the door and probably a hole in the side of the car.


Bob

Try mixing a little sweetner in the cat food. Anti freeze works well for that and it does not leave any holes. 

Neither coons nor rats get any respect here either. Wife had a coon walk into the feed room while she was mixing feed for the cows. She almost got it with a pitchfork but it jumped into a running conveyor and got away.  :(

We have a farm with big empty buildings just across the road and I can see the paths they travel to come and get feed. Every fall a local trapper will take 20 to 30 coons that make that trip and there still is no shortage. The lady that owns that farm even hires a carpenter to come in every summer and keep those buildings in top shape so there is no chance they will fall down soon. The only hope is the renters in the house will burn the buildings down when they burn their trash and they almost did that this spring but someone saw the grass fire and the fire dept came and put the fire out.  :)

I had a coon take up residence up in the straw walkers up inside the back of the combine one winter. I did not know he was there until I moved the combine in the spring and started up the separator drive to make sure all the residue was cleaned out. The only way out was thru the chopper and he made a bad decision to exit when it was running. Sorry no pictures of that either.  ;D

Quote from: Gary_C on May 15, 2007, 10:48:47 AM
Bob
The only way out was thru the chopper and he made a bad decision to exit when it was running. Sorry no pictures of that either.  ;D

Gary_C.........reminds me of a tale I usta tell on my brother-in-law.  I helped him finish up his beans one year (this is in the early '80s).  He was running a 715 IH (spreader, no chopper) and I had a F Gleaner.  I told everybody at the elevator that he had harvested  :) a couple of cottontails;  they went all the way through and came out the back end.  One was limping a little, but otherwise, they were fine.   ;D  ;D    

Quote from: WDH on May 14, 2007, 06:33:02 PM
My nephews are invertebrate coon hunters. 

No spine must make it really hard to hold a gun :D :D

This really cracked me up :D :D :D


SD- It's 7 year old pressure treated syp. Time for a pressure washing.

Well glad I'm not a betting man.  ;) How much more did ya haul back when ya was down winter before last to the Florida gathering? ;D

Coon hunters with no spines create an interesting visual image ;D

Racoons with no spine are probably real hard to find :D

I usually don't mention typos but that one had me in hysterics. Thanks, WDH. ;D

I am sure the invertebrate coons are on the endangered list :D.

Quote from: bitternut on May 14, 2007, 10:26:25 PM
We were just sitting down for supper about 5 pm when all of a sudden there was a big commotion at the front door where our mixed beagle and cat were sleeping.

Those spineless hunters are probably as rare as bitternuts dog!  I have a mixed beagle and corgi, but I sure would like to see mixed beagle and cat.   :D

By the way, Sprucebunny, that is the cutest coon!   It's a shame they grow up.   :)

Sitting here at my computer and looking through the blinds on the window this afternoon, I saw a gopher turtle (tortoise) marching around in the front yard.   He appeared between rain showers.   It was funny because I could tell he wasn't liking being out in the open too much.  He was headed for the house but changed his mind and clunked back to the drainage ditch on the east side and down a gentle slope to the water running in the bottom.  He knows the lay of the land, apparently, because he avoided the areas where there is a steep drop.  I could see his back as he loped along the edge of the water and headed for the swamp. 

Taking a picture came to mind.  I didn't because the camera is empty of batteries and card.  I was afraid I'd miss the show if I tried to get all of the parts together.

Then another heavy shower hit and nothing was out there but a cardinal taking a bath for a few moments.

When the rain stopped, I was in the middle of a conversation with an old friend of mine who used to work for the Dept. of Forestry.  He took a job with the Agricultural Extension Office as Urban Forester about 3 years ago and I didn't even know it.  We were chatting about decumbant limbs and rooting Live Oaks when five Turkeys came strutting down the ditch bank toward the swamp.  The ditch is no more than 75 feet from my window and I just knew that they were going to see me.   I've had them lower their head and run when they detected my movement from well inside of the house before.

They were definitely traveling.  A few errant glances across the lawn told them that there was no corn.  I figure they are in the back eating acorns and Lord only knows what else. 

Again, I didn't take a picture.  It looks like I need to set up a remote camera in the yard that I can point from desk.  The menagerie continues to grow but gives no warning.

I'm beginning to think of duck and bat houses.  That would be fun. :)

Thanks for sharing Tom. You write good diaries/digests.  ;D

I've got to get going on my bat houses soon as well. I also have a barn door to make soon and painting to be done and.................. well you know.  :D

Dang lawn mowing.  >:(

Do you think the extra critters are rfrom the drought damaging the wild food supply? Or are you just noticeing them more?

Actually, it's because I live in their front yard.

I have a hardwood swamp and river bottom behind me and it goes for miles to the east.  If there is a wild critter anywhere, it's gonna be here.  :D

There's a lot of development going on that is driving them this way too.

Quote from: pigman on May 14, 2007, 10:09:22 PM
The secret to keeping the coons from bothering anthing like potted plants or chickens is to keep them well fed with cat food.


Bob

I was wrong! :(  The other night I was almost asleep in my chair and I was suddenly awakened by my wife talking loudly out the living room window. :o  She had heard something outside the window on the small deck.    The coon was digging up one of her new potted plants. She was  speaking as authoritative as a grown witch can speak to a coon "if you don't stop digging my flowers, I  will stop feeding you every night". The threat must have worked since the coon has not bothered the flowers since the tongue lashing he received. ;D

Bob

Couple of days ago the wife was standing at the kitchen sink, just getting supper started.  Noticed an odd colored dog by the corner of the garage, not one she recognized from the neighborhood.  She stepped out on the porch to get a better look and realized it was a small bear.  She came back in and called me from the computer.  I clapped my hands a couple of times and yelled at him and he took off down the ravine and into the woods.  Probably a young one looking for his own territory.

Could be!   Yet, he could have been a performing stand-up comedian and will be back for more applause.  You got to be careful about calling them for an encore.  :D

I saw this thread in the archives way back when I was just snooping. Now it has been revised before we got adopted by our coon and I didn't even notice! Shame on me!


I guess there is no shortage of coons. They look like bats without wings sometimes. Maybe that's what we ought to name this one. Batman. Or if it's a she, Batwoman. I never did like the way Batwoman just does not roll of your tongue though. if it's a she i think we'll call it "Batchick".
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12394/BatCoon.jpg)

Got a sack and a stone?  ::)

KevJay, your little coon is SO cute !

I'd just call it Lucky.  :)

Does that mean that if it belonged to Swamp Donkey, its name would be "Unlucky" :D ;D.

Got five of them lil critters still in the ole barn  :(  ...  Game warden says shot the mom and remove the squrits... They haven't come near the house yet,  ole yeller's ( BW) doin' his job  ;)  so I guess I'll just live and let live and see if they'll move on later...

Anyone want a pack a bandits ??

Patty and Roxie, I picked both of those up too, couldn't figure out how in daylights they were gonna chase a coon with no spine!!! hehe

Kevjay, the baby coon is so gorgeous! What are you doing with it? Seems most ppl on here deem the coons to be 'vermin', are they considered such everywhere, or just some places? Are you going to grow it up and let it go? (If you are, I strongly suggest not to let it go anywhere near any FF members houses!!!). Have you had the baby tested for rabies? (Is rabies even something that's passed on to infant coons, or do they have to be bitten or such?)

Sorry for all the questions, we have neither 'coons, nor rabies here!

I got some pretty DanG large Goannas, though...  ;)

asy :D

Hi asy. I see everything in terms of food. I am planning on fattening it up and eating it. Coon sausage is a little greasy but real tasty, especially with a little maple syrup. ;D

When I went through the bank window wholla go (I go through the business window right on the bank wall) the teller was 2 feet away and wanted me to pass it through the change drawer right there! Man she would have got fired she wasn't thinkin straight. The whole DanG teller industry came to her window and was all cooing and oohing and awing. One asked me the same thing you did. "What are you gonna do with it?!" I could not resist. I deadpanned "I am told they make excellent taco meat." :D

That illicited some serious frowns and I wen from hero to zero instantly. They disperssed to their regular duties. ;D

Most folks consider them to be pests. Varmits. I do too. I don't know why I took it. I guess I am getting mellow as i age. I have been a pretty mean SOB alot of my life maybe i am unconsciously trying to make amends. I guess now I would fight a wolverine to save the worthless little skunk. ::)

Now you got a skunk too?  :D :D :D

If'n you keep it in the house KevJay, ya better hide all your wifes shiney stuff, he'll take it like a crow. That could get to be expensive havin to replace  a bunch of jewelry and stuff. :o Not to mention the bad looks you and the coon get.

Whenever we have to split a tractor for a clutch, we do it in our grainery as it is the only concrete floor where we can do it. I had a large tool box sitting on the floor, and the racoons came in one night and pulled all the drawers open and pulled out anything shiny. You could see their tracks in the grain dust where they had rolled the sockets everywhere! I am sure they had a lot of fun, but it took a while to find everything. I kinda like racoons, but when they move in I know I have to take care of them, or there will be trouble sooner or later.


Dave

Coon sausage? :o.  Mean ole' Kevjay :-\.  Poor traumatized Bank Tellers :-[.

Hey WD, you almost made some Haiku. traditional is  5 - 7 - 5 but I have seen alot of variations. I like to stick to 5 - 7 - 5 when possible. A season is often strewn in with the poem too. I got pretty good at it on a scuba diving forum I was on a few years ago, a lady diver made a quip at me in Haiku and I asked what that was. That's all it took. Turned out to be a whopper of a thread and even got printed and distributed at our first international dive meet in Key Largo in June of 1999.

Something tells me Haiku will not make much of a stir on this foresrty typw forum though. ;) I ain't gonna let that stop me though. This one's for you . . .


On'ry Dubya Dee
Always Stirrin' Up Da Pot
One Day You Fall In

;D :)

ROFL kevjay, very good!


Dave

Serendity, Keyjay, just serendipity.  Blind hog syndrome, you know :).

KevJay's got a 'coon,
The coon is getting fatter,
One day he'll be yummy.

asy :D

 :D :D :D

That's good!  ;D

Eat the coon.  And it has been my personal experience that armadillo shells are 22 proof so I move up to 357 on them.  You'll really enjoy that coon.  Some of my favorite eating.

Tom, I owe you an apology. You had a real nice thread going here and I sort of hijacked and messed it up IMO. It would be fine with me, if it would be okay with everyone else, to delete some of it or move it to my Beekeepers thread.

I know you probably don't give a hoot but I think I have tarnished it a bit. Sorry.  :-[

Shucks, that's alright, If my Porch coon shows back up, I'll just stick it in here and keep on going.  It's not my thread, we're talking to each other.  :D  It's kinda dumb if we all had our own little room and had to run to it when we wanted to same something.  Thanks for the acknowledgement, but it wasn't necessary.  I like your coon too.  :D

My barn ground pig showed up today when I returned to the shop to cut some board ends. He's a fat, well fed bugger. Wish I had a ground pig hunting dog. Flash, was deadly on them.  ;D You guys eat ground pigs? They are vegetarian. Can't be any worse than hare.  ;D

We don't have groundhogs down here. If we did, you can bet your life they would be fodder.  :D

Our Porch Coon is back.  Still a little on the young side, not looking at all like an over mature coon.   I saw it approach the house and went to the front porch.  It sat in the yard and looked at me making purring noises. 

I tried to run it off, but it wouldn't leave.  I came in the house and got my 22 pistol.  when I came back to the porch, the coon had moved toward the woods at the east of the property, about 50 feet away.  I shot once about 3 ft wide and it didn't even make a move.  I shot again about 6 inches to the right and it turned to the ditch and waddled off.

I returned to my window where I again saw it approaching the porch.  It was right outside of my window and seemed to be wary when I rolled my chair back, though I couldn't be seen.  Then it raised up on its hind legs and I noticed that it was a young sow and had been suckling.

I took the pistol to the front porch again but the coon had already headed for the ditch.  Running along beside her was a young cub.  Well, I understood now.  She wasn't going to leave without the cub and had come back to get it.  It must have been under the porch.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a squirrel sticking its nose from behind the far side of the live oak tree at the porch.  It was about 6 feet off of the ground and I wondered if it had scared the coon.  Then I realized that it was another cub .  Looking at it to see what it would do, I noticed two others climbing to the fork that was a couple of feet above them.  Standing there on the porch with at least 3 cubs at eye level to me, and only 5 or 6 feet away, I contemplated what to do.

My heart, softened with age, made me chuckle.  I dropped the pistol to my side and came back into the house.  The cats will just have to deal with it.  :D :D

They are just trying to make a living........Maybe they lost a lot in the recent stock market crash and are trying to find a way to make ends meet  :).

Lots of coons around here to with all this corn people started planting the last 5 years. Was never a spear of corn here unless it was in the garden and now even with a garden and 100's of acres of corn, they prefer the garden variety. I gave up on the garden a couple years ago. :D

I had a whole bunch of carrots that were going bad in the refrigerator.  It started off being about 15 lbs., and they were for juicing, but I had juiced about 1/3 of them when the juicer broke.  I forgot they were in there.

This afternoon, I got them out, salvaged what I could and peeled the rest, putting them in a big pot of water to make some soup.  Then I took the peelings and bad portions (had a mold on them) and dumped them by the ditch where I could watch the porch coons eat them.  What the heck, if you can't beat'em, join'em.

I came back from the kitchen a few minutes ago what do you suppose was out there eating the carrots?   The Cats.   I didn't know that cats ate carrots.   They are playing around the ditch and hunting something over there.  Now and again they will jumb a couple of feet in the air and do somersault.  Then they go back to the carrots and munch some more.  It might be a snake they are chasing.  Snakes are known to dispose of a slow cat now and again.  Or, on second thought, do carrots make cats do backflips?

If I have discovered something and the carrots or mold make animals turn backflips, I'm going to name the porch coon Jehoshaphat.  I'll call him Jumping Jehoshaphat. :D

J.J. the Jacksonville Bandit. ;D


That reminds me of something else I haven't thought of in a long time. . . .

You can call me RAY, or you can call me JAY. You can call me Ray Jay, or you can call me R.J. You can call me . . . . .  but ya doesn't hafta call me  . . . ???

Quote"but you doesn't hafta call me JOHNSON!"

There's a good write-up on Wikipedia.

I hadn't thought of that in years.  :D :D

I checked out the wiki article, I didn't know his real name until now. You probably know it, but it's Bill Saluga and here's his website (http://www.billsaluga.com/). Play the video and go back in time a hop skip and a jump. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoYsfbq3vMc

This is about as memorable as "parts is parts".  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTzLVIc-O5E

Like the "Where's the Beef?"   ;D ;D

Quote from: SwampDonkey on June 12, 2007, 04:17:47 PM
My barn ground pig showed up today when I returned to the shop to cut some board ends. He's a fat, well fed bugger. Wish I had a ground pig hunting dog. Flash, was deadly on them.  ;D You guys eat ground pigs? They are vegetarian. Can't be any worse than hare.  ;D

SD, my dad used to spend a lot of his time taking care of those for the farmers, back when he was a gun dealer up until 1992. We didn't see a groundhog around our area until just a few years ago.

Coons we bottle fed and raised. To say these 2 were onery is a gross understatement.

"Shrek and Fiona"
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15702/coons_for_ff_3.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15702/coons_for_ff_2.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15702/coons_for_ff_5.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15702/coons_for_ff_4.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/15702/coons_for_ff_1.jpg)

Sorry, got kinda picture happy, I'm new to the whole picture posting thing.

 :D   That's great, Okie.  Little coons can be an entertaining animal.  Tell us the whole story.

I hope not to offend any with this story.
I was squirrel hunting with my dad and my cur dog in june probably 3 years back. My dog was young and treed on a old hollow tree with the top tore off it. When We got to the tree there was a coon sittin on top of the broke off snag and I guess us being down there and a dog raising cain was more'n she could bear and jumped right on top of my dog. after that was over my dog went back to barking treed, I just thought he was young and eager but up in top of the tree there were several babies lookin down at him. Dad went and got a soft sided ice chest from the truck, I climbed up and got the 5 coons out. Gave 3 away and were stuck with these 2. I used to go coon hunting alot, aint been coon hunting since we got those coons....I have been banned by the missus. Bottle feedin them babies and the way they acted reminded her of a real baby a little too much I guess.

QuoteTo say these 2 were onery is a gross understatement.

And they won't get less ornery as they grow older either... ;D ;D
I recall the days of raisin baby coons, and the challenges, prior to when they finally had to be done away with.
But coon pelts are up this year...about $25 I hear.  :)

Good story. No offense here.  :)

Be careful of the serious roundworm eggs that are carried in the scat from the racoon.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2107&aid=721

I assume they got their house training, because coons are a lot worst for defecating anywhere than any house cat. When they got in my barn they seemed to come in to do their business, rather than outside in the mud.  ::)

Quote from: SwampDonkey on October 27, 2008, 02:15:41 PM
I assume they got their house training, because coons are a lot worst for defecating anywhere than any house cat. When they got in my barn they seemed to come in to do their business, rather than outside in the mud.  ::)

I made up a crate out of tubing and expanded metal for them to stay in at night and when we were gone to town or anything, had wood chips in there for bedding and they seemed to make their own bathroom in the corner of it. The doors stayed open when we were home and they would go in their little corner kinda like a cat and a litter box.

We kept a baby coon one night cause the momma got hit by a car.  My wife was working at the Pet Store and someone dropped it off.  We had to bottle feed it and it also kept us up most of the night.  The only time it stayed quiet is if I had my hand on it.  So there it slept on a towel with me on my bed with my hand on it. :D  We found a lady who specializes with these critters and dropped it off the next day.   I didn't want another sleepless night cause they is nocturnal ya know. :D

Mooseherder, I wonder why the little coon cound not turn around? ??? ;)

Quote from: pigman on October 27, 2008, 09:36:40 PM
Mooseherder, I wonder why the little coon cound not turn around? ??? ;)

His eyes weren't even open yet.

That makes sense.  I suppose when it gets it's eyes open it will be yesturnal.