The AM Forum

During the last month, the neighbors at our home in Missouri have been logging their land. The raccoons that lived there have now moved onto our 120 acres with a 4 acre pond, and discovered our chickens and ducks.  :o

The first evidence was a headless hen one morning. The mode of entry wasn't immediately apparent but we figured out that they had come in through the eaves and then made a hole in the false ceiling (some of which was just foam board). So I fixed that. Two nights later they killed the other two laying hens. Again, it was a subtle entry, most likely from the other side of the building. We put heavy wire (1/2" squares) mesh over all the openings and also lined the three individual pens with it. They made one attempted entry through a corner crack but got tired of eating fiberglass and anyway the opening was too small. Then I had to return to Maine where I still am until this weekend.

Meanwhile, since they were hungry and unable to sleep, they started coming out in the daytime (quite unusual for a nocturnal animal). We thought our ducks (led by a big, mean gander) would be fine... a raccoon actually came out onto the dock and started harassing them. The next day one duck simply disappeared from the lawn, again in broad daylight, while the gander was a few yards away. We found that the coons were sneaking up on them along the heavy weeds on the pond edge, so that was weed-whacked flush.

They are watching her. She can set the trap outside during the day, (with the chickens in the coop), walk into the house, look out the bathroom window and there is one munching away on the bait!

My wife bought a cage trap and caught one coon almost immediately. Locals say chocolate donuts work well, and indeed they seem to. Unfortunately while carrying the cage to a place of execution the door swung open and he ran for it. She shot from the hip with the .410 and wounded him, probably enough so that he either died or another predator had a snack. Got another one the next night and he is definitely RIP. One big one she actually watched stick his head in, eat the bait without tripping the door, and back right out again. She has now got a bigger cage trap. We tried conventional (non-PETA-approved)  :P traps but they don't work because the little SOBs are smart enough to spring the trap first, and then eat the bait. Yesterday she turned her back for literally ten minutes at 11:30 AM, and another chicken disappeared except for some feathers.

Now she called last night to tell me there was a four inch hole in the heavy 1/2" mesh that I fastened under the eaves! Right through the screen, not lifting a corner! They didn't get through the internal screens into the cages, fortunately. But I'm wondering what on earth to do next. If they can bite through steel wire, or know how to use wire cutters, we're in trouble.

I would poison the baits, but we have five curious cats and the poultry could possibly end up eating the bait too. Another possibility is to snipe them directly with a .22 and scope but we can't maintain guard 24/7 which is what they count on.

I am seriously considering connecting my 3 KV big-iron plate transformer to wires just on either side of the hole they made last night, (and removing the repair patch to encourage reentry).
THAT'll learn 'em. If it doesn't start a fire, that is
 ;D

Any thoughts?
-Charles

We used to get $17.50 each for well skinned coon hides around 30-35 years ago. And if cooked properly they kinda tasted like roast beef! Sounds like a little plinking with a .22 is in order. Or invest in a good black and tan coon dog!

                                                   the Slab Bacon

Put out some bait at a certain time each day and in the same location. Those damn rats are smart and they'll come looking when they think it's chow time. I think you would have better results with the .223 round as long as the neighbors don't freak out over the noise. A mini 14 with a scope on it will pick them off real easy. Buckshot works on 'em real nice too.

The transformer idea wound be interesting to see however. Drop a plate on the ground with a plastic or whatever standoff right in the middle. Attach the bait to the standoff and fire up the juice. The jolt from a pole pig would make it more spectacular. :o

SK

 

.223 rips through the air with a nice sound.

Yea, but it will tear the hide up too badly. for all of the aggrevation, you should at least get a 'coon skin cap out of the deal!!

Instead wasting a perfectly good plate transfoma, how about an old neon sign transfoma??

~ 5 - 7lb raccoon, dressed, not cut up
~ 1/2 lb sausage meat
~ 3 tbsp butter
~ 1 onion, chopped
~ 1 cup chopped celery
~ 2 tsp salt
~ 1/2 tsp pepper
~ 1/4 cup cream
~ 2 cups corn bread crumbs
~ 2 tsp sage
~ 3 tbsp chopped parsley
~ 1 tsp marjoram
~ 1/2 tsp mace
~ 1/4 cup orange juice
~ 1 cup red wine
 
 

In a skillet, saute the onion and celery in the butter.

Add the sausage meat and cook until brown. Drain off the fat.

In a bowl mix the sausage mixture, cream, corn bread crumbs, sage, parsley, marjoram, mace and orange juice together thoroughly.

Salt and pepper the raccoon inside and out.

Stuff the raccoon and close up the belly cavity. Place on a rack in a roasting pan and cook for 45 minutes per pound at 300 degrees.

Turn over when half done.

Baste frequently with the wine and the pan juices when they cook out.

Serve and Enjoy!
 
 








People Eating Tasty Animals (PETA)

If you do use some plate iron be sure to put a series resistor in the primary so the varmit can't hurt the iron on his way to the coon god.
 

Thanks for the recipe. I'll run it by Gladys and see if she feels like cooking one  ;)

Apparently the pelts would not be worth much this time of year because they have shed a lot of fur for the summer and the remaining hair tends to fall out during tanning. At least that's what she's being told locally.

If we go the electric-chair route, and use my good transformer, I'll definitely limit the current and a primary-side resistor (or large light bulb) sounds like a good way to do it. Now that I think about it, though, I have a couple of microwave-oven transformers in the junkbox that will do the job (andthey're cheap anyway). It's going to be a manual-on (pushbutton) system for sure - I don't want to be responsible for someone being electrocuted because the switch was accidentally left on!

Meanwhile she trapped another one in the cage trap and dispatched it this morning. Who knows how many are left, is what I wonder...
 ???

-Charles

           " I would poison the baits, but we have five curious cats "

Racoons will go after the cats...    klc

That could indeed be a problem for our cats, as we discovered two years ago when a "new" one, spaying status unknown, promptly had a litter after moving in with us. We lost most of the kittens one night to a "Pearl Harbor" coon attack.

But the cats are smart enough to make themselves scarce when the masked bandits come around!  They've learned not to loiter near the birds anyway because if they get within a certain range, the gander will peck them or grab them by the tail (and he really nips hard - it leaves an instant blood-bruise on human skin, anyway).

A couple of our neighbors have raised chickens in the past but gave it up because of this same problem. It really is a guerrilla war. I don't know if we'll be able to kill enough of them to fix this problem or not.

-Charles

Hmmmm................ years ago some coon dog trainers used to train the dogs with house cats. We had one of those dogs, one night it took off and chased a farmers cat right through the screen door. that took some explaining to get the dog back!! We got rid of him for a really good black and tan.

                                      The Slab Bacon

Put a large wattage light bulb in series with the primary, then hang the bulb where you can see it. Voillla- - - when the light is lit, you know you got one!!
                     
                                       The Slab Bacon

gee sounds like my wood chuck problem in the garden.
but I can't discharge a weapon or I will visit the police station.
yup coon pelts no good this time of the year and I bet they lose a lot of hair connected to B+.  

Gee if you put a bell transformer in series you could get a gong.
Man we are a smart bunch.......

I had the good doers use hav-a-fart traps to remove city coons and
dump them in the state land in princeton mass, where we already had
a working population.  they really over ran our house, tried bottle
rockets to scare, no good. tried a .177 airgun to bab em and actually took one down with it one shot. hit behind the arm, got the pump. rest of them 12 gauge. *end of problem*

We also trapped as kids back in the 50's. Mostly muskrat but also coon & an occasional mink. We used Victors 1 1/2's for muskrat & 2's for coon.

I have a different problem now at my cabin up in N. Mich. In the fall, the porcupines come around & chew on the cabin. You'll be sleeping & you'll wake up to a crunch, crunch sound & you'll know it's a porky chewin' on the cabin.

It's usually around 3:00AM or so. I get up & get my flashlight & my 16 guage & blast away. I use 00 buck in both barrels. I must have shot about 25 -30 in the last 3 years.

Terry
W8EJO

Sounds like you should go with the HV then .
That's one of the nice things about living on 120 rural acres - you can pretty much do whatever you want. When my wife's son comes to visit, he'll bring one of his full-auto weapons (yes, he has legal permits) and we'll fire off a few clips. One of the neighbors asked about the noise once and we let it be known that we were both ex-military (true) and know how to use such weapons (also true). The local meth-heads don't screw with our property! 8)

Now the trick is to get the raccoons to understand this. After all, they are smarter than the average hillbilly crank addict.

-Charles

Dean,
I played the have a heart thing till big ones just walked through. I did manage to relocate their children to a nicer place. They are fast. By the time i open the window to get a bead on them they are out of site. must have been the day I was chasing one with a section of pipe.

A possibly more effective way to rid yourself of vermin .... though more disgusting...

Set up your outside speaker, next to the aforementioned plate of regularly timed food...... ('bout 8:30pm or so...)


And, at about 9pm est or so, tune to the 3.870, 3.872 area....

a long time ago on an Army field exercise, we were harassed by 'coons. They carried off a full ruck sack and ripped it to shreds, invaded the medical supplies, and just about everything else we had that  even remotely smelled like it was edible. Generally making a mess and keeping us awake all night long.

The Platoon Sgt kept his stuff in a sack an literally sat on it. Once he got up for a second, and turned to see "Rocky" making off with his sack, in broad daylight!

Well, not long after that, we took a small charge of tnt and wired it up. Placed it in a small hole liberally smeared with c-ration peanut butter and waited.  

Later that night, we heard the party starting, we hit them with a light (to confirm target) and lit off the tnt...  I distincly remember seeing a large coon launched upward of 6 feet high, and run off into the woods smacking a few trees along the way.  His accomplice was stunned and quickly finished off.

No more problems after that.

Coon Hunting was a regular passtime for myself and a handful of friends 30 years ago. Picture 4 or 5 drunks, 1 or 2 good dogs, and 1 very beat up .22 rifle tromping through the woods at night armed with climbers and flashlights, and that was us. We used to have a ball!!  Not to mention that @17.50 per hide, that was our drinkin money!!  It was definately a unique experience!  Life was good back then!!

                                 The Slab Bacon

You blew him up with TNT and all he did was run away?? That is a lot tougher than I thought they would be :o


<Larry TheCableGuy>
Now that's funny, I don't care who you are, that's funny right there...
</Larry>

It's a good thing I wasn't drinking my coffee when I saw your post, it'd have come out my nose  ;D

-Charles

If you dont think they are tough little critters, you should see one go at it with a good coon dog! Ti is quite a sight to behold. If it isnt a good dog, the coon often wins!

One night a big coon was going at my trash can. I was putting down slate in my solar room so grabbed a 1 by 2 foot hunk at least an inch thick and bounced it off his back. He looked up at me as if to say are you kidding?
Good thing the lid was tight because he worked on it for a while longer. The next size larger slate was too big for me to throw at him and I didn't want to crack it.

Good stories; yeah, coons are some of the smartest critters in the woods.  Send me a tail for my antenna; promise I'll mount it.   The .223 is a nice cartridge but my .243 is more fun to gut them with.  Must be gettin' soft in my adulthood; I have a groundhog living under my house deck.  ...Just don't have the heart to shoot him yet. Think I'll name him George. Probably wind up with fleas-  wish I had my dogs back but they're a pain when you want to go away for anything over a day or so. 

When we first moved here, wife was coming down from upstairs early in morning when she let out a shriek. "What's wrong?"  "Jes..s.  there's racoons in my kitchen sink, a whole family of them coming in off the bushes through the open window." She took a broom to them and they scattered for good, guess they're pretty shy when not wanted, at least as a family unit.

Anyway when we mentioned the fracas to the former owners, the ex-lady of the house piped up, "Oh!, You've met Rocky."  Guess she was feeding them all along.  ....   Yeech..  what a zoo.  -What you get for living in the woods.

I like to live and let live but I'm a bit bummed not having a garden for 3 years so need to take the varmits out.....again

I suggest the standard Rat Trap. You really cannot use plate iron. The voltage is kinda high and they can smell the ozone. Stick with surplus TV transformers of around 800 volts. Put a suitable fuse in the primary or the high wattage light bulb. Construct the trap by using a sheet of metal and mount a 5" insulator in the middle of it. Make a 6 inch metal disk and screw it to the top of the insulator. Connect about 800 volts between the two sheets of metal and put the donut on the top one. Lower voltage equals a longer painfull death. This is just theory you understand.......

I need something that won't take out the cats who go after the smaller critters trenching the lawn.

My neighbor, who feed their dogs outside, attract the rats... who poop on my walkway. And its ghetto to see them run along the fencetop as I look out my kitchen window in the morning

I'm envisioning a semi-gutted microwave oven, where the HV lead from the MOT (where one lead of the secondary is grounded, dontcha know) goes through to the "cooking section" with an old-buzzard ceramic feedthrough insulator... from this is a copper wire, to which is soldered a 1.5" square piece of copper... bait (peanut butter?) sits on this square, and is about 2 inches off the new, grounded bare-metal  floor of the cooking chamber. A hole about 1.5 to 2" diameter is holesawed out the back, so Ratty can get inside when he smells the tasty treat.

Back legs to ground, front paws to HV when he trys to get a bite of the bait. ZAP, power down, open microwave door and dump out freshly cooked rat.

Think it'll work? What are good baits for rats besides peanut butter? Has to be tastier than dry-kibble dog food!

I feel like a sadistic bastard, but I feel this is more humane (and effective) than whacking them out of the tree with a big stick and letting the basset hounds get them.

Why don't they eat the darned geese?   California is overrun with Canada geese.   Any green patch of land near water will be slick with geese poop and crowded with honkers.  Parks are particularly geesey. What every happened to flying home?   Where are the geese eating raccoons?   How about a coyote when you need one?   

For the rat problem, get a male cat, and when they snip offf his nads make sure they leave a little bit still attached. Makes them real aggressive, and that cat will be out all day and night hunting rodents. Mine used to leave the severed rat heads around as "warning" to the rat population of his "final solution". No problem with rodents here. They see him as the Josef Mengele of cats and fear him. We do have possums tho. Nasty little sh*ts with big scary teeth, and they fear no one.

Yes, I've got a BIG possum that the crazy ol neighbor lady feeds. Quite frequently I'll hear him in the evening knocking over stuff in the yard, on his way up to my screen door. I think he wants in!

Shining a light on him turns him away, and plinking the objects around him with the soft-pellet pistol expedites his retreat.

What you need is one of these: http://rkwalter.home.att.net/fling.wmv

That would certainly send them for exciting rides. But they are smart enough to trip them first, then eat the bait (just like they do with the traps).

My stepdaughter's boyfriend came over last night and laid out on the roof of the chickenhouse with his scoped .22 rifle. Successfully sniped two for two.  So far today, no sign of any intruders at all  ;D

Wonder how many more there are... I'm still hoping to have a go with my microwave oven transformer (the "Rat Trap" mentioned above is exactly what I had in mind except with manual firing control. No ozone to smell until it's too late!)

-Charles

I head S.D. is infested with rats, two types the two leg ones and the 4 leg ones.
We have Geese bad here also. One morning XYL was at the bus stop with my son talking to a neighbor as the kids got on the bus. All of a sudden a flock taking off from a pond across the neighborhood was heading at them over the street. All they could hear was the plops of bombs hitting the street. They had to beat feet to get inside.

Try .22 shorts in the rifle.    Works good in areas when you don't want to make too much noise.   Once on a camping trip I discovered a coon had been raiding my cooler.    He actually opened up the latch, pawed out some ground sausage, then closed and latched it.   He did this several times before I found out what was going on.    He climbed a tree nearby.   My son and I threw some rocks at it.    Believe it or not, he started throwing something back at us.

I come home from work and changing my clothes as I notice one grazing in the blue berry patch. Too much of an angle for the rifle so sneak up on him. I kind of felt bad hitting it with a shovel but I've had no garden for 3 years.......one down.
Just looked out and another was in the same area. That one made a bee line for the woods as soon as the door cracked open.  He must have just come from the funeral.

Charles:
Get the right tool to take care of those sons of Bitches.........12 gauge pump, 9MM, or 45ACP you won't have to worry about wounding them. Happy hunting

Joe

I have a full choke pump .410 for any varmints 2 or four legged here. Choice of 3" slugs, 3" 00 buck,or 3" #6. 6 rounds of goodness. Cant handle a bigger size due to the hand/arm troubles. The .410 is no prob.

Ah you really need a rifle with a scope to plink them right. Blast them and you make a big mess. .410 not a bad size. You don't want to take the sport out of it.
Shovel takes real skill sneaking up on the target. You don't get that lucky often and you don't want to miss.

Frank said:
Just as a little safety note here, seeing a 'coon in the middle of the day is an unatural thing since they tend to be nocturnal critters. I would be wary of any raccoon I spot during the daylight. Seeing them out in the middle of the day is a good sign of rabies. I would shoot first, make sure its dead, then solve questions later.

I would never mess with a coon using a shovel...
The wook chuck comes out in late afternoon to graze.
My kids just saw the grieving mother

Tonight I'm headed to the shack and go into the bedroom for slippers and look out and another one is grazing outside the window. This one is a bit bigger. I sneak out the back door and right up to the little garden eater. Kabong got another. 

I'm curious... How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

It just goes to prove that NO ONE should ever get between an angry dago and his tomato plants!! ;D ;D

Frank,
Ah the art of stealth......and a big weapon.

As the old saying goes:

Walk softly, but carry a big..................................

I actually felt bad nailing such a cute little creature as my daughter watched from the window. I'm a live and let live king of a guy sept for yellow jackets.

Did ya make a pot of soup out of him afta ya kilt him?? If so he didnt die in vain!!

Ya know how us dagos are, we'll make a pot o soup out of just about anything. Or toss him into the pot of "sauce" cookin on the stove. One can naver have too much meat in yer "sauce" ;D ;D

Bees, Wasps, and Hornetz are fair game anytime!! I have come up with many new creative ways to kill them!! However the best is the old standby: CRC "brakecleen" in the red can!! I actually keep a few cans of the stuff around solely for that purpouse. Dont use the stuff in the green can, it only pisses them off. The stuff in the red can kills them dead! One squirt! You can put the little red straw on the nozzle and play anti aircraft gunner and knock them right out of the air!!

                                           The Slab Bacon

         " toss him into the pot of "sauce" "         Gack , Just like that ????   No bread crumbs?? no choped up beef??   If yer gunna toss him into a pot, mmake him a stew, not a sauce........

1 woodchuck
3 medium carrots
3 potatoes
1/4 cup of butter or margarine
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons of flour piecrust dough

Quarter the woodchuck and place the pieces in a large pot with enough cold water to cover the meat. Boil it for 10 minutes, then discard the water, refill the pan, and bring the liquid to a boil again. Lower the heat and let the contents simmer for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue cooking the stew for about another 30 minutes . . . until the meat is tender and separates easily from the bone. By this time, you should be able to pierce the vegetables readily with a fork.



Watin fer Chuck....

I bought this cool tourch with push button start burning map gas, it works quite well on flying bugs.

The nice thing about a contractor long handle shovel is you can fling a dead critter way out into the woods. He was hanging off the edges but got plenty of thrust behind him. We had just finished eating meatloaf so had my fill of meat.

I just set that one home...I have one more to go.

Woodchuck Meatloaf,  Hmmmm...................................

Now, that might have some possibilities

You can make meatloaf out of anything... kinda scary when you think about it.

How does woodchuck taste?  The recipe calls for dumping water after boiling.  I guess it might be kinda gamy otherwise. 
Rabbit is quite good, boiled with onions, carrots and taters. (though taters go with everything I think.)

Squirrel is said to be tasty too, pan fried like chicken.
considering how many there are around here, I may have to try it.

For the gumbas................










Woodchuck Patties in Tomato Sauce

1 woodchuck
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup ground onion
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 eggs
3 tbsp. fat
1 cup catsup
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Clean woodchuck; remove meat from bones and grind. Add 1/2 cup crumbs, onion, salt, pepper, 1 beaten egg, and 1 tbsp. melted fat. Mix thoroughly. Shape into patties and dip into 1 beaten egg, then into 1/2 cup crumbs. Fry until brown in 2 tbsp hot fat. Add catsup and Worcestershire sauce and bake in a slow oven (325 degrees F.) for 1 hour. Makes 8-9 patties.

I got a question.

Not for nothing, cuz I would like to keep the friends I have, BUT; Whats up with this eating everything that comes into your yard. I not sure I would want to eat it after I got done bashing it's skull in with a shovel.

You guys got supermarkets where you come from, right. (They're big buildings with food in them thats already dead. Saves you from having to pound on it first.)

Just kidding

How about a compound roast. That would be a woodchuck stuffed inside a rabbit stuffed inside a raccoon. I think I'd be too tired to eat after chasing all this crap around the yard.

             " BTW, if you eat something that's rabid, do you get sick too? "
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Ques&Ans/q&a.htm#How%20do%20people%20get%20rabies
Human Rabies
1. Q: How do people get rabies?

A: People usually get get rabies from the bite of a rabid animal. It is also possible, but quite rare, that people may get rabies if infectious material from a rabid animal, such as saliva, gets directly into their eyes, nose, mouth, or a wound.

2. Q: Can I get rabies in any way other than an animal bite?

A: Non-bite exposures to rabies are very rare. Scratches, abrasions, open wounds, or mucous membranes contaminated with saliva or other potentially infectious material (such as brain tissue) from a rabid animal constitute non-bite exposures. Occasionally reports of non-bite exposure are such that postexposure prophylaxis is given.

Inhalation of aerosolized rabies virus is also a potential non-bite route of exposure, but other than laboratory workers, most people are unlikely to encounter an aerosol of rabies virus.

Other contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces (e.g., guano) of a rabid animal, does not constitute an exposure and is not an indication for prophylaxis

3. Q: What is the risk of rabies from squirrels, mice, rats, and other rodents?

A: Small rodents (such as squirrels, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, and chipmunks, ) and lagomorphs (such as rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States. Bites by these animals are usually not considered a risk of rabies unless the animal was sick or behaving in any unusual manner and rabies is widespread in your area. However, from 1985 through 1994, woodchucks accounted for 86% of the 368 cases of rabies among rodents reported to CDC.  Woodchucks or groundhogs (Marmota monax) are the only rodents that may be frequently submitted to state health department because of a suspicion of rabies. In all cases involving rodents, the state or local health department should be consulted before a decision is made to initiate postexposure prophylaxis (PEP).

Inhalation of aerosolized rabies virus is also a potential non-bite route of exposure.

So hittin'em with an MP5 at 6 feet isn't suggested?

How much woodchuck could a woodchipper chip if a woodchipper did chip woodchuck?

Fried squirrel is very tasty, although a bit boney. You have to eat a lot of thise skinny little critters to get a belly full.

Pan fried rabbit and squirrel are both pretty good. Just dip in eggwash, dredge in flour season to taste and pan fry until golden brown.

                                            The Slab Bacon

Myself I prefer cows, pigs and chickens when it comes to meak.

I remember my Dad telling me a story about his great uncle in Italy who was a professional hunter. after a long day in the woods he stops by the local bar for a drink. Some idiot starts giving him some crap so he pulls out his gun and blows him away. My Dad said his Uncle Tony gets a letter from him needing money to buy the judge. He goes to my G.F. who writes a check and drops it in the mail.

Good one yesterday in the news here in NH.

Family brings cute little lost baby racoon back to house and trys to bottle feed and nurture it. They invite all of their friends over to see the little cutie.

Little cutie dies. Rabies is diagnosed. Family and 28 of their best friends are all receiving a series of painful shots starting this week.

Mike WU2D

I remember hearing as a kid you had to have shots "into your stomach."

True? As in through your abdominal wall literally into your stomach?

What Chasing ??????

Sit on the porch and let the .22cal chase'em !!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rabies/DS00484/DSECTION=7

Treatment
If your doctor determines that you likely were exposed to rabies, treatment begins at once. The sooner you begin rabies treatment, the greater your chance of recovery.

If you live in the United States and receive treatment for rabies after an animal bite, treatment — called post-exposure prophylaxis — consists of one dose of rabies immune globulin and five doses of rabies vaccine over a 28-day period. Rabies immune globulin and the first dose of rabies vaccine are administered as soon as possible after you've been exposed and have reported the exposure to your doctor. You're given the immune globulin by injection around the site of the bite, and you receive injections of the vaccine into your upper arm muscle.

Immune globulins are disease-fighting proteins that provide you with temporary antibodies. The rabies vaccine helps your body start producing its own antibodies. Antibody production takes time, but the antibodies produced by your body provide longer lasting protection than do the ones contained in rabies immune globulin.

Although the vaccine isn't painful, you might have a mild physical reaction. Watch for reactions such as swelling or redness where the injection occurred. Headache, fever, nausea, muscle aches and dizziness are other possible side effects. Contact your doctor if side effects cause you discomfort.

 ;D Well, that was my original suggestion all the way back at the beginning of this thread. I would personally prefer a .223 over a shovel any day, but it seems like the norm around here to bash everythings head in and then eat it. Although, I DO see the exercise value to running around the yard swinging a shovel, then possibly having to run away.

.223 in my neighborhood could be heard at the police station.
#3 is keeping a very low profile. He may have moved

Yea but, a .22 short through a very dirty barreled bolt action rifle is about as loud as an air rifle!! And if you can still get them, .22 C.B. caps are quieter than an air rifle.

Then there is a hunk of pipe and spaced washers is an effective silencer.

My son went through that procedure at age 7 after he was mauled by some dogs.  The shots weren't painful at all.  In fact on one trip for his shot he brought a little "girlfriend" along.  The two of them couldn't stop giggling long enough for the nurse to  get the needle into his arm.

When I was a child, the series of shots was reputed to be excruciatingly painful.  One shot per day for something like 14 days, all in the stomach area. I have heard that by the time the series was finished, the entire belly would be massively inflamed.

I'm glad that treatment has been improved in recent years.

If a cat or a dog can be vaccinated annually for rabies, I wonder why not humans as well.  I never heard of anyone getting a routine rabies vaccination.  For people living in rural areas, a preventive rabies vaccination would make just as much sense as a tetanus shot, especially for kids, who might not have a healthy fear of small mammals.

FYI

PRIMARY OR PREEXPOSURE VACCINATION

Preexposure vaccination should be offered to persons in high-risk groups, such as veterinarians, animal handlers, and certain laboratory workers. Preexposure vaccination also should be considered for other persons whose activities bring them into frequent contact with rabies virus or potentially rabid bats, raccoons, skunks, cats, dogs, or other species at risk for having rabies. In addition, international travelers might be candidates for preexposure vaccination if they are likely to come in contact with animals in areas where dog rabies is enzootic and immediate access to appropriate medical care, including biologics, might be limited. Routine preexposure prophylaxis for other situations might not be indicated (33,34).

Preexposure prophylaxis is administered for several reasons. First, although pre-exposure vaccination does not eliminate the need for additional therapy after a rabies exposure, it simplifies therapy by eliminating the need for RIG and decreasing the number of doses of vaccine needed -- a point of particular importance for persons at high risk for being exposed to rabies in areas where immunizing products might not be available or where they might be at high risk for adverse reactions. Second, pre- exposure prophylaxis might protect persons whose postexposure therapy is delayed. Finally, it might provide protection to persons at risk for inapparent exposures to rabies.

Intramuscular Primary Vaccination

Three 1.0-mL injections of HDCV, RVA, or PCEC should be administered intramuscularly (deltoid area) -- one injection per day on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28 (Table_2). In a study in the United States, greater than 1,000 persons received HDCV according to this regimen. Antibody was found in serum samples of all subjects when tested by the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT). Studies with other products have produced comparable results (21,35-39).

Intradermal Primary Vaccination

A regimen of three 0.1-mL ID doses of HDCV, one each on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28, is also used for preexposure vaccination (Table_2) as an alternative to the 1.0-mL IM regimen for rabies preexposure prophylaxis with HDCV (8,21,22,24,35-37,40). A single dose of lyophilized HDCV (Imovax Rabies I.D.) is available prepackaged for reconstitution in the syringe just before administration. The syringe is designed to deliver 0.1 mL of HDCV reliably and has been approved by the FDA since 1986 (25). The 0.1-mL ID doses, administered in the area over the deltoid (lateral aspect of the upper arm) on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28, are used for primary preexposure vaccination. One 0.1-mL ID dose is used for routine preexposure booster vaccination (Table_2). The 1.0-mL vial is not approved for multidose ID use. RVA and PCEC are not approved for and should not be administered intradermally (26).

When chloroquine phosphate was used routinely for malaria prophylaxis, investigators discovered that the drug decreased the antibody response to concomitantly administered HDCV (41). Although interference with the immune response to rabies vaccine by other antimalarials structurally related to chloroquine (e.g., mefloquine) has not been evaluated, precautions for persons receiving these drugs should be followed. Accordingly, HDCV should not be administered intradermally to a person traveling to malaria-endemic countries while the person is receiving one of these antimalarials (42). The IM administration of three doses of 1.0 mL of vaccine for preexposure prophylaxis provides a sufficient margin of safety in this situation (42). For persons who will be receiving both rabies preexposure prophylaxis and antimalarial chemoprophylaxis in preparation for travel to a rabies-enzootic area, the ID regimen should be initiated at least 1 month before travel to allow for completion of the full three-dose vaccine series before antimalarial prophylaxis begins. If this schedule is not possible, the IM regimen should be used.

Preexposure Booster Doses of Vaccine

Persons who work with rabies virus in research laboratories or vaccine production facilities (continuous risk category (Table_3) {43}) are at the highest risk for inapparent exposures. Such persons should have a serum sample tested for rabies antibody every 6 months. Booster doses (IM or ID (Table_2)) of vaccine should be administered to maintain a serum titer corresponding to at least complete neutralization at a 1:5 serum dilution by the RFFIT. The frequent-risk category includes other laboratory workers (e.g., those performing rabies diagnostic testing), spelunkers, veterinarians and staff, and animal-control and wildlife officers in areas where animal rabies is enzootic. Persons in this group should have a serum sample tested for rabies antibody every 2 years; if the titer is less than complete neutralization at a 1:5 serum dilution by the RFFIT, the person also should receive a single booster dose of vaccine. Veterinarians, veterinary students, and animal-control and wildlife officers working in areas with low rabies rates (infrequent exposure group) and at-risk international travelers do not require routine preexposure booster doses of vaccine after completion of primary preexposure vaccination.




http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056176.htm

Out in my area if'n you see a coon in the daytime, it is just cause to terminate the sucker on the spot.  They carry not only rabies, but also distemper and Parva virus.  If you have dogs, they can catch this stuff.  Really bad.

Had a neighbor who had a family of coons who set up residence in his attic.  They'd come out at night and scamper all over the roof.  Couldn't shoot 'em, didn't want a hole in his roof.  So, he opened a couple of cans of fly bait (borax in sugar syrup, I believe) and set them in his gutter.  Next morning, it was like a raccoon Jonestown on his roof.

This thread is way overdue to be jacked, so;

They called it the Jonestown Massacre, but it wasn't a massacre at all, it was a 900 person mass suicide.

I thought a massacre ment people were killed by other people, but the nutjobs at Jonestown killed themselves. Another fine media spin? Or can it actually BE called a massacre.

Any thoughts?

Just fishing. I figured we covered every single method of killing raccoons, both humane, and inhumane. I think all the raccoon recipes are covered too, lol

Who are "they"?

The head of the cult had worked a mojo on his followers and led them to their deaths. That's why it could be called a massacre. Or Kool Aid.
That's right.
(that's right)
Loyalty Test
In anticipation of an assault, Jones had his followers practice revolutionary suicide, drinking from vats of flavored water which he announced was poisoned. When they survived the "poison" the residents realized it was another test of their loyalty and that they had passed.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/peopleevents/e_guyana.html (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/jonestown/peopleevents/e_guyana.html)

The brain police.