Raccoon for lunch

[John K Jordan]

Dunno. I guess it depends on your soil pH. I've found the stuff buried here at least 20 years in good shape...I suspect the problem with it on the bottom of a rabbit hutch (I've had it rust out in that application, too) is all the ammonia in their urine...

I suspect you are right. I would clean regularly and hose out the cage but could see it get worse over time. I replaced it with heavier gauge which outlived the rabbits.

[John K Jordan]

A fun-loving forum-ite has added a poll to this thread. I wish I'd been that creative! I wonder if I can vote if I log in as Carl Coyote.

Also, I forgot one excellent bait for raccoons, skunks, and 'possums - eggs. I started using them when a guinea or peacock was chased off a nest and the marauder had poached eggs for breakfast.

And what one thing do skunks and raccoons have in common? They are the two favorite animals of a young lady from Italy who stayed with us last summer. She thought they were both SO adorable and wished she could take one home. Apparently neither are found in Europe, or at least Italy, or at least Northern Italy. I must admit I've never once thought of a skunk as adorable. Maybe its mother did when it was a baby.

JKJ

[Jim Koepke]

I watched a PBS show awhile back which went into depth of the NUTRIA problems in the gulf states.

Someone told me about 10 years ago there is a bounty paid on Nutria tails around here. Some trapper types make a bit of money at it.

And what one thing do skunks and raccoons have in common? They are the two favorite animals of a young lady from Italy who stayed with us last summer. She thought they were both SO adorable and wished she could take one home. Apparently neither are found in Europe, or at least Italy, or at least Northern Italy. I must admit I've never once thought of a skunk as adorable. Maybe its mother did when it was a baby.

But they are so cute! At least that is what some women say. Even possums can look a little cute from the right angle.

One of my memories of 'cute' raccoons was driving to work one day and seeing a family of them running down the street near my home. Driving by a storm drain the four of them were hanging inside a drain looking out at me driving by. It would have made a great picture.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The poll needs another answer for me to give it my honest reply.

Maybe if someone paid me enough they could get me to take a bite.

The are cute, but if they are on my porch and there is a weapon in my hand, they may be turned into a hat.

We no longer have chickens and we no longer feed our cats outside. That and taking down two very large cedar trees they used to hide in has got them to look for a better home.

jtk

[Curt Harms]

A fun-loving forum-ite has added a poll to this thread. I wish I'd been that creative! I wonder if I can vote if I log in as Carl Coyote.

Also, I forgot one excellent bait for raccoons, skunks, and 'possums - eggs. I started using them when a guinea or peacock was chased off a nest and the marauder had poached eggs for breakfast.

And what one thing do skunks and raccoons have in common? They are the two favorite animals of a young lady from Italy who stayed with us last summer. She thought they were both SO adorable and wished she could take one home. Apparently neither are found in Europe, or at least Italy, or at least Northern Italy. I must admit I've never once thought of a skunk as adorable. Maybe its mother did when it was a baby.

JKJ

People do keep skunks as pets. Usually they're found as babies and de-scented. There is a woman that works at a farm store that had one (or more) as a pet that wasn't de-scented. I can't believe she kept it (them) indoors though. She said she could always tell if they were about to spray, they stamp their front feet. I have no intention of verifying the accuracy of her claim. Of course there's a site for that:

skunk.com

As to the original topic, I recall hearing years ago that raccoon is edible if parboiled first. Never ate one knowingly though.

[John K Jordan]

...
One of my memories of 'cute' raccoons was driving to work one day and seeing a family of them running down the street near my home. Driving by a storm drain the four of them were hanging inside a drain looking out at me driving by. It would have made a great picture.

At my previous residence we began to have a problem with the big plastic trash can on the carport getting dumped and spread all over. This happened ever night so I stayed up and watched a family of raccoons - one climbed on top and started pushing the can away from the wall, assisted by two others, one on each side. A big raccoon stood back and supervised.

A series of trapping events with what I now know as illegal relocation solved the problem. When I finally caught the big one it was so ferocious I was wary of opening the trap so I rigged a rope in the back of the truck to pull it open while I stood back. He came out of the trap, cleared the side of the truck in one leap, and ran down the hill and jumped into the lake. In a couple of minutes he was half way across the river.

JKJ

[Don Coffman]

I must admit eating 'coon. In my younger days fellow hunters/trappers banded together after seasons closed and supplied a wild-game feast to the public at no cost with donations to local community groups. Almost all game was pit barbecued, there was raccoon, opossum, muskrat, beaver, deer, duck, turkey, goose and a few others I'm sure I'm missing. I recall 'coon as being a somewhat stronger gamy flavor, more so than I preferred. To my surprise was beaver, the meat was very dark cooked, with a mild flavor .. many I would not eat, most folk would sample only to say its was tried.

Oh, this is my first post here .. I'm a 67 yo retired safety engineer, living in West TN, making piles of sawdust, and enjoying the outdoors.

[John K Jordan]

I must admit eating 'coon. In my younger days fellow hunters/trappers banded together after seasons closed and supplied a wild-game feast to the public at no cost with donations to local community groups. Almost all game was pit barbecued, there was raccoon, opossum, muskrat, beaver, deer, duck, turkey, goose and a few others I'm sure I'm missing. I recall 'coon as being a somewhat stronger gamy flavor, more so than I preferred. To my surprise was beaver, the meat was very dark cooked, with a mild flavor .. many I would not eat, most folk would sample only to say its was tried.

Oh, this is my first post here .. I'm a 67 yo retired safety engineer, living in West TN, making piles of sawdust, and enjoying the outdoors.

Welcome to the forum, Don! What kinds of things do you like to do that make sawdust? Any woodturning? Around Memphis way? I don't get out to that end of the state much but I was asked to do a woodturning demo in Arkansas so I'll be driving through at some point.

JKJ

[julian abram]

Ok, I've been watching this thread and since no fellow Arkies have mentioned this I guess it's my responsibility. There is a community coon dinner annually the second week of January in Gillett, Arkansas. This annual event has been sponsored by the local community since the 1930-40's. Over the years it has evolved into a political event attended by state and national politicians including Bill Clinton. If you are an Arkansas politician, you will be talked about negatively for not attending this prestigious event. Current attendance runs around 1,200. Preceding the event, several hundred raccoons caught, cleaned, smoked to be served at the dinner.

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.ne...x?entryID=3827
https://amppob.com/gillett-coon-supper-ready/
https://www.facebook.com/events/gill...2012643217412/

[Richard Jones]

Guineas: Superb watchdogs, great bug eaters, eggs are really rich and make great ice cream. Also, grab your favorite beverage and a laser pointer and watch them chase the red 'bug.' Good times!!

(But, yeah, they are obnoxious)

[John K Jordan]

Guineas: Superb watchdogs, great bug eaters, eggs are really rich and make great ice cream. Also, grab your favorite beverage and a laser pointer and watch them chase the red 'bug.' Good times!!

(But, yeah, they are obnoxious)

But they are so entertaining! And dumb. One or more will run up and down the fence, looking for a way to get through especially frantic if I'm throwing meal worms on the other side. But they can fly! I've watched them fly several hundred feet and high into the trees but they can't think to fly over the fence.

I have never thought of trying a laser pointer with them. I did use a laser with the horses, though. When the mare got too far away from the blind gelding he would cry when he couldn't find her. When she would ignore him for too long I could run her down to the other end of the field with a green laser pointer out the upstairs window, easily visible even in the daytime.

A friend said they would see their guineas running around with baby copperhead snakes in their beaks - might be a reason to keep them. We have no trouble selling every one we hatch, as chicks or grown.

JKJ

[Don Coffman]

John,
Lets see I have a modest lil' hide-out its 14x40, I've built a fair bench, been remodeling a '40s farmhouse we live in, built a few boxes, seems Adirondack chairs are demanding my attention as of late. I do have a lathe a Jet 1236 I don't spend much time on it due to too many projects and outdoor activities. I'm actually 15-20 mi north of Jackson, TN.

[Al Launier]

Just curious - what's the next step after you successfully live-trap a skunk?

I took a large trash bag, cut along one edge to double its size, approached the cage (skunk in) with rain gear on, draped the bag over the cage (large hav-a-heart trap), shrunk remained quiet, carried it to a 100 gal stock tank & then immersed the entire cage, bag & content. The buried the skunk well into the woods behind my home.

[Steve Demuth]

At my previous residence we began to have a problem with the big plastic trash can on the carport getting dumped and spread all over. This happened ever night so I stayed up and watched a family of raccoons - one climbed on top and started pushing the can away from the wall, assisted by two others, one on each side. A big raccoon stood back and supervised.

A series of trapping events with what I now know as illegal relocation solved the problem. When I finally caught the big one it was so ferocious I was wary of opening the trap so I rigged a rope in the back of the truck to pull it open while I stood back. He came out of the trap, cleared the side of the truck in one leap, and ran down the hill and jumped into the lake. In a couple of minutes he was half way across the river.

JKJ

I am married to a lovely Buddhist priest, who of course frowns on using death and destruction as a control mechanism for anything. So, we've put a lot of effort into non-lethal mechanisms for discouraging racoons, deer and other wildlife who see our place as a well-maintained buffet and hotel. With racoons, though, every June, when the sows have big, mobile litters of kits to feed, it all breaks down. They'll defeat most anything if there is food on the other side. 'coons are smart buggers, particularly when hungry. Some of my favorites:

- One who dug under the footing boards on a pole construction fowl house just enough to roll an entire clutch of eggs out from under a goose setting her nest next to the foundation on the inside of the coop. Goose was still there on her nest the next morning with a 3" hole in the center of the nest. Yard was littered with emptied egg shells.

- A sow with a late litter who wanted to fatten them on grapes in August. Had a nice welded wire (buried) with two electrics on top around the vineyard. So she finds a tree reaching out over the fence, crawls out on a limber branch until it cracks and bends low enough she and the kits can disembark to the vineyard. Next morning, when it's time to leave, she goes back to the branch, pulls it all the way to earth, and the kits, the the sow, clamber back over the fence via the branch.

- (My favorite) - Some years ago, raccoons take to ransacking the bird seed feeders and hummingbird feeders every night. My wife responds by bringing the feeders in at dusk, but the she's gone one weekend to her monastery, and I forget to bring them in. At about midnight, I hear a hell of a racket and discover there are two kits climbing up the bedroom window screens, and banging them in and out. So I load up the 20 gauge (5 shells) and head out with gun and flashlight to deter the marauders. There are two sows and about a dozen big kits on the window screen, in the trees, on the roof, and on the ground. One old sow is on her haunches on a branch 12 feet above the ground, hauling up a hummingbird feeder that is hanging by a 7' rope, hand over hand, just like you and I would a bucket of water. The other has removed the platform feeder to the ground for the benefit of her kits. 13 racoons in all. I got 9 of them with the magazine plus some shells I'd stuffed in my pocket.

[Malcolm McLeod]

... I got 9 of them with the magazine plus some shells I'd stuffed in my pocket.

Good shootin', Tex!