We have 2 dogs that love to go with me to the barn, because sometimes they can surprise one of the barn cats eating food. They never get to do anything but bark, because the cats go up a wall into a room for protection. One of the dogs is a 50% Maltese, Henry the lover. The other, Shilo, is a little 50% Bishon who thinks he is King of all things non human irregardless of size. If Shilo weren’t overweight he would be 14 lbs., but in his basketball configuration it is 20 lbs. A third dog, Bear, rounds out the crew. Bear is a Great Pyrennes, weighing 150 lbs.

At 2:30 I went out to get an intake ready for paint and the two little guys came along as usual, running along the outside and entering into the far end, for a better chance at surprise. All hell started breaking loose. I ran to the back and found Shilo going at it with a Racoon under the table where the cats get their food. Was able to get Henry away into the truck as I drove to the house to get my .357.

When reentering the barn from the near end Shilo and the coon went out the back. I ran to the back and heard major noise back at the barn front. Bear was involved now and he was making unearthly noises that sounded like he was dying. By the time I got to the brawl Bear had broken away and the raccoon had Shiloh in a death grip, teeth completely around mouth and top of head. Shilo was screaming bloody murder.

There wasn’t a clear shot, and I was having to use the left hand. The right shoulder post surgery isn’t up to shooting a .357 yet. So aimed for the coon’s right rear quarter, shot, made a hit and Shilo broke free. While he was regrouping shot a couple more times and dispatched the marauder.

Shilo and Bear both have some war wounds, but so far nothing requiring a vet visit.

 

Hope your pups are OK..............Our great Pyrenees does not attack anything other than the food bowl.

 

Good story! Hope your dogs will be OK. We don't have many coons here. With the golden eagles, Hawks, Bobcats, Cougars, and coyotes they don't have much of a chance.....................

 

I hate raccoons live in town so I have had to be a lot more stealthy then a .357 would let me be but a high power air rifle with some minor modifications works real well.

 

Racoons are cute but sure can be destructive. I used to have a big Bing Cherry tree in the back yard. Had a great bumper crop of cherries this one year, a darned racoon stripped the fruit off of the tree in about 2 nights, to ad insult to injury he then crapped cherry pits all over the deck. Caught him on the third night and ended the problem with 1 round from my 45.

 

Raccoons are good for one thing,............target practice.

One round of .22lr CCI stinger hollowpoint is more than enough to take care of the toughest coons and quiet enough that neighbors wont care.

 

I prefer my 12ga, less clean up involved.....................

 

I would like to use the AK-47, but the neighbors might get upset.
You should see their faces when I load guns into the truck to go shooting, they act like they are seeing the taliban mobilizing for a operation!

 

What's a neighbor?

 

I wish I could say that............Too bad we are in a neighborhood they stuck out in the middle of rural area quite away from town, guess they wanted the city folk to still get that "suburbia" feeling.

 

My neighbors would go nuts if I fired a .22 their are way to close. Like I said the air rifle with some mods one shot to the head problem solved. How are your dogs doing.

 

The dogs look ok. Shilo had a couple punctures between his shoulder blades and small bite marks around his face. Bear has one fairly deep cut on his eyelid.

There was at least one other raccoon that made a visit last night. The food storage container is an old tool box. They have torn one of the latches off so I put a bolt and nut in the area where a lock would go. The remaining good latch was released last night and the container moved around. I am going to get a live trap tomorrow. Hope the cats remember when we trapped them two years ago to go to the vet for spaying and neutering.

I hadnt considered it until now, but there may be more than raccoons chowing down. No telling what will be caught, perhaps a fox.

 

Double Post .

 

If you bait with marshmallows or something else sweet you should catch any cats.

 

One starving ferrel cat showed up two years ago, and soon there were 3 kittens. Alarmed but not wanting to kill them we trapped them and had them spayed/neutered. So for good or bad they are part of the place now, wild. However there wont be ANY MORE!