I killed ANOTHER Coonzilla this morning! LONG

[Mac]

To have the raccoon tested for rabies take it to your vet. They will have to remove the head and send it for testing. If you still have the animal, put it in a garbage bag and put it in the freezer, or if where you live is cold, put it in a garbage bag and keep it cold and protected until you can deliver it. They only need the head to test. I used to do this decades ago, maybe things have changed. I would be on high alert since it came towards you. Better safe than sorry. Whatever, you did a great job. BTW, I'm going to the range this weekend too.

Mac

 

[MBLayfield]

Quote:
LOL I would have told him more than that but I didn't need to! He isn't mad, but is "making" me clean the gun tonight so I'll know how to do it. Plus he knows I'm terrified of guns and never want to use them. But, I'll be darn if anything is going to eat my rabbits or chickens without my permission, so I just shot it..... Afterwards I just shook and shook and I felt like I'd downed a case of energy drinks! I'm going to take a gun safety course and DH is going to come with me.

 

[65browneyes]

I'm terrified of guns

I'd say you don't have a thing to worry about regarding a 'messy' barrel!

Also wanted to add that your State Game Department would also be a good resource for rabies testing info.​

 

[lacyloo]

RABIES

 

[texaschickmama]

Good job. I was thinking rabies, too. Guess I have watched Old Yeller too many times.

Oh yeah, I'm with Spotted on that one. I would have had to change my pants too.

 

[ole-crone]

I've had Raccoons come at me before. One chased me all over the cemetery in Palmyra NY and I didn't even have it cornered. It saw me and took an instant dislike and started chasing.

Maybe our raccoons here in Little Siberia Utah are just braver because of the cold - whenever I come across one they growl at me. They have to have an attitude to survive.

Mary Ann

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

I doubt it had rabies; it was acting "rationally" and foraging for food, and you interrupted what was going to be a very tasty snack.

It was defending it's "territory" and meal, but I agree that it needed to be shot. I am also very concerned about clean kills, but I have seen many a good hunter with a clear shot have to make more than one or even two shots to take down a boar raccoon; they are very, very tough animals.

I'm glad you're OK, glad you're learning how to handle a gun, and glad I'm not the only woman who shows up to work with poop on her shoes!

 

[ole-crone]

Normally, if anything tests positive for rabies it makes headline news up here. We don't see those headlines often so I agree with those who say that the reaction of the raccoon was because it was cornered and scared. As I said in my earlier post - we have frisky raccoons up here with nice thick coats to keep them warm. AND Bad tempered! When we added another 3 feet to a fence, and made it floppy enough to make a raccoon think twice, you should have seen the reaction when it fell into the holding yard for our young pullets. The thing killed 18 of the 19 chickens. The only chicken that survived was hidden behind and under the carnage. I had never seen anything like it before or since. He came back the next night to finish his job but we had moved the last girl elsewhere.

No, we didn't catch him - but you should have seen the sight of my husband (in his underwear) chasing the raccoon across the roof of our house, rifle in hand. What a hoot! Scared that raccoon so much it never came back. I like to think it was the one smashed on the highway a few days later.

 

[cknmom]

People are so used to seeing the "cute" coons on the animal documentaries. They are very mean and nasty!! They do not need a reason to come after you. My ex got bitten by a friends"pet" when he was a teen, went through rabies shots because it was a non-domestic pet. I had friends that had two, we would walk into the backyard and these things would be like tasmaninan devils in their cage. They snarled, snapped, clawed towards you. Then my friends would get into the cage and hand feed them, trying to get other people to do the same!!! CRAZY!!

Monica

 

[echickenlove]

wow thats a scary thing to walk into..glad you didnt get hurt..and also none of the animals either..too bad you had to shoot it but I can certainly understand the reasoning for it. Glad everyone is ok.