Daytime Raccoon

[Wolf-Kim]

Opportunistic, describes these animal so well. An animal that is opportunistic makes for a fairly unpredictable animal. They'll eat just about anything, at anytime, almost anywhere.

I wouldn't fear about rabies unless it is acting aggressive or sickly. By the description of it, it just appears to be a racoon being an every day opportunistic coon. I wouldn't doubt if coons start to come out more often in the day, in areas where there is a high density of raccoons. An adaption if you will.

When you get the chance, safely dispose of it. Whether healthy or sickly, docile or aggressive, a coon does not belong in someone's front yard midday. It will increase the chances you and the neighbors will come into contact with them, and the more contacts the more chances of attacks. The higher the chances of attacks, the more the chance that someone will get sick from a bite or scratch. It's simply not worth the risk to me, people first, animals second.

-Kim

 

[Rootball]

I would just buy extra birdseed

 

[cmjust0]

I had one right outside the kitchen window during the day a few years ago.. It didn't look right and was acting...funny. This was pre-chickens, so I didn't really care except that it just didn't look right. It wasn't doing anything in particular, either...just kinda loitering and wandering about. I banged on the window and when it looked up and saw me, it had this kinda confused look on its face.. Then it **limped** away, with an obvious wound to one of its hind legs.

I think it was probably rabid.

The only good news about rabid raccoons is that rabies kills pretty quickly.. If a domesticated animal bites someone, they usually only quarantine it 10 days to check for rabies. If it's still alive in 10 days, it doesn't have rabies. That's pretty quick, IMO..

 

[chickbea]

A healthy 'coon out during the day is usually a female with kits back in the nest.
In addition to rabies, however, distemper is also endemic in racoons, so be sure all pets are immunized (cats too!).

 

[Malou-La-Croix]

I live in the city but we still have coons. I havent seen one since getting my 2 chickens--until yesterday evening about 7 pm, I hear my girls sqwaking up a racket like never before! I ran out to see a coon slinking through my carport (the chickens are in the backyard adjacent to the carport but they obviously saw him). They were up on the picnic table scared to death. I chased down the coon and will try to trap it.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Good point the raccoon can get either distemper. Cat Or Dog and no they are not the same distemper.

 

[CocoNUT]

I'm with you on the 'dirt bed' set up! I'm not a fan of racoons...mostly because of their rabies associations (although squirrels are also vectors for rabies)! My neighbors were attacked at 2 PM by a racoon...turned out to be rabid. I just don't 'trust' racoons....especially if you've got chickens nearby. They MAY be adapting...but i would not risk the health of my animals by encouraging a WILD animal to 'lunch' in my yard with FREE food!
Saw on animal planet this lady in FL was feeding catfood to all the local racoons...then called the pest control trappers to 'rehome' them when their numbers EXPLODED! She had over 20 racoons coming to her house all the time...breaking INTO her house to get at the FREE food! NO WAY! I love animals and all...but wild animals need to stay WILD! Sorry...won't let the daughter capture a pet possum either!!! (YUCK...those things are NASTY!)

 

[montyhp]

I am not sure where you are, but here in south tx, we do assume rabies for all mammals. Just too much of it down here.

Also, we are in a record drought so all the animals are acting wierd. On the news last night the wildlife rescue asked everyone to put out water for the deer.

Montyhp

So TX

 

[Freyja]

I agree with many others here that healthy raccoons are sometimes out during the day, especially females who are raising young.

I learned a lot about raccoon behavior recently when a sick raccoon was circling on our city street one afternoon. It couldn't see (repeatedly bumping into and falling off the curb), had a very poor coat, looked very sickly. No obvious wounds, so unlikely it had been hit by a car. My first and only thought was RABIES! Long story short -- PD came out, trapped and disposed of it. It was never tested for rabies. After I described its condition and behavior, my vet (who does a lot of work with wildlife) said it most likely had distemper -- much more common than rabies here. Our county does not test for rabies unless there is human contact or a bite, which there was not in this case. I learned all this after the fact. I think I would have been willing to pay for the test myself, just to know for certain.

 

[rebecca100]

I called fish and game about 3 months ago about a sick coon out during the day at my dad's house. There had just been an article in the paper about rabies in the area. The told me it was probably distemper and not to worry about it. If we caught it in a trap or killed it they would come get it, etc. etc. I think they were full of crap and just didn't want to come out about it. We didn't have a gun on hand at dads house. It wandered of and we never saw it again. I wasn't going after it. It wasn't scared either. Something was definately wrong with it. Against my warnings, dad tried to shoo it away and it didn't even act like it saw him!