Racoons do occasionally attack people, especially rabid ones. They can do some real damage. typically it is only a problem if you approach them and corner them, or endanger their young. This one was probably curious, racoons do not hunt people. Be careful and don't reach for one ever even if its half dead, but you don;t have to be afraid, it knows that in a scrape it would probably do worse than you.

newbiegardner,

coons are curious little devils - We used to hunt many moons ago when it was profitable, never had one go on the attack. I now live on 4 acres of woods and I have never seen one during the day. they are nocturnal. I will occasionally see them going to there den around 5am. They were more than likely going to check out your chickens and see what was for dinner! Now knowing that you have a preditor you will need to check over your chicken coop very carefully for any holes,loose boards,fencing, if you are in doubt reinforce it. You can also put out a live trap and take him very far away - remember he has friends and WILL bring them back. You also have to remember most of wildlife has become unafraid of humans because their habitat has been envaided and there food source has become trash cans/garbage and unfortunetly for us our chickens and pets. Of course any wild animal who feels that they are cornered will defend itself, walking away slowly facing the coon was the right thing to do. The raccoon could have rabies -but would have charged you and your daughter. You can call your local DNR and have them put out the live trap, they then will take it to a safe location or put it down if it does have rabies. Your daughter will be fine playing on her swing I however would supervise if she is going to be out in the evening, at least until you decided what to do. Make sure your trash is in a tightly sealed container, there little hands can open lots of things and do lots of damage,playing it safe is a good way to seeing that he has nothing to eat at your house, they also like to eat your seed out of your birdfeeders I had one at night that totally tore up one of my feeders - he is no more! (coon hunting season starts on November 8th) I have for years now been putting my feeders up at night and rehanging them again in the morning. makes my life alot easier and less expensive.

Nelda

They just had a story about a raccoon attacking this lady on NPR's, "This American Life". She was walking in the woods near her house and the thing charged her. She had a winter coat on and that protected her somewhat. She ended up pinning it down and calling her husband and son with her cellphone to help her because she couldn't get up without it attacking her some more. The husband and son came out and held it down with a stick and thought they could just whack it over the head once and kill it humanely. They ended up hitting it for about 20 minutes before the thing finally died. Needless to say the raccoon had rabies and the lady had to get a rabies shot as it had bitten her even through all her winter clothes. Rabies gives animals crazy resilience and strength.

So anyway be very careful with raccoons. I agree with Nelda that they are curious and it could have just been that but after hearing that story I wouldn't take any chances. When they're rabid they act like they're possessed and your superior size isn't going to help much.

Jenica

I once had a coon in my suburban backyard. It moved kind of slowly and didn't spook. I called a trapper, because I was concerned about my dog and the coon getting into it.

Well the trapper set a trap with tuna or cat food or something stinky, and for about three days the coon stayed in the tree and didn't go down to the food.

Finally I came around the corner one day to see the coon on the ground. I got the hose and "guided" it into the trap.

When the expert came to pick it up, he said it was very unusual behavior for a raccoon and it was probably sick with distemper. He didn't charge me for trapping it, since it was such an unusual situation.

Can you set a trap to try to catch the raccoon? Around here you can pay animal control under $5 to take it away and destroy it. It's really not kind to drive it five miles away and release it in an unfamiliar place that is someone else's territory.

That's my advice.

--Johanna

Pretty much what everyone else said, if it's sick with rabies or distemper or some disease, they won't run or be afraid. We had a raccoon that kept trying to get into our house during the daytime! My husband got rid of it with the help of Smith and Wesson, ha ha! I'd definitely keep away from any raccoons that didn't run or act afraid. I'd dispatch them if possible since they do carry rabies a lot, ditto feral cats. In my old neighborhood some lady was feeding wild cats and one bit her and tested positive for rabies.

I'm glad it didn't go after you and your daughter, or go into the coop with your chickens!

I had a rabid coon once on my back porch, I let my dogs out mid-day and heard all kinds of noise. I snatched my dogs up quickly and took them back inside. This Racoon was real sick. I ran and found a Kennel and used a broom to shove him into it. Took the kennel to the back of the woods and left the door open. I bleached the whole area after that. He Was sick enough to be out in mid day and just looked sick. That's just one country story .I have Hawk stories and snake stories...Life in the country..So peacfull..Not!!

I had a raccoon outside that wouldn't leave me alone. I have a dog and was worried about it. I fired two rounds into the ground to scare it a way. It worked then the sherriffs office came and took my rifle.

Most of the times, raccoons will not come out in daylight. but they will come out at dusk and dawn. You don't say, where in FL you are, but I know just outside of Tampa's city limits there had been several raccoons with rabies. If it comes back, and it probably will for your chickens, get rid of it somehow.

Most of the time any raccoons I crossed paths with would either run away afraid or try to hide and snarl at me but one time while out walking I saw a small group of them and one of them puffed up real big and grunted and charged at me like a mean dog. I stood my ground and it eventually ran off but it did come about 5 feet from me. It didn't act sick. It acted like a tiny pissed off bear. So I have seen them charge a human even when they didn't seem sick but it is rare.

I used to raise small cage birds in large wire cages hung in the shade of some oak trees. The cages were made to withstand a wild animal trying to get into them to kill the birds. When I heard the birds squawking I would go out and chase off whatever it was bothering them. Most of the time it was stray cats or opossums. The biggest problems were blue jays and raccoons - they would try all day or all night to get the birds no matter what I did to scare them off. One night a raccoon had stuck its finger through the wire and pinned a bird by its tail against the cagewire. It couldn't hurt it but it wouldn't let it go either. I showed up with one of those extra large maglite flashlights. No matter what I did the raccoon would not leave the bird alone - I sprayed it with a garden hose (full blast to the face!), hit it with a plastic bucket, hit it with a board,, finally I began really hitting it hard with the flashlight. I probably hit it hard a dozen times before it finally pulled its fingers out of the wire and walked away. I'm a big guy and I tell you I was using all my body weight to bash that guy and it meant nothing to him, he just sauntered off like nothing had happened. So they are tough little animals. If I had a gun and if I believed in using guns I could have shot him point blank, he wasn't afraid of me at all.

Your neighbors may be feeding the 'coons which will cause them to be extra tame around humans.

Keep in mind that they have nothing better to do then figure out a way to get into your chicken coop and they are smart. Be careful.

The biggest problem is that there is always at least one person in the neighborhood that loves to feed them. Then they lose any fear of humans and start to see humans as a food source.

That coon was probably strolling over to see what you'd brought out for him to eat.

However, raccoons on the east coast are the primary carriers of rabies, so stay well away from them. I worked in animal control in Maryland and during a rabies epidemic and 75% of the raccoons that we caught tested positive for rabies.

They do not have to appear sick to infect you. The virus is in their saliva several days before they show symptoms.

Do not take any chances with rabies. If a raccoon bites you, scratches you, or gets any spit on you, go and take the rabies series. It is BS that the shots are painful; a lie told to children to keep them away from wild animals.

If you have a lot of raccoons in the area, there is a rabies vaccination for humans, just like you vaccinate your dogs to prevent rabies. Talk to your doctor about getting your child vaccinated if you are really worried about it.

The rabies vaccine for dogs and cats is extremely effective. Properly vaccinated animals do not get rabies, so keep the pet's vaccinations up to date. That's the best protection for your family.

ok i have a raccoon where i work and its always in the garade, i am currently at work and it just knocked down the garbage can and was eating stuff out of it, its 2 23 am and idk if i should go outside to pick the garbage can up cuz its somewhere under a car? could attack me idkk

I went out one day to find a fat coon SWIMMING out to my ducks in the pond.
I screeched for hubby to get the gun and he fled thankfully.

Well this guy is tom and he is so ferocious... i had to do the Jp thing haha

After reading all these reviews I came to the conclusion that 99% of them are based on Urban Legends and fear. I have to gasp a couple times due to the ignorance, violence and poor approach towards these animals by the hands of very aggressive and lazy people. First of all many animals can carry rabies (included your dear dogs) just because an animal is wild doest mean it carries rabies. My father is a veterinarian so I can speak very clearly about this matter. Second of all animals have the need to feed just like humans do. We invaded their land with our urban life styles and we can not expect for these animals to feed just from thin air. So be ready to share some of your food if you are half kind. I do every day. I feed opossums, raccoons, squirrels etc. Never had any of them attacked me. I got very close and in a respectful approach to them and they were acting normal. Then again I am a normal person. I don't understand why many people tend to base their fears into wildlife instead of study them by experts and do the right thing. I'm glad I am a human being that cares and treats with respect the circle of life. If you leave a bowl of water and cat food for them they will appreciate it and leave you alone. Be kind whenever is possible , is always possible. "Dalai Lama"

I live in a sea of town homes and multifamily dwellings near downtown Houston, but the city and residents actually both place a priority upon letting trees grow full and large whenever possible until they die naturally many decades later, or become a permanent risk to a roof in a storm with high winds. We have a ton of raccoons and opossums in those trees (and in the walls if they can find any way in - in which case they are an utter nuisance), and I think it's nice, but they also survive on cat food from my neighbor, who sets it out for her cats that prefer to be outside at night, (to keep them from feeling the need to hunt the birds as much). Raccoons are resourceful and hunt small game. I doubt any of them starve with or without human help, and it's neither our place in nature, nor prudent for the sake of the neighborhood to feed them. Feeding them only teaches them to take from humans, and they will have more offspring than would normally be sustainable on the land without a human supplementing their diet willfully. ALL animal and wildlife professionals preach not to ever feed wildlife. Thank you for pointing this out. It cannot be said enough.

@candela " I'm glad I am a human being that cares and treats with respect the circle of life. If you leave a bowl of water and cat food for them they will appreciate it and leave you alone. Be kind whenever is possible " I'm sure that's exactly what Steve Irwin said before...well, you know.

''If you leave a bowl of water and cat food for them they will appreciate it and leave you alone.''

Very interesting. I did not know that.

When I came home to find one lying propped against the front of the house in the hot summer sun the animal welfare organization volunteer that came and got it said these animals pick up canine distemper from eating out of the bowls of all the dogs in the area that haven't been vaccinated. And that volunteers spend August every year collecting numbers of visibly infected raccoons as a result.

Thankfully I've never been attacked by a rabid raccoon but last year one that was staying on her roof for a time did make a latrine out of the gravel floor of my girlfriend's greenhouse. It was able to get in there because she had decided her dogs should be able to spend the night each night on a work table that was in there, was therefore leaving the sliding glass door open to permit access. So I read up on raccoon roundworm, which the WA Department of Wildlife web pages on the subject say should be assumed to be present in every wild raccoon here. A few weeks after the eggs are laid via the infested animal's feces they enter a highly infectious stage that lasts for years. I would urge anyone and everyone living where raccoons come around to read up on this parasite, which migrates to and burrows around in the brain and eyes of infected humans. Children are most at risk, one study somewhere back East involving 300 something persons revealed 8% of them were infected.

I was attacked by a raccoon at the age of 5 in Brandon, Fl. I was playing in the brush of an empty lot in my neighborhood & a raccoon appeared & charged me. I started running away but fell, and that's when the raccoon sank its teeth into my left arm. I climbed off the ground and was screaming & flailing my arm about, but it wouldn't let go. It was just hanging on & gnawing/gripping my arm. A neighbor eventually beat it off of me with a bat. Needless to say, I've been terrified of raccoons and almost any animal that shows me its teeth since that day. Oh, and have still have the silvery teeth mark scars in my left forearm after all these decades.

I have one in my house and after reading these comments i think Ill lock my bedroom door for the night. Ill call for help tomorrow. It sounds pretty pissed and its clawing and almost sounds like hissing lol. Nope im not doing that at 1:30 am. I cant figure out how it got in here though. Maybe it will go back out where ever it came in.

There is two 3 hear olds and a car so it had got to go

I noticed my fenced little garden with lettuce, carrots, and bell peppers was attacked one night by raccoons. The fencing was only 1 foot tall cheap wire posts with chicken wire around it. They chewed through the chicken wire to get in. I cant tell if they ate any lettuce but they trampled through everything and took a bite out of my peppers. I fixed the chicken wire where they chewed through. The next morning I had my kitchen door open to the garden, at 5:30 am they appeared. Momma and 6 babies, they were scaling the little fence. I opened the window and actually started barking and growling like a dog, Im sure my neighbors thought I was insane lol, but I scared them away, then went outside to turn on my hose. When I came back to the garden I saw one of the babies hidden under a bush, I turned on the hose and it was like watching a clown car, 3 babies hiding under the bush rolled out one after another when the water hit the bush, lol. I did research to find what might keep them away, besides me standing guard every morning with a hose, everyone suggested ‘predator urine’, coyote pee to be specific. So Im waiting for my order of coyote pee to show up. However the raccoons haven’t been back. I may have wasted money but Im prepared. lol.