Pet Raccoon

[Ranch Dog]

I've got a lot of critters around my home, everything from the big stuff (deer and feral hogs) to the small stuff. We have a small fenced yard with a large pecan tree that bares quite well. My dog kept the critters away that would have been attracted to the mast crop but with her passing it has turned into a free for all. Last night when my wife and I looked out there was three raccoons, two opossums, and a large gray fox. One of those raccoons is a young sow that seems quite interested in what I do... all the other stuff splits when I go out the door. Has anyone ever domesticated a coon? Or is it something that just happens if its going to happen...

[bruce drake]

Domesticated by means of a 20 gauge.

Raccoons and Opussoms are big time carriers for Rabies.

I'm sure some people have raised Raccoon kits. I just assume not take the risk.

Bruce

[kenjuudo]

Keep it an outside pet, you don't have enough time or eyes to keep it out of mischief in the house. Easier to keep tract of half a dozen three year old kids.

[Ranch Dog]

Yeah, I'm looking for a yard coon not a house pet. I don't won't another dog. I also don't want to kill every critter I see. I would have to kill 50 to 100 coons a year if that was the case and I don't want my yard to become the "death zone" as we live on the ranch to be around the critters.

I've been watching these bandits and they do a pretty good job of policing themselves... I mean one seems to dominate the others so I thought I would promote one to yard-master and see if he can keep the others in check.

They are pretty smart because I have a practice for dealing with them at the feeders. An old coon hunter and animal control fellow by trade told me about it. When my game camera start recording coon activity at my deer feed stations, I put out a large live trap. I catch the boldest fellow the first night (every time). I simply leave them in the trap for two days with out bread or water. I do move the trap into the shade as it gets pretty hot in the direct sunlight even in the winter here. At the end of two days, I let the coon go and that is that. I won't see another one at that location for AT LEAST THREE MONTHS. It works like a charm. I guess they figure it just isn't worth the risk and it beats sitting out there in the dark hulling them out with my Marlin 39A.

The only things I kill in my yard are snakes, burrowing critters (armadillos), skunks (one they leave the yard), and any dog that wanders up to the house. Domestic dogs that show up scare me more than any critter native to the brush.

[carpetman]

I have caught many coons in my trap. Animal control relocates them,but I think they come back. The land behind my house has sold and is being cleared to build houses. That will end my being able to shoot sparrows in the back yard with my air rifle. Shot a few this morning and saw a flock of wild turkeys back there.

[KCSO]

Here in Nebraska it is against the law now to keep a coon as a pet. We had one many years ago and found that as they get older they get a bad attitude and are biters. They are impossible to keep in a cage as they can open a new latch quicker than a human can. They never lose their taste for eggs either so I hope your neighbors don't keep chickens.

[wills]

Can you get rabies vaccine bait for them?
http://www2.state.tn.us/health/FactSheets/raccoon.htm

(I didn't look at A&M)

http://wls.tamu.edu/

[fourarmed]

Ever hear the expression "Crazier than a pet coon."?

[Blackwater]

Pet coons used to be rather common here in rural Ga. Some kept them in cages, but ONLY locks made by twisting fairly stout wire on the doors worked. I suppose a Master Lock would work too, but the above poster is right about their ability to outdo Houdini when it comes to picking other types of locks.

When "tamed" (they're NEVER quite REALLY "tamed," so this is comparatively speaking) they can be quite clever and funny, and will learn just how to "work" you into doing what THEY want YOU to do. Boar coons won't EVER be reliably tamed, though, so if you're going to "tame" one, be sure it's a female. The boars will go off hunting females sooner or later anyway, if there's any way under the sun for them to do so.

If I were you, I'd "tame" one and keep it in a fairly large cage, if you can do so, and let it learn to know you'll feed it, and aren't a danger to it. The only problem here is that if it got rabies, it may come toward your attempts to feed it, and unbeknownst to you, bite you for your efforts when it gets close. Rabid coons don't always clearly give themselves away by slathering or their behavior, and theose shots in the tum tum ain't too much fun.

Therfore, I'd suggest you just feed them, but INSIST they keep their distance. TOO close, just once, and there can be a high tariff to pay. Besides, I just don't like to see what wild creatures we have pent up anyway.

Knew a neat old man who owned a small grocery/bait/gas business down on the river, and they ALWAYS kept a pet squirrel in a special built large (@ 6x8x6 ft.) cage, and they sold bags of raw peanuts by the truckload to folks who'd stop every time they passed by, just to feed the squirrel. Ever seen a squirrel with a real pot belly? Amazing what "dumb animals" can learn to do, isn't it?

[Ivantherussian03]

It sounds like a nice collection animal fur! You can enjoy as they are or start trapping them. Better to enjoy to them as they are!! The learning curve is steep on trapping; it is an whole another hobby.:-D

If you want to read about human history and domesticated animals read "Guns , Germs, and Steel". The short verison is this; we have already domesticated all the animals on the planet that can be; the rest are wild.:Fire:

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks guys! I don't have any interest in caging an animal except as discussed above in the training sessions with these critters to keep them away from my deer feed stations. Like I said above, it works good and will keep them coon free for about 3 months.

My yard is not that big and I have one very large pecan tree in it that dumps about 600# of pecans every year. That is why it's a zoo out here. I had 13 feral hogs against my fence last night (including the "Pinto"... picture in another of my posts). The smallest of those was in the 160#-165# range.

My target critter is a small female that I've had contact with off and on in my yard since she was very small, about the size of a small rat. I tried the marshmallow offering but she is not interested but would do a handstand for a shelled pecan! Last night was our closest encounter with the pecan as she sat in the lowest fork of the tree which puts us on both the same eye level. She turns her head as I place it at her feet. That head turning has become quite comical... it's like she is convincing herself that she has made an effort to hide from the human beast but oh look..."he left me a pecan!!!" She was quite disappointed when I went to bed and sat in the fork staring at the back door.

As for the raccoon being rabid... Here are the actual statistics for Texas in 2005. Of the 589 raccoons brought in as being suspect, only 27 (5%) were rabid. Those 27 came from the hill country counties. Actually, cattle had a higher rate of infection with suspect animals (10%) and skunks the highest (47%). There hasn't been any recorded cases of rabies in years in my or neighboring counties. If she get friendly enough, I will give her a vaccine.

[ron brooks]

Read 'Rascal' by Sterling North It's about a pet racoon.

Once more, what is the holdup with people getting rabies vaacinations like dogs and cats do?

Ron

[wills]

Apparently possible.
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/907109508.html
http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00056176.htm
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/publications/mmwr/rr/rr4801.pdf
http://www.rabavert.com/linx.html

[Topper]

One other note:
Coons are expensive when it come to vacinations.
Have to give all the vacinations for both dog and cat.
That adds up to a hefty sum.

[waksupi]

Last coon I had for a pet, I cought as a little bitty thing, that was all fangs and claws. Grew into about a thirty five pound boar before he disappeared. He had pretty much free run on the house, and wasn't all that destructive. Less than the ferrets I have had. He would wash the food in the dogs' water, which disgusted the dog, a red doberman. The coon would get up on the back of a rocking chair, and he and the dobie would play fight for hours on end. Every once in awhile, one would bite a bit too hard. they would both back off, lick each other a bit, and go right back at it.
The boar would come lay in your lap, and you could pet him maybe three times, before he would turn and take a piece of you.
He disappeared at the beginning of coon season, and i imagine he tried to play with someones' bluetick.

[Topper]

Want to have some real fun with a coon, give em a pop sickle.
They'll wash it until they end up with only a stick and get very funny expression on their face.

[ron brooks]

Yep,

In the book "Rascal" it was mentioned how he would wash sugar cubes and then look for them.

Ron

[Ricochet]

I don't like the coons that hang around my house, coming after the cat food. They're cute, but they've got an arrogant, entitled, ungrateful attitude. Uppity little barstewards. And they destroy or carry off stuff like dishes and feeders. I've got to get a live trap and move them.

The skunk, on the other hand, is pleasant and respectful. I appreciate him for running the coons away from the bird feeder tree. He stays on the ground eating sunflower seed and the grubs that get under the mulch of seed hulls. The coons climb up and tip the feeders or pull them down, and have carried them off.

The possums are OK, too. They're respectful for the most part. A wild animal ought to try to get the heck out of Dodge when I come out while it's on the deck. One that doesn't, if he growls or acts defensive or aggressive gets walloped with the broom, kicked and/or shot with the air rifle till he's gone. I don't mind a possum who runs to a corner and cowers. They're pretty stupid, and I can make allowances for that. The coons will shuffle just out of reach with an annoyed look and wait till I go back in, or move up the tree enough till I can't see to shoot them and wait.

I've got to look for good recipes for the coons. If they come back after being moved, I'm putting them in the pot. Our neighborhood's full of them. If I'm quiet about it they could be a regular menu item.

There's a bozo over near the city park where I'll take any coons I catch who has a pet door and lets the coons come in his kitchen, with free run of the house.

[Hunter]

I have a possum that lives under my front porch and loves cat food. My only concern was him being rabid but according to two vets possums do not get rabies.
I came home the other night and he was hanging out on the porch between my two yard cats waiting to be fed. The way I see it is he is one of God's creatures and I can't have anything around me hungry. I haven't got close enough to pet him yet but he has not been at all aggressive. One vet told me that she has a lady that comes into the office twice a year to have a check up done on her two pet possums.
A coon on the other hand is a might bit meaner than a possum. I do applaud you thinking instead of killing it to try and look after it.

[Ranch Dog]

I had three pet opossums as a kid. I was riding my bicycle to school and one of these critters was a road kill but I noticed the pouch wiggling. I dug the little ones out and took them home and carried for them. I kept them loose around the house, not in the house, and they would come running quicker than my dog when I pulled up on my bicycle. I don't really remember how long I had them around but the disappeared after several years. I guess they went to the brush when it was time to die.

I also had a "pet" morning dove and a road runner at different times.

[rvpilot76]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/rvpilot76/100_0210.jpgI spent my early Summer this year in Northern California. While there I made friends with "Butch". His paws were cool to the touch and his pads were very soft. Loved grapes. Green seedless. Scared the crap out of me the first time he introduced himself. Quite friendly, though.

My best,

Kevin

[Ranch Dog]

There you go... It seems I'm not getting one in the package but all three that run together. In fact, since I befriended these three (or is it the other way) two foxes have joined in. Sitting on the porch last night I had these five critters "visiting" and "scarface" (my possum).

Usually, about this time of year I have to do some serious raking in my small yard. There is a lot of rotting pecans that either got wet or where just bad and there is quite a mess. These fellows have left my yard as clean as a whistle. In fact, if you compare this side yard with the other side or front it looks like it has been mowed. They are very busy cleaning my gutters and roof off right now... that's another job I dread. All this and I still got 600# of pecans out of the deal. Not bad. I loved my dog but she never raked and mowed my yard and then cleaned the rain gutters out!!!

I suspect that in a week or so (one the pecans are gone) that they will hit the brush and I won't see them until next year.

[Uncle Grinch]

Ranchdog,

When I was a young teenager back in the early 60's, my father and our neighbor were avid coon hunters and often attended coon-on-the log events. I can tell you for a fact that a coon in the water can whip most any dog around! They can be very formidable.

On the other hand, our neighbor, Mr. Scarbrough, had a big sow that he kept as a pet. While not exactly tame enough to trust, she would let you handle her. We used her to lay a trail for the field trials. He would put a dog harness on her and us young'uns would lead her to the designated tree.