Dead racoon in driveway, any issues?

[Richard]

Wife called me this morning as I was out at co-op getting diesel. Asked if I ran over a racoon.

Nope.

We have two ways to get in/out and I always use the one by the dock. She uses the other way and the coon was over there.

Came home & looked at it. Rigamortis had set in. On its rear haunch I saw blood. Perhaps gunshot perhaps animal bite, I don't know.

We have 2 outdoor dogs, one of which LOVES to take down squirrels and will carry it around in his mouth for several DAYS as his little trophy. He won't eat the poor thing, just carry it around.

Made me wonder if maybe he was responsible for killing this however, he would usually take his 'trophy' up to the yard where he can keep a closer eye on it, lest one of the other dogs decide they want to frolic with it.

So, I don't know if either of the dogs killed it or have even been near it since its death which was probably last night.

I've used a stick & pushed it into my backhoe's rear bucket, dug hole and buried it.

Just curious if I need to have any other concerns for any of the dogs? All of the dogs have updated shots.

Worry or forget about it?

 

[Bird]

Personally, I'd forget about it. I'd consider it highly unlikely that one of your dogs killed it for several reasons. One you mentioned; your dog probably would not have left it where it was. Another is the fact that, while I've heard rumors of one dog killing a raccoon, I think most of those stories are highly suspect. My dad's best friend raised and trained coon hounds, so I've been on a number of coon hunts in my younger days; not my cup of tea, but I learned a few things, one of which is that it usually takes at least 2 or 3 dogs working together to kill a coon.

 

[lopezian]

... while I've heard rumors of one dog killing a raccoon, I think most of those stories are highly suspect. My dad's best friend raised and trained coon hounds, so I've been on a number of coon hunts in my younger days; not my cup of tea, but I learned a few things, one of which is that it usually takes at least 2 or 3 dogs working together to kill a coon.

It's not rumor to me. A neighbor's dog killed a coon by himself last summer.

All of us around here are plaqued by raccoons that climb our fruit trees and break off branches and generally cause havoc when the fruit are ripe. My neighbor has a small orchard of about 40 cherry trees that he keeps under bird netting during the season. When the charries were ripe he slept out in the orchard every night with his dog. One night the dog cornered a coon that got caught in some of the bird netting where it formed wall around the orchard. Admitedly I was not there to see it, but my neighbor told me that the dog tore into the coon and killed it right there.

 

[Bird]

a coon that got caught in some of the bird netting

I can't say I'd doubt it if the coon was caught in some kind of netting.

 

[Oleozz]

If your dogs are up to date on their rabies shots I would say forget it. The rabies virus is killed by direct sunlight and is a rather fragile virus, at least according to the doctors I've talked to. If you think your dogs have had any contact with the coon you might want to hose them off or give them a bath.

 

[RonMar]

If your dogs are up to date on their rabies shots I would say forget it. The rabies virus is killed by direct sunlight and is a rather fragile virus, at least according to the doctors I've talked to. If you think your dogs have had any contact with the coon you might want to hose them off or give them a bath.

I agree, Rabies is a vary fragile virus and can't handle a rapid change in temperature. It needs warm to warm contact to be spread(saliva to blood during a bite). I had a runin with a racoon who acted funny a few years back. It tangled with my dog in the back yard and we had to break up the ruckus with a broom. The dog ran inside once we got the two untangled(racoon got tangled in the dog lead) when we opened the door and straight into my wifes arms. The racoon proceeded to come up onto the porch even after having a broom busted over it's head getting it separated from the dog. I came back out onto the porch with a shotgun and a flashlight. the little nutcase did a pullup on the porch railing right in front of my shotgun muzzel. Scared the **** out of me when he did that so that was his last workout... Unfortunately I ballistically removed the brainstem when I did this and they need that for testing. At that time in upstate NY the area I lived in had a 100% positive test rate for rabies in suspicious animals brought in for testing. The dogs shots were current but we had to quaranteen her at home for 10 days. We were lining up to get shots for my wife and I as we had our hands all over the dog checking her right after she came in the house and may have touched the saliva(the dog wasn't even scratched during the encounter). Our own doctor refered us to one of his collegues who's wife was a vet. That was when we learned how fragile rabies is and unless we were actually bitten by the racoon, we didn't need shots. Any virus that was present in any saliva on my dogs fur was dead before she got into the house.

Your county may want to test the racoon for statistical info to track rabies outbreaks. You could ask your county health department. They would also most likley be able to tell you how many positive tests they have performed in your area, but if it is already buried...

And of course, if you have to dispatch a suspicious animal, don't shoot it in the head if you want to get it tested

 

[Richard]

Back from my errands, thanks all for the comments. Here's an update:

Called my vet while out and they said as you all did, not to worry about it; His shots are up to date.

I don't know that he killed the coon, but if this helps, Tubby is 80/85 pounds and solid as a rock. he was abandoned our way as a puppy so we don't know his parents. Vet thinks he's got some chow in him. He can be very imposing in his appearance.

The coon as I went back to look at it, was probably more of a teenager than adult. I don't know how big they get but I just had a feeling in me that this was a young one.

Perfect excuse to jump on the backhoe, used stick to move coon into bucket and drove off into woods to bury.

 

[texasjohn]

Agreed... all is well, particularly since your dogs are current on their shots.

I used to hunt coons for hides when in High School... would get up to 7-8 per night.. more usually 3-4. I hunted with headlight and my border collie dog, about 45 lbs.

She could and would kill coons as long as she was on firm ground... coons best dogs in the water by crawling on their head and drowning them.

I had a cousin who had coon dogs... we went hunting once... my cousin's coon dogs treed trees (no coons in them) while my dog properly identified the tree with a coon in it. Multiple times. Also, when we'd shake a coon out of its perch, his coon dogs circled around the coon while mine dove right in and took care of it. My opinion of his dogs dropped and mine rose after that night. I think it's a matter of the dog's personality and experience.

Largest coon I ever saw was about 35 lbs.. weighed on a bathroom scale... really BIG boar coon.

 

[Jaybr]

I've seen a dog kill coons on more than one occassion. We had an old black and tan coonhound at our hunt club that I witnessed kill a few. Also had a rotweiler that killed one in the yard once.

From what I've seen, some dogs will run up to a coon and bark alot, but the ones that I've seen kill them don't hesitate at all, jump right in and the coons dead quick.

 

[tallyho8]

Yes, I've had over 30 coonhounds but only one that was an effective coon killer. I had a 90 pound Redbone that would just run up to the coon and grab his head and bite. (On land or in water) Instantaneous death. All the other dogs I had would have to work in pairs or wind up with multiple injuries.