Neighbor is BIG TIME feeding the raccoons.

Some of us have different experiences with raccoons; your Missouri critters must be special! Also, the reported (tested positive) rabies cases in different species varies hugely by state and region; google the CDC rabies report, the latest is 2014. Many (MOST!) critters aren't tested, so it's significant to have any positives show up. Mary
 
Fascinating thread...lots of good(and bad) discussion.

OP brought to mind a scene I witnessed at a campground in Fla years ago.
There was a guy with an RV a couple spots away that fed coons every evening.
He would sit in a lawn chair doling out 'treats' and was surrounded by ~20 coons.
Some of them were huge!!
It was creepyscary.

@Lilki any word from the authorities you contacted?


I haven't read every single page of this thread so don't know if the issue of raccoons being a physical threat to people has been addressed. It goes to show how most people view a cuddly-appearing fur clad creature like a Disney cartoon when the animal in real life can inflict great bodily harm. There exist well known documentation of pet raccoons turning on their owners and mauling them so badly, weeks or months of reconstructive surgery was required.

Another park story:

In my desert park beside the Colorado River, people were feeding raccoons in the campground. It had gotten to the tipping point where entire families of coons were marauding through the campground, slashing their way through tents and trailer window screens to raid the dwellings for food they felt entitled to.

The report that got my rear in gear was hearing from a picnicker that a raccoon had climbed up his back while he was sitting at a picnic table eating and snatched the sandwich out of his hand. I extrapolated that the next victim could be a small child and injuries could be substantial, and I presented the argument to the district office recommending a trap and exterminate program. The okay was given and I proceeded with the grizzly project.

I chose KFC fried chicken as bait and rigged the traps in campsites, right under picnic tables. The haul was both impressive and heart breaking. Adults and babies were found in the traps over the following week. I executed the animals and hauled their carcasses a couple miles away out in open desert for the coyotes to clean up.

After a week of this, and another week of finding only empty traps, I concluded all the "bad actors" had been caught. The interesting thing was that campers were still reporting seeing raccoons around the edges of the campground, but none of these animals were coming in close demanding handouts. So I was pretty confident that only the corrupted coons had been exterminated. As long as I was the ranger in that park, people got stern warnings about feeding the wildlife, so in the intervening years up to my retirement, there were no more raccoon problems.

It was one of the most emotionally heart wrenching tasks I had to perform as a park ranger. At one point I blurted out in front of a group of park visitors, "This park doesn't have a raccoon problem, it has a people problem!" I don't know if it's a result of a long intervening period of relative safety in our human evolution or our exposure to TV and movies that are responsible for our disconnect from the true nature of wildlife, or perhaps both. But it's a big problem.
Several years ago, we went camping at a state park. When dusk came, the raccoons emerged from the woods. They covered the campgrounds! It seemed like every picnic table had raccoons on them, eating or looking for food. We watched one raccoon remove the lid from a Tupperware container and eat the crackers inside. We were tenting, and during the night two raccoons got into a fight right outside of our tent, bumping into the walls. My husband finally punched one as it was up against the tent. It let out a grunt, and away it went. I have never seen anything like that since. It was fascinating, yet kind of disturbing.

Azygous - I can't imagine having to do what you did. I understand it, and appreciate your work, but I'm sure it took a toll.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom