Monday, September 14, 2009

When Animals Attack; Part Thirteen



I've had my run-ins with Raccoons. I've had them reach through chicken wire, dismember chickens live and pull them through the fence piece-by-piece. I've shot and skinned them. My friend had hounds; a raccoon led them into a deep stream, climbed up on the hound's head and drowned it. Two of my dogs caught a raccoon in a culvert under a road and it was the most hellish fight you've ever heard.
Now this:

Ballard family attacked by raccoon
Posted by Geeky Swedes on September 13th, 2009
Update: We have an update on the warning we posted earlier this weekend about a raccoon who attacked a Ballard family in their backyard near 14th Ave. and 73rd St. Joanna Silverstein told us a raccoon attacked their dog, then turned on her and her husband Mark on Thursday night.
Joanna said it all began when her little Yorkie “Bee” was walking the perimeter of the yard, and a raccoon suddenly jumped off the fence and made a beeline for the dog. “She’s a pretty little dog and he’s a big raccoon,” Joanna said, explaining that the raccoon attacked just before the dog made it inside the house. She said she tried to pull the dog away, but the raccoon wouldn’t stop its attack, biting the dog and then her in the leg. Her husband Mark, who was tending to their two-week-old child inside, heard his wife’s screams. She said he hit the raccoon with a flashlight and was able to throw it into the backyard.
“The raccoon scratched him pretty badly,” Joanna said. Because of their injuries, they both had to submit to rabies and tetanus shots — more than 25 between the two of them — a “very painful” experience, she said. The dog Bee was bitten on the snout.
After the attack, they distributed flyers in the area warning neighbors to “be watchful of your animals and children as this wild creature has become a threat.” And Joanna tells us, she seen two raccoons in her backyard since the attack. They plan to trap the raccoon(s) in the next couple of weeks.
LINK

(D.R.) One more raccoon story; when I was about 6 years-old I was in my Grandma's yard, and saw a big raccoon. I chased it, and grabbed it's tail as it climbed over a fence. It literally pulled me up the fence. I scrambled over and kept following it. Down the street, under a postal mailbox, was it's litter of about 5 kits, man they were cute. I wanted one. Fortunately there was an old couple that lived in the house there that warned me not to mess with them, and the mother raccoon hustled them off. I told my Mom later and she freaked out, I was damned lucky I didn't get shredded to pieces when I grabbed it's tail...

8 comments:

Toldain said...

I've never actually had to fight a racoon, but it's been close. I live in Mountain View, CA, Google's home town, though I grew up relatively close to the Rats, in Birch Bay. We used to have a pet door in our back door, and the coons would come in to get the cat food we kept in the back entry hall. This door is about 10 feet from my bed, just through the bedroom door.

I put some heavy boxes in front of the door to keep them out, but sometimes they could push them far enough out of the way to get through anyway. One night, I woke up to hear one in the back entry, and I turned on my bedside light, sat up and said to the beast, "It's time to leave". He sauntered to the door but then stopped and engaged me in a stare down, as if to say, "You're sure I have to leave?" "Yes, I'm sure" I said, so he left. After that I kept my bokken by the bed, ready to hand. I was not eager to fight one of them. I was pretty sure I'd get the best of it, but it was going to leave a mark, that's for sure. I've hand-fed wild raccoons before (at Birch Bay), and seen those claws up close and personal.

We've replaced the door. There's no pet door now.

Our Founder said...

Not just racoons, and not just in rural areas (although I confess to not knowing what Ballard is). When I was a little kid, we went to visit my grandparents, who lived in an apartment up on the Grand Concourse in The Bronx (for purposes of clarification, about a half-mile from Yankee Stadium).

We were playing around in a big park across the street, when my brother, who was about 3 or 4, bent down to pet a presumably tame squirrel. Many park squirrels are so tame that they'll snatch food from your hands. This one wasn't. I don't know what it was so pissed about, but when he bent down to pet it, the squirrel lashed out and left claw marks just above, below, and to the side of my brother's eye. A half-inch either way, and he would have taken the eye out.

The Bronx is a dangerous place.

Anonymous said...

Never realised raccoons were so violent!

Norma Haskins said...

Raccoons can be very protective of their litters and also be very dangerous if they are sick. In my 34 year career in Animal Control I have dealt with hundreds of raccoons. They can also get themselves into some sticky situations. You can read about some of my many rescues of wild and domestic animals in my book "Unleashed-Memories From A Career in Animal Control" which can be purchased here
http://eloquentbooks.com/Unleashed-MemoriesFromACareerInAnimalControl.html

JoseFreitas said...

Pretty soon we will be hearing about this new martial arts style of Raccoon Fist (Huanxiong Quan) originating from some out of the way Pacific Coast island and containing elements of Xingyi and bagua (no Raccoon worth his salt would be caught using Taiji)...

Dojo Rat said...

Ahh...
My Raccoon Fist is NO MATCH for your superior Portuguese Pepper Technique!

JoseFreitas said...

Ah, yes.... the dreaded "Piri Piri Attack"! It requires the usage of African chilies of fabled potency, but is a guaranteed move, will blind opponents for months, if not permanently.

A special Dim Mak Method! Now for the first time presented in the civilizaed West, yours for only 199$ if you act on it NOW! Includes recipe, DVD and 200pages of instructions! Certification included upon receipt of a bottle of Piri Piri made by you as well as one video.

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