Dying Raccoon Drama

[MosMom]

There is a dying raccoon on the neighbor's back patio. It was hanging in their fountain then fell out of the fountain and seems to sleep, twitch, try to get up but can't, twitch, etc. I called the DNR for them thinking for sure it had rabies.

Here is pretty much how the conversation with the DNR went:

Me: Um, there is a raccoon dying on my neighbor's back patio and we Googled it and we're pretty sure it is rabies.

Mr. DNR: Mam, there hasn't been a confirmed case of raccoon rabies since 1979. It is probably distemper. The end is coming soon.

Me: Well, will you come get it?

Mr. DNR: No, they are considered a nuisance animal. You can shoot it without a permit.

Me: Um, we're not gun people.

Mr. DNR: Well, you can use blunt force trauma.

Me: Um

Mr. DNR: That is hitting it over the head with something heavy.

Me: I KNOW what blunt force trauma is.

Mr. DNR: Well, you can just wait for it to die and then double bag it and put it in the trash or bury it.

Me: Wow, that is gross. You can put a diseased animal in the garbage?

Mr. DNR: Yup, sure can.

Me: Oh, it is also missing an arm

Mr. DNR: Well, it isn't uncommon for wild animals to have injuries.

Me: Ok...Well....thanks.


Nothing like making an *** out of myself.

I feel bad for the poor thing but I don't have the ******* to smash its head in. I'm normally a pretty tough chick but running around the back yard screaming and flapping my arms when the raccoon would start to move wasn't exactly tough.

 

[princess momma]

Are the neighbors home? I'm sure they'd love to find raccoon brain all over their patio.

 

[Tracy Savage]

Ok so now I'm sad. Poor thing. Call the police. around here they will come shoot it. At least put it out of misery.

 

[MosMom]

We called the sheriff. They said to call animal control. They said to call DNR. DNR said you're on your own. A raccoon dying isn't high on their priority list apparently. I don't know if the neighbors want a raccoon blown away on their concrete patio.

 

[DawnCt1]

Racoons are known to be common carriers of rabies, although it easily could have been distemper. Poor raccoon. My uncle had one that he found as a kit. He used to play with the dog, eat bacon and eggs, ride in the car...then he hit adulthood and he wasn't so cute any more. He went to live with other raccoons but would visit often. We didn't think about rabies when we were kids.

 

[~Kik-Kik~]

You weren't the ***, he was. Just saying.

 

[JessicaR]

We had a similar situation a few years ago and were instructed to hire a licensed wildlife trapper at our own expense. My husband handled it himself. I was distressed until I knew he was no longer suffering. Very sad. I hope you can find someone that will help you. Maybe a neighbor?

 

[binny]

the 1979 data must be for your area only we had a racoon with rabies in our backyard in 1990. It bit my dad and the policeman that came to help try to get rid of it. Both were rushed to the ER and had to have the whole series of shots. The racoon tested positive for rabies.
It also was missing his front arm, he had chewed it off to get out of a trap.

Poor thing, Im sorry he is suffering. I wouldnt be going after it though not after what happened to my dad.

I would be calling the police back and explain what you were told, my guess is someone would come over and help.

 

[MosMom]

It is wedged in between their fountain and an arbor they have that is attached to the patio. You would have to remove it from there to properly kill it. I'm not going near a diseased wild animal. Obviously trying to bait it to move will not work. It is completely unresponsive.

Her husband is home now. Not sure what they are going to do. I'm guessing this is a relatively common situation and since they are considered "nuisance animals" nobody really cares. I read on Google distemper can take out entire colonies of raccoons. :/

Oh, and we're in Indiana and apparently no raccoon rabies here since 1979.

 

[dakcp2001]

You weren't the ***, he was. Just saying.

I agree, his is the jerk. Poor little animal, I feel bad that he is suffering. If anyone suggested I go kill it with blunt force trauma, I would have had a lot to say to him. I would write a letter, that is no way to treat someone who is really concerned.

Now what is going to become of this animal? EEK

 

[manning]

Mr. DNR: Mam, there hasn't been a confirmed case of raccoon rabies since 1979.

What an idiot. That doesn't mean a new case can't show up now.

I would go to your next counsel meeting and voice your concern during the public comment part. Hopefully they will carry this up the line.

 

[EMom]

Oy! This reminds me of the bat we found a few years back. Yes, a bat!

DH found a bat sort of flopping around on our driveway, right by the garage door. This is NOT normal bat behavior. It was a weekend, so animal control was not on duty, but did take calls. In addition to rabies, we've had West Nile Virus in bats around here, so we had a double whammy to be concerned with.

We called and they advised us we could leave it alone until it died or (you'll love this) pick it up with a shovel while wearing heavy gloves and put it in a ziplock bag and then put it in our freezer until they could come get it on Monday. I asked her if she was serious and she said yes. I said, "Lady, there is no way in hell I am putting that bat in my freezer. If I do that, the freezer will be sitting out on the curb with a 'TAKE FOR FREE' sign on it because I will never use it again." She had no other suggestions.

We had to go somewhere that day and I didn't want to leave it loose since we had kids and wandering cats and dogs in the neighborhood and I was afraid something/someone would get in contact with it and contract rabies. So DH got it into a box with holes and we left it in the shade so it would not suffer. We got home and it was gone. Our neighbors had come by, rattled the box and discovered the bat was not lame or sick, but instead had babies it was protecting. They decided to take them home.

By then it was late and I had to convince them the bats would die without proper care. I found a bat rescue person a few hours away, who deduced that one baby had fallen from the nest and that mama had swopped down with the other 2 babies to protect him. Once there, she couldn't get them all back up to the nest. We took the bats in a box with a heating pad underneath and met the Bat Lady in between her location and ours. She gave them sub-Q fluids and we were able to see them. The babies were tiny. She took care of them for a few days, they returned to health and she released them.

Holy bat rescue! But to be told to put a bat in my freezer where I keep my FOOD or advised to beat a one armed raccoon to death! Where do people get their training?

 

[PebblesMK]

Oy! This reminds me of the bat we found a few years back. Yes, a bat!

DH found a bat sort of flopping around on our driveway, right by the garage door. This is NOT normal bat behavior. It was a weekend, so animal control was not on duty, but did take calls. In addition to rabies, we've had West Nile Virus in bats around here, so we had a double whammy to be concerned with.

We called and they advised us we could leave it alone until it died or (you'll love this) pick it up with a shovel while wearing heavy gloves and put it in a ziplock bag and then put it in our freezer until they could come get it on Monday. I asked her if she was serious and she said yes. I said, "Lady, there is no way in hell I am putting that bat in my freezer. If I do that, the freezer will be sitting out on the curb with a 'TAKE FOR FREE' sign on it because I will never use it again." She had no other suggestions.
?

Haha, funny story. When I was younger I was at my grandparents house in Michigan and my cousins and I found a gigantic bat that was dead. It was super cool and we loved it, so we put it in the giant freezer in the basement, right on the top where we could stare at it. Well...my grandma needed some ice cream and opened the freezer and it scared her half to death and she started screaming at us kids about how it's not good to put bats in the freezer and on and on. She made us take it outside and not touch it. Poor grandma, but seriously, the bat was huge and really cool.

 

[flying_babyb]

I can top it....

My mother found this seagull with a broken wing and brought it home. Well, my best freind and I had to figure out what the heck to do with it. Seagulls carry fleas so we dumped our little freind in the driveway. After wacthing him for awile we named him mervin. So we decide to feed him, tossing him bits of bread. We then call the police who LAUGH at us and suggest we call the DNR. Well its after 4 so the DNR is closed. We go ask a neighbor what to do (he used to be DNR) and he walks over, Laughs and tells us to let it there till it dies. Well, we called my best freinds mom in tears (we were very sensitive teens). She comes over and is wacthing the bird. She suggests we rubberband its beak shut and tape its wing. We laugh and wacth the bird hop away as we try to approch. So we go inside to hang out and come back a half hour latter and Mervins gone!!! So we decided to fallow the road toward the beach (about a mile away). Well with our Mag-lights we mananged to find our dear freind Mervin as he was walking back to the beach. Funny thing is, HE LIVED! I saw him last weekend, wing still slighty bent but still my bird. It wasnt funny then but im laughing so hard now im in tears. This happened about 9 years ago when I was 17.

 

[EMom]

She's a tougher woman than I am. That freezer would have been long gone. It was a really cute bat, I must say. I think the Bat lady told me it was a Western Red Bat. You can see in this pic how small it would have been.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/css/images/wesrdbat.htm