Raccoons are ridiculous

[solvability]

I have had Possums take a hail of lead and still hiss and posture, but they nothing like as tough as Raccoons.

[Deja vu]

I have heard storries about these super raccoons. I have never seen one yet but I have heard multiple stories about them. The best one involved a 223 and a 12ga and about 6 rounds of the 223 and 2 rounds of buck shot.

[40caljustice]

I was telling my grandpa about this thread and some of the stories here. He told me a couple stories that only reassured me how tough some coons are.

He had one that kept stealing eggs and killing chickens. One night he sat in the little fort/house that is built on top of the swing set. After awhile the coon shows up and starts harassing the hens and stealing eggs. Pop said he waited until it started to leave and he drew his recurve and let her fly. (He didn't bring his gun for fear of hitting a chicken or other livestock. In fact he is very proficient with his bow. Something he has loved to do for years until Arthur set in on his hands.) The arrow pinned the coon to the side of the hen house. Dead center chest. The coon squirmed and climbed off the arrow and took off. Pops said he was amazed but figured it would die so problem solved.

A few weeks later he heard a ruckus in the hen house again. He took his pistol out to investigate and found the same coon with a broken front right leg. He killed it and inspected it. He found that his arrow angled in and went through the chest and right front leg. How the animal lived is amazing not to mention how he climbed off an arrow pinning him to the hen house wall.

Just another example the American Super Coon. They take a licking and keep on ticking.

[C0untZer0]

It's not just the Clampett's who eat Racoon, from Wikipedia:

US President Calvin Coolidge's pet raccoon Rebecca was originally sent to be served at the White House Thanksgiving Dinner. The first edition of The Joy of Cooking, released in 1931, contained a recipe for preparing raccoon.

I think they fell out of favor for eating because more and more people began to think that they're cute and entertaining. It might have been as part of the urbanization of America - I'm not sure. My uncle in Arkansas has always eaten them and still does. He eats everything, squirrels, racoons, turtles, frogs (legs), deer, pheasants, hogs...

[603Country]

I just finished a small book about life in the country (east central Louisiana, on the Mississippi, where I grew up) from 1929 through 1932. The book was basically excerpts from the diary of a young woman (early 30's at that time) who was just writing about life and what went on. Her grandson published it many years later. Aside from just being interesting, one thing that was very apparent throughout the book was the constant hunting and fishing they did for food. No supermarkets around in those days. They hunted quail, duck, turkey, rabbit, squirrel, and deer day after day, and they ate a lot of fish and turtle. No mention of raccoon however. And there was a small amount of grumping as she mentioned that the "government said that they couldn't shoot does anymore". Overall, life was much tougher then than now, but she seemed quite happy with her life. A fascinating book. And, with this being a rifle/pistol forum, I will stay true to that and mention that she was friends with General (then a Captain) Chennault, later of the Flying Tigers, and the Captain would often fly his "Pursuit Plane" (twin winged fighter plane) over to visit and play tennis, and he'd practice his machine gunnery in the nearby lake.

[shortwave]

As a kid, I've eaten coon as well as groundhog.

Varmint hunting on a farm was something we did as kids for entertainment instead of sitting in front of a TV. We didn't even realize we were doing the farmers,(especially cattle farmers) a favor. Groundhog holes and livestock don't mix well.

Same rules apply for both, get the young ones and they're actually good.

Mom fried groundhog similar to frying chicken and she could prepare BBQ'ed coon that was excellent.

[Gunplummer]

I used to trap coons when I was a kid. Like anything else you have to hit them with the bullet to kill them. I used .22 short hollow points to fox and coon in the traps. One morning I had a big old boar coon along the railroad tracks. I shot him in the forehead and he went right down. I had a couple traps to check yet so I did not throw him in my pack basket. When I got back he was sitting like the RCA dog and really P.O. I put one in his ear and went home. Turned out when they get really big and old they grow a heavy sheet of muscle across the top of their head. The .22 short hollow point hit the muscle, flattened out on the skull, and was still in there. I was sure glad I did not throw him in my pack. Oh yeah, they are good eating if rack them and broil out all the fat you can. I used to cut all the legs off and freeze them.

[Cowboy_mo]

Last summer I had a raccoon try to come in the barn in broad daylight while I was doing chores. I yelled at the little bugger and then chased him with a shovel. He very slowly moved off and left.

I decided he must be sick with something and so contacted the Missouri Dept of Conservation (thinking he might be rabid). According to Conservation, Raccoons do NOT carry rabies. However, they do carry distemper and that was their supposition in this case.

Fortunately I haven't seen any coons around since that time. Of course I have also gone back to carrying one of my pistols anytime I am outside working or doing chores around the barn.

[C0untZer0]

10mm for racoons - that's what I say !

Jeez I can't beleive I was going to go up in my parents attic and shoot them with a .22 - they probably would have torn my face off.

[Superdave70_02]

A good trap for them is a large piece of pipe capped at both ends. Put a golf ball inside and drill a 1" hole in the side. They will reach in and claim their "prize" but can't fit it back though the hole. They will hang on to it for hours. You can walk right up to them and dispatch them cause they won't let go.

[Capt. Charlie]

According to Conservation, Raccoons do NOT carry rabies. However, they do carry distemper and that was their supposition in this case.

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...

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 .

[Wag]

Any mammal can carry rabies, IIRC.

--Wag--

[rickyrick]

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.

[noelf2]

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.

[Antique Shooter]

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

[Double Naught Spy]

Any mammal can carry rabies, IIRC.

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.

----------------------------------

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.

[mquail]

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

It's Baylisascaris.

[egor20]

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/in...coons%2crabies

[Cowboy_mo]

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

Thanks for pointing out the error.

[mdd]

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.

[Sarge]

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

No prob, Cowboy. Those folks seem to have a gift for that.

[langenc]

Chevy Chase liked em on his vacation movie...

[Nick9130White]

"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.

[markj]

its still fighting after taking enough lead to kill a human on his feet.

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.