I no longer think raccoons are cute.

[MaBelle]

Last night something broke in my baby Silkie coop and massacred 11 of my 12 chicks that were in there.  Everything points to coons.  I was out there last night twice checking and all was fine.  This morning nine missing and two bodies.

What makes it even worse is that these babies were in training to audition for the musical "Once Upon This Island" in February.

I know that the coons are just doing their thing but GAH!  Enough already.

[fairfarmhand]

I hate raccoons. They are not cute. They are mean and vicious. They;ve gotten into chickens and one of our dogs tangled with one a long time ago. They're awful. 

[Ausmumof3]

I’m sorry.  We don’t have raccoons here but had a run in with foxes last year.  One literally took a chicken right near where the kids were playing outside.  the kids yelled but it just ran off.  And our silkies seem to be so kind of clueless too poor babies.

 

[vonfirmath]

There's a reason 'coon hunting' is big in rural areas!

[SKL]

Yeah, they look cute but they are dangerous.  We've had them nest in our basement a couple times.  Very complicated matter to deal with.  And filthy.

[MercyA]

I am so sorry. 😢

[gardenmom5]

I'm sorry.  around here, there are people who feed them, and only see the "cute".  there is a local wildlife page for people to share their trail cam video.  those who think 'coons are cute- and feed them - will go after anyone who says otherwise, even if it's to say "the wildlife rangers have said don't feed them".  (not sure if it's illegal - but it should be.)

 

 

[MaBelle]

42 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

There's a reason 'coon hunting' is big in rural areas!

We are very rural.  Dh and I were talking this morning about how there is no coon hunting anymore.  40 yrs ago when we got married there was coon hunting all the time.  I'd even end up with coon hounds that were old and couldn't keep up, or young and got lost or whatever.

Dh thinks it phased out because of the animal rights people.  Coon skins used to be worth the hunting around here.  No longer.

[MaBelle]

50 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

I hate raccoons. They are not cute. They are mean and vicious. They;ve gotten into chickens and one of our dogs tangled with one a long time ago. They're awful. 

I had one little hen pulled piece by piece through wire an inch by a half inch.  It was gruesome.  

[fairfarmhand]

15 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

I had one little hen pulled piece by piece through wire an inch by a half inch.  It was gruesome.  

Yes. We had the exact same experience. It’s horrible to clean up the aftermath of a raccoon attack.

[barnwife]

Huh. Once again, the Hive taught me something. Today I learned some people think raccoons are cute.

The only way I'd have used raccoons and cute in the same sentence is to say something like: Raccoons are cuter than opossums. (Because holy heck, opossums have ugly, nasty tails. So raccoons edge them out in cuteness by a smidge.)

[Pippen]

I know someone who had a raccoon get in and do major damage to her summer cottage. 

[Selkie]

Oh, I'm so sorry. Poor chickens.

That's one reason I've never gotten chickens or goats or other small animals. We have so many predators here and it is just too difficult to keep them safe.

[ktgrok]

Raccons are viscous jerks. Working in veterinary medicine we often had to care for cats that had been torn up by raccoons. They don't kill and eat cats, they just beat the crap out of them and leave them laying there. Awful. I am NOT a fan of them. Little furry gang bangers as far as I'm concerned. 

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, MaBelle said:

We are very rural.  Dh and I were talking this morning about how there is no coon hunting anymore.  40 yrs ago when we got married there was coon hunting all the time.  I'd even end up with coon hounds that were old and couldn't keep up, or young and got lost or whatever.

Dh thinks it phased out because of the animal rights people.  Coon skins used to be worth the hunting around here.  No longer.

I do have a coonhound, and actually looked into if there were any people doing coonhunting in my area but couldn't find anything recent. I have no desire to shoot a raccoon, but from what I can tell the hunts mainly consist of hanging out, drinking with buddies in the woods with a bunch of dogs, and that sounded awesome, lol. 

[sweet2ndchance]

People don't go coon hunting around here that I know of but raccoons are shot on sight if they start snooping around the property. The idea of a raccoon is cute but they aren't called "little masked bandits" for nothing! They have torn all manner of things apart around here. If it's not bolted down and locked tight shut, it's free game for raccoons and any other manner of wildlife around here.

[Selkie]

Coon hunting is big here and the shelters are always full of coonhounds that have run off and never been claimed. Over the years, we've adopted a Treeing Walker, a Redbone, a Black and Tan, and two Redtick mixes. They are such sweet dogs and I love their loud, baying bark. We also have a Foxhound who came from a southern shelter and probably also ran off during a hunt. She's a dainty little thing and more refined than our coonhounds, but still has that big, booming bark.

[73349]

That's the paradox for so many animals. Look at a baby polar bear: Oh, it's the sweetest, fluffiest little baby... and in two years it will think I'm a complete breakfast. Or a hawk: How majestic! It soars high above everything... so it can see a bunny to claw out of the clover and shred to pieces.

Sorry about your chickens. :(

[sweet2ndchance]

3 minutes ago, whitehawk said:

That's the paradox for so many animals. Look at a baby polar bear: Oh, it's the sweetest, fluffiest little baby... and in two years it will think I'm a complete breakfast. Or a hawk: How majestic! It soars high above everything... so it can see a bunny to claw out of the clover and shred to pieces.

Sorry about your chickens. :(

Your post reminded me of the time a few years ago that we were sitting in our living room and all the sudden heard the loudest piercing scream from the backyard, almost like an infant when they get a vaccination. A hawk had something pinned to the ground but it flew away when we opened the back door. We went to see what it had pinned was because it was still laying on the ground and it was a baby bunny! We took it in and kept it warm and fed it for a couple of days and then let it go. Did you know that baby bunnies have a very loud piercing screams they are scared? We found out while we were keeping it, that it wasn't the hawk we heard making that noise, it was the baby bunny! lol

[MercyA]

I absolutely understand the need to protect your own animals on your own property. We had a raccoon coming into our garage through the cat door and scaring our cat, so I left the lights on and played sermons out there at night and that seemed to take care of it.

However, I see no need at all for anyone to hunt raccoons solely for their fur. Hopefully we are over that as a society. We don't need fur to keep ourselves warm anymore.

Also, chasing after a raccoon with a pack of dogs and pack of men for entertainment is sick and cruel. (And please don't tell me people never do it just for fun. I have hunters in my family and in my church and I know they do. Boo.)

[ktgrok]

12 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I absolutely understand the need to protect your own animals on your own property. We had a raccoon coming into our garage through the cat door and scaring our cat, so I left the lights on and played sermons out there at night and that seemed to take care of it.

However, I see no need at all for anyone to hunt raccoons solely for their fur. Hopefully we are over that as a society. We don't need fur to keep ourselves warm anymore.

Also, chasing after a raccoon with a pack of dogs and pack of men for entertainment is sick and cruel. (And please don't tell me people never do it just for fun. I have hunters in my family and in my church and I know they do. Boo.)

To be clear, as I said, i had no plans to shoot the raccoon. Also, it seems often no one shoots them at a lot of hunts, since the furs are not worth the price of tanning or some such thing. As for chasing it, pretty sure they scramble up a tree quickly, it's not like a fox hunt where it goes on for miles. The dogs run around looking for a raccoon, while the hunters kind of hang back, then when they find one (who runs up a tree) they stay at the base of the tree barking/baying so the hunter can find them. At that point traditionally it would be shot, but as I said, often not anymore. 

My dog re-enacts a portion of this nearly ever night in my backyard already. Possums, raccoons, and if all else is lacking, he'll do it for squirrels. Just figured a group atmosphere would be fun. And he'd get to run around looking for the thing, rather than just dart across the backyard. 

[MercyA]

51 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

To be clear, as I said, i had no plans to shoot the raccoon. Also, it seems often no one shoots them at a lot of hunts, since the furs are not worth the price of tanning or some such thing. As for chasing it, pretty sure they scramble up a tree quickly, it's not like a fox hunt where it goes on for miles. The dogs run around looking for a raccoon, while the hunters kind of hang back, then when they find one (who runs up a tree) they stay at the base of the tree barking/baying so the hunter can find them. At that point traditionally it would be shot, but as I said, often not anymore. 

My dog re-enacts a portion of this nearly ever night in my backyard already. Possums, raccoons, and if all else is lacking, he'll do it for squirrels. Just figured a group atmosphere would be fun. And he'd get to run around looking for the thing, rather than just dart across the backyard. 

I had no idea there were hunts in which the raccoon isn't shot! That's interesting! 

I have no doubt the dogs enjoy it. Seems like it would still be really stressful for the coon, though.

I'm all for drinking and hanging out with friends in the woods. 🍺🔥🌙Just minus the hunting part. Maybe there needs to be an adult version of Capture the Flag or something. With dogs. 🙂 

Edited August 6, 2019 by MercyA

[EmseB]

58 minutes ago, MercyA said:

I had no idea there were hunts in which the raccoon isn't shot! That's interesting! 

I have no doubt the dogs enjoy it. Seems like it would still be really stressful for the coon, though.

I'm all for drinking and hanging out with friends in the woods. 🍺🔥🌙Just minus the hunting part. Maybe there needs to be an adult version of Capture the Flag or something. With dogs. 🙂 

I don't mean to sound dismissive, but isn't that just...nature? I mean, you spare a raccoon some stress because you don't want to hunt them, but then chickens are stressed and eaten later? 

Edited August 6, 2019 by EmseB

[Selkie]

1 hour ago, Ktgrok said:

To be clear, as I said, i had no plans to shoot the raccoon. Also, it seems often no one shoots them at a lot of hunts, since the furs are not worth the price of tanning or some such thing. As for chasing it, pretty sure they scramble up a tree quickly, it's not like a fox hunt where it goes on for miles. The dogs run around looking for a raccoon, while the hunters kind of hang back, then when they find one (who runs up a tree) they stay at the base of the tree barking/baying so the hunter can find them. At that point traditionally it would be shot, but as I said, often not anymore. 

My dog re-enacts a portion of this nearly ever night in my backyard already. Possums, raccoons, and if all else is lacking, he'll do it for squirrels. Just figured a group atmosphere would be fun. And he'd get to run around looking for the thing, rather than just dart across the backyard. 

Never heard of that happening - that must be a rarity in the coon hunting world. Here, the coons are always killed, and not because their fur is valuable, but because it is considered to be fun. Yuck.

 

[Mbelle]

I despise racoons.  They are disgusting and they frequently have rabies around here.  One climbed over a fence into my yard and went after my dog.  My dog killed it, but because of so much rabies I called the animal control and they took it and tested it.  I shudder when i see them.

[ktgrok]

Truth, they carry distemper and rabies here too, may be why hunters don't want to shoot/skin them actually. It would expose you to rabies, and your dogs to distemper. Better to leave them in the tree. 

 

[Garga]

Oh crap.  My 75 year old aunt puts out giant bowls of cat food on her porch and feeds the wild raccoons and skunks (yes skunks).  She loves them and thinks they’re all adorable.  

She lives in a medium-sized town in the middle nowhere in Arizona. She’s on a residential road in a residential neighborhood with houses all up and down the street.  

If I tell her that raccoons rip cats apart and carry distemper and rabies, she won’t believe me.  (Though she adores cats more than anything.). She’ll just think I’m being the killjoy. 

I hate having knowledge like this that I ought to pass on to her, but she’ll just dismiss as if I’m being alarmist.  Maybe I should call their local police about it and remain anonymous.   On one hand it’s not my business, but on the other hand, she’s drawing wild animals that could be carrying diseases (and killing pets) into her neighborhood.  There are about 4 raccoons and 6 skunks that show up regularly.  The neighbors don’t know she feeds them nightly.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Garga

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, EmseB said:

I don't mean to sound dismissive, but isn't that just...nature? I mean, you spare a raccoon some stress because you don't want to hunt them, but then chickens are stressed and eaten later? 

I didn't say nothing should be done about the chickens being killed. Adding light deterrents, adding noise deterrents, reinforcing the run, reinforcing the co-op, adding a guard animal--even, if need be, shooting the raccoon if he is found near the co-op or on the property--these are all things chicken owners do. 

I am talking about the "coon hunting" that some people do for fun and entertainment. There is no reason to stress out a wild animal so somebody can get their jollies with their buddies. Maybe they'd kill a raccoon that might kill a chicken later, maybe not. But I am not convinced that going into the woods, finding a wild animal minding his own business in his own environment, chasing him down, and shooting him is morally right--or kind, or classy. 

I'm not a fan of preemptive killing to possibly prevent potential suffering later--not in the womb, not in war, not in the wild. My beloved cat was killed by a coyote when I lived in the country. A farmer friend asked me, basically, "Don't you wish you'd let my son do some coyote hunting on your property?" Well, no. How would I have known that the coyotes being killed where the ones that might later kill my cat? And regardless, didn't they have a right to live, too? And perhaps they had pups in dens to care for. So, no. Had I caught the coyote attacking my cat I would have tried to stop him. But I can't see killing an animal just because he's a predator.

Most hunters I know do it for fun. They do it because they like to kill things. And that is just a fact. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by MercyA

[moonflower]

There's probably some biological drive left, after millennia of killing things out of necessity and only say a couple hundred years (if that) of not needing to, at least in men (who needed to do the majority of the killing).  

I think it's probably like a lot of modern conundrums: we developed these very valid and useful inclinations over hundreds of thousands of years, and all of a sudden (evolutionarily speaking) we don't need them.  It's like with fat and sugar: in the hunter gatherer days, if you saw something fatty and/or sugary, you ate it with relish!  You packed it on for the famine times.  Not as useful in the modern West, where we don't have famine but we do have diabetes.

[MercyA]

Just for anyone who might not know: it is a myth that healthy raccoons are never active during the day. Mothers, especially, may be out looking for extra food during daylight. If the raccoon is staggering, doesn't seem to hear or see you, has discharge or matted fur around her face, or is screeching or acting erratic, then she is ill and should be humanely dispatched. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by MercyA

[ktgrok]

Not all areas have rabid raccoons. It's pretty specific spots, from my understanding. Palm Beach County had a lot, but it's nt all areas of Florida. 

[littlebug42]

My nephew lives in an inner city neighborhood.  During recent heatwave, he decided to go outside to sleep on his porch.  He awakened to being bitten by raccoon - three times.  Many rabies shots later, he also no longer thinks they are cute.  I only think they are cute on TV.  

[Rosie_0801]

12 hours ago, Garga said:

Oh crap.  My 75 year old aunt puts out giant bowls of cat food on her porch and feeds the wild raccoons and skunks (yes skunks).  She loves them and thinks they’re all adorable.  

 

We have people who do that for cane toads. I think you've gotta be *really* lonely to think cane toads are cute.

[KrissiK]

23 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

I hate raccoons. They are not cute. They are mean and vicious. They;ve gotten into chickens and one of our dogs tangled with one a long time ago. They're awful. 

We live about 1/4 mile from the river so we have critters come up all the time. One year we had raccoons. One night we had 4 of them in our back yard at one time. Fortunately they left our cats alone. Yes, they are mean and nasty creatures.

DH scared them away with a BB gun.

[Tenaj]

My neighbor at one time was feeding racoons nightly on his back deck.  We had chickens and started losing them so my son started trapping the racoons.  We caught at least one nightly for a month!  That's a LOT of racoons.  We never told our neighbor why his population decreased and far as we know it was just the one summer he was doing the feeding.  Racoons are nasty.

[MaBelle]

9 hours ago, Rosie_0801 said:

 

We have people who do that for cane toads. I think you've gotta be *really* lonely to think cane toads are cute.

Oh come on!!  Toads are adorable.  Now frogs are another matter all together.

[MaBelle]

22 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

Check your state laws. Even without a hunting season, there may still be a trapping season. A slower process, but still helps keep the population in check. 

 

Well, we don't trap them.  It's legal to shoot them here anytime if they are threatening your livestock.

[Rosie_0801]

7 hours ago, MaBelle said:

Oh come on!!  Toads are adorable.  Now frogs are another matter all together.

 

Cane toads are poisonous, invasive, little creeps.

I like frogs. I have one living outside my back door.

[MercyA]

I think frogs and toads are so cute that I baby talk to them. My DD does the same.

The list of animals and insects I think are *not* cute is pretty short: ladybugs, flies, ants, centipedes, mosquitoes, some fish. Maybe a few others. Also, I have a completely irrational aversion to robins. Other than that, it's pretty much always SQUEEE!!!! 

[MaBelle]

1 hour ago, Rosie_0801 said:

 

Cane toads are poisonous, invasive, little creeps.

I like frogs. I have one living outside my back door.

Off to google.  I never met a toad I didn't like...

[ktgrok]

9 hours ago, MaBelle said:

Oh come on!!  Toads are adorable.  Now frogs are another matter all together.

 

4 minutes ago, MaBelle said:

Off to google.  I never met a toad I didn't like...

They kill dogs on the regular. Seriously they are bad news, eating up the native frogs, eating anything, really, and their skin secretes a poison that causes symptoms similar to insecticide poisoning. Awful things. Big and ugly and deadly

[MaBelle]

9 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

 

They kill dogs on the regular. Seriously they are bad news, eating up the native frogs, eating anything, really, and their skin secretes a poison that causes symptoms similar to insecticide poisoning. Awful things. Big and ugly and deadly

Whoa!

 

[Rosie_0801]

37 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

They kill dogs on the regular. Seriously they are bad news, eating up the native frogs, eating anything, really, and their skin secretes a poison that causes symptoms similar to insecticide poisoning. Awful things. Big and ugly and deadly

 

Some of our birds have learned to flip them over and eat their bellies.

I once saw a picture of a guy who'd made lamellar armour out of cane toad hides.

They were introduced here in 1935 and will have settled at least a third of the continent in the first hundred years. They're right over Queensland, Northern Territory and are into Western Australia and New South Wales now.

[Liz CA]

On 8/6/2019 at 10:07 AM, MercyA said:

I absolutely understand the need to protect your own animals on your own property. We had a raccoon coming into our garage through the cat door and scaring our cat, so I left the lights on and played sermons out there at night and that seemed to take care of it.

 

 

🙂  Were they receptive to the message and convicted of their sins?

When we lived in a very rural area, the chickens were never attacked by coons but one tried to tangle with our rottweiler. Poor dog had some nasty scratches.

[LMD]

On 8/7/2019 at 2:53 AM, sweet2ndchance said:

Your post reminded me of the time a few years ago that we were sitting in our living room and all the sudden heard the loudest piercing scream from the backyard, almost like an infant when they get a vaccination. A hawk had something pinned to the ground but it flew away when we opened the back door. We went to see what it had pinned was because it was still laying on the ground and it was a baby bunny! We took it in and kept it warm and fed it for a couple of days and then let it go. Did you know that baby bunnies have a very loud piercing screams they are scared? We found out while we were keeping it, that it wasn't the hawk we heard making that noise, it was the baby bunny! lol

Oh yes, I know about this. Thanks to my cat, who catches bunnies and eats their faces... (we've done this topic on the hive before, bunnies are a terribly destructive pest here)

Worse is the noise foxes make. They just, literally, scream at each other. Many a time dh or I have run out in the middle of the night due to a blood curdling fox scream off. 😑

[MercyA]

18 hours ago, Liz CA said:

🙂  Were they receptive to the message and convicted of their sins?

🤣They must have been, because it worked. I thought speech might work better than music.

[MercyA]

20 hours ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Ok I gotta ask. What do you have against ladybugs and robins? Also you should add roaches to your list. If you think they’re cute I’m going to have to add you to my block list, LOL. 

Ha! I forgot about roaches. Yeah, not cute. No need to block me--at least not over this. 😉 

Ah, ladybugs. When we lived in the country, we were subjected to a months long invasion of ladybugs inside our house every year. They always found a way to get in, and there were masses of them crawling on the inside of our windows and on light-colored walls. If scared, they squirted a smelly, orange, staining substance on the wall or whenever else they happened to be. It was very...off-putting. And definitely not cute.

Poor robins. I told you my aversion was irrational. To me, they always look a little unkept. Not nice and neat and tidy like sparrows, not pretty like goldfinches, not shiny like starlings, not plump and lovely like pigeons and doves. Also, they are the bird I see most often squished in the road. They just don't get out of the way quickly. 😞Obviously none of this is their fault and I bear them no ill will. They are very skilled at listening for worms and caring for their babies. Just not at being cute. 🙂 

Edited August 9, 2019 by MercyA

[Selkie]

17 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

So I’m buy my kids the insect lore lady bug kits multiple times a year. I had no idea that could swarm like that. Yikes! And I’m paying for them!! Now I’m going to be giving the lady bugs the side eye. We did the praying mantises only once. Those were boring for 10 weeks on end, and then horrifying all at once as approximately a million of them hatched at the same time. Now perhaps I should alternate lady bugs and mantises to keep one another in check, LOL. 

I’m going to refer my titmouse birds to you this fall. I get the unkept thing because of them. They roost on our soffits at night and fight themselves on my car side mirrors during the day. They should definitely replace or at least accompany robins on your list. I think we are too far south for robins here. I’ve only seen them a couple of times in my life. Far too little to determine the level of unkemptness, lol. Although they have an hard to lose fight with our evil mockingbirds!  

The kind that swarm are Asian lady beetles, which are different than the cute little ladybugs I grew up with. The Asian lady beetles were a government plan gone awry - they were introduced down south because they eat aphids. However, there are no predators willing to eat the stinky lady beetles, so they have proliferated and spread northward and have become a real problem here in the midwest. They live in the soybean fields all summer. As soon as the beans are harvested, they swarm any building they can find, looking for a way in to spend the winter.  They are just gross. Like Mercy said, they smell awful and squirt yucky liquid that stains. You can't vacuum them because then your vacuum will stink like bugs. Lots of people are allergic to them, including my dh. Our neighbor developed asthma from them. Oh, and they bite, too!

[MercyA]

1 hour ago, Selkie said:

The kind that swarm are Asian lady beetles, which are different than the cute little ladybugs I grew up with. The Asian lady beetles were a government plan gone awry - they were introduced down south because they eat aphids. However, there are no predators willing to eat the stinky lady beetles, so they have proliferated and spread northward and have become a real problem here in the midwest. They live in the soybean fields all summer. As soon as the beans are harvested, they swarm any building they can find, looking for a way in to spend the winter.  They are just gross. Like Mercy said, they smell awful and squirt yucky liquid that stains. You can't vacuum them because then your vacuum will stink like bugs. Lots of people are allergic to them, including my dh. Our neighbor developed asthma from them. Oh, and they bite, too!

This is so interesting! I loved the little ladybugs I saw outside in the summer in the 70's as a child. They were cute. It's definitely the Asian lady beetles that are a problem here in Indiana, and the house in which we had the problem was surrounded by farm fields. 

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

So I’m buy my kids the insect lore lady bug kits multiple times a year. I had no idea that could swarm like that. Yikes! And I’m paying for them!! Now I’m going to be giving the lady bugs the side eye. We did the praying mantises only once. Those were boring for 10 weeks on end, and then horrifying all at once as approximately a million of them hatched at the same time. Now perhaps I should alternate lady bugs and mantises to keep one another in check, LOL. 

I’m going to refer my titmouse birds to you this fall. I get the unkept thing because of them. They roost on our soffits at night and fight themselves on my car side mirrors during the day. They should definitely replace or at least accompany robins on your list. I think we are too far south for robins here. I’ve only seen them a couple of times in my life. Far too little to determine the level of unkemptness, lol. Although they have an hard to lose fight with our evil mockingbirds!  

I was going to ask if you were mad, bringing ladybugs into your home ON PURPOSE, but I see that Selkie has clarified the matter. LOL about the praying mantises! 

I googled the titmouse birds, and I'm so sorry, but SQUEE! They are adorable. 😉