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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / January 2005Treed Raccoon update TW
I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched for a while as (the view revealed his sex) he licked and groomed himself but didn't seem afraid of me or urgent to get down. Thinking he may have been hurt by the dogs before going up, and thus unable to climb down, I went to the barn and got a ladder which I put up on the tree trunk right next the the limb he was sitting on. Then I stood and watched for a long time. He seemed not to be injured but I could not be sure. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to get to the ladder. But then he started having a seizure and fell over into the Y of two branches. As his body shook from the convulsion, he fell from the tree onto his back in a deep pile of oak leaves and laid there convulsing. I went to get a rifle. When I got back, he was standing up, sniffing the leaves and rooting around in the hollow base of the tree. I was standing just a few feet away and I thought, this is not right.... Meanwhile Gloria had called the state conservation office and been told this is most likely a rabid raccoon. So we figured it's best to just shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) anyway, did not make it easier to do. > I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I > watched for a while as (the view revealed his sex) he licked and [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > was probably going to die soon (and horribly) anyway, did not make it > easier to do. Oh dear. I'm sorry. Jill > I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched > for [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. Please be very careful in cleaning up. ANYTHING that came from the raccoon, or touched the raccoon, should be incinerated, or covered with a freshly mixed solution of 1 part fresh bleach to 10 (preferably 5) parts of water for at least 10 minutes. {{{Pat}}} I know it was hard. > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. Euthanasia is a terrible choice for those who are not suffering, but at the same time it is a wonderful release for those who are.  SignatureVictor M. Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com > I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched for > a while as (the view revealed his sex) he licked and groomed himself but [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. You definitely saved it from an agonizing death poor thing. I hope Gloria's dogs are up to date on their shots as are your kitties!! Calming purrs to you all. > You definitely saved it from an agonizing death poor thing. I hope Gloria's > dogs are up to date on their shots as are your kitties!! Calming purrs to > you all. My thoughts exactly. You should check with Gloria ... the last thing you want are potentially rabid dogs wandering around ... I'm sorry you had to do what you had to do, but ... I think it's best this way. Signaturemonique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!* >I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched for >a while as (the view revealed his sex) [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >figure out how to get to the ladder. But then he started having a seizure >and fell over into the Y of two branches. Oh, poor little fella! > As his body shook from the >convulsion, he fell from the tree onto his back in a deep pile of oak leaves [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) >anyway, did not make it easier to do. Of course not. Purrs for the little guy's passing, and for your nerves. Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com Oh, Pat, I'm so very sorry; what a sad ending and a hard decision for you. Purrs for the poor little guy's trip to the RB and hugs and purrs for your poor heart. Christine > I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched for > a while as (the view revealed his sex) he licked and groomed himself but [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. > I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched for > a while as (the view revealed his sex) he licked and groomed himself but [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. I have to commend your bravery. MLB Another example of the difference between the easy thing and the right thing. Keep reminding yourself that it was both necessary and a kindness. Jo >I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched >for [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. >Another example of the difference between the easy thing and the right >thing. > >Keep reminding yourself that it was both necessary and a kindness. Well put! Amen! Regards and Purrs, O J >I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched >for [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. Well done for making yourself do it. If it was indeed rabid you saved it from an awful death. Kudos to you. Tweed : > Meanwhile Gloria had called the state conservation office and been : > told this is most likely a rabid raccoon. So we figured it's best to just [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] : : Tweed Agreed. I'm so sorry that the story has a sad ending, but you saved that raccoon from horrible suffering. And we will never know how many other creatures -- human or animal -- were saved because the poor raccoon did not transmit the disease to them, as his illness progressed. Sometimes the only help we can offer is the final act of mercy. You helped that raccoon in the only remaining way that anyone COULD. Sending prayers and thoughts your way. Just keep remembering that you did the right thing. Donna -- >Meanwhile Gloria had called the state conservation office and been >told this is most likely a rabid raccoon. So we figured it's best to just >shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) >anyway, did not make it easier to do. In the future, call a wildlife rehabilitator. They specialize in ill, injured, orphaned wildlife such as raccoons. The wardens are generally too busy to help. Here's a list of them. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm Seizures are a symptom of a head injury or neurological injury. Urban raccoons are used to humans and not afraid. They of course climb trees, rooting for food in the ground is normal behavior. Symptoms of rabies are the following: some animals may become depressed and retreat to isolated places wild animals, especially skunks, may lose their fear of humans animals may show signs of paralysis such as abnormal facial expressions, drooping head, sagging jaw, or paralysed hind limbs animals may show extreme excitement and aggression animals may gnaw and bite their own limbs animals may attack stationary things or other animals > In the future, call a wildlife rehabilitator. Good idea. > Urban raccoons are used to humans and not afraid. We are about as far from "urban" as you can get without being in the center of a wilderness area. > Symptoms of rabies are the following: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > animals may gnaw and bite their own limbs > animals may attack stationary things or other animals When Gloria called me about the raccoon today she had been watching him for a while and said he seemed to be trying to figure out how to get down. I observed the same behavior. She described it to the conservation officer and was told this is rabies. > When Gloria called me about the raccoon today she had been watching him for > a while and said he seemed to be trying to figure out how to get down. I > observed the same behavior. She described it to the conservation officer and > was told this is rabies./// Pat, you did the best you could beased on the advice of someone you considered more experienced and better able to make a judgement call than you. If the Racoon was having fits and siezures, it clearly wasn't well. You were acting in the belief it had rabies, based on the advice you were given. A very sad outcome, but as I see it, you did a kind thing and the best thing. 20/20 Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and even then it's not always right! You could go round and round in circles, but until you had the brain tissue analysed for rabies you wouldn't definitely know "for sure" anyway. He was clearly sick. Don't beat yourself up over it Pat. Helen M (donning a flame proof suit) >>Meanwhile Gloria had called the state conservation office and been >>told this is most likely a rabid raccoon. So we figured it's best to just [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >Seizures are a symptom of a head injury or neurological injury. Urban raccoons >are used to humans and not afraid. Are they ever. They get to be like everyone else here-- they look at you like "What are YOU lookin' at?" Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >>>Meanwhile Gloria had called the state conservation office and been >>>told this is most likely a rabid raccoon. So we figured it's best to just >>>shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) >>>anyway, did not make it easier to do. I haven't been able to see my responses in this group for a month, don't know what's up. Just wanted to clarify that I'm not saying it didn't have rabies or shouldn't have been killed. It could have had rabies or distemper. You should euthanize in both cases. It could have also just had a good head injury, which it might have died from anyway. The wardens job is to protect the public from wildlife. If they think there is a .01% chance that it has rabies, they'll kill it. Rabies is fatal, nothing to mess with. I would also err on the side of protecting humans first. If you call a rehabber, they can help you understand what's wrong with it. They might pick it up or shoot it themselves which protects you from exposure. We rehabbers have pre-exposure rabies shots. If you see a rabies vector animal (fox, skunk, raccoon or bat) acting oddly, don't get near it. Call a rehabber, animal control and the warden. Hopefully the rehabber can tell you if it's just injured or has rabies. The other two will probably automaticaly tell you to kill it. You did the right thing. > I haven't been able to see my responses in this group for a month, > don't know what's up. <snip> Several people on AOL seem to be having problems with newsgroups lately, a lot of people, including me, find the free service from www.news.individual.net very usefull. SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat. Kreisleriana <kreisleriana2@yahoo.com> had some very interesting things to say about Re: Treed Raccoon update TW: >>Seizures are a symptom of a head injury or neurological injury. Urban raccoons >>are used to humans and not afraid. >Are they ever. They get to be like everyone else here-- they look at >you like "What are YOU lookin' at?" Haven't seen raccoons around my current area, but squirrels are everywhere, and generally quite casual about humans [I had a rather interesting conversation with one one day just outside the gate from sidewalk to my building]. Signature"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding. :-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL > Kreisleriana <kreisleriana2@yahoo.com> had some very interesting > things to say about Re: Treed Raccoon update TW: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > interesting conversation with one one day just outside the gate from > sidewalk to my building]. To squirrels (or, as some term them, tree-rats), I am the equivalent of a parrot. Apparently, I make very convincing sounds in Squirrelish, but I have no idea what they mean. The squirrels, however, seem rather shocked. My vocal apparatus is more suited for Squirrelish than Cattish. I understand a fair bit of Cattish, but can only manage a few understandable statements. Mind you, my crew does seem to understand quite a bit of English. They know, for example, their own names, but that "cat cat cat" means "all available cats report." "Bedtime" and "Wet disgusting cat food" are also well understood. I have a friend that has fostered orphan wolves and reintroduced them to a pack, which accepted her as a strange-looking, mid-status wolf. Apparently, there aren't that many dialects of Wolfish, as her Western Canadian Wolfish was, to the amazement of both animal behaviorists and wolves in the Washington DC National Zoo. Apparently, there was no objection to phrases such as "ooowwwwWWWWWWoooooooOWOW, eh?" :-) > I have a friend that has fostered orphan wolves and reintroduced them to > a pack, which accepted her as a strange-looking, mid-status wolf. > Apparently, there aren't that many dialects of Wolfish, as her Western > Canadian Wolfish was, to the amazement of both animal behaviorists and > wolves in the Washington DC National Zoo. Apparently, there was no > objection to phrases such as "ooowwwwWWWWWWoooooooOWOW, eh?" :-)/// When I worked in the arctic, there was a pack which had a home range near our camp. We used to get great fun out of howling at themm and having them howl back. We'd have long "conversations" and the more we listened to the wolves, the better our "dialects" got. I love wolves. My favourite animal after cats. Helen M >> I have a friend that has fostered orphan wolves and reintroduced them to >> a pack, which accepted her as a strange-looking, mid-status wolf. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > >Helen M I was privileged to meet a small pack of wolves at an Audubon Society event. It was unforgettable. You can understand immediately why people covet them-- and consequently do stupid things with them. They are incredibly beautiful. Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >To squirrels (or, as some term them, tree-rats), I am the equivalent of >a parrot. Apparently, I make very convincing sounds in Squirrelish, but >I have no idea what they mean. If you like, I can translate. I rehab squirrels and know what the barks, clicks and peeps mean. When people call my hotline they will say "I heard a bird sound in the tree." I'll go "did it sound like 'peep peep peep' That's a baby squirrel. If it sounded like "cha cha cha" that's a baby opossum. If it sounded like "eeeeeeeeeee!" that's a baby skunk...." One woman told me that a squirrel would bark at her, chitter then swish it's tail to say hello to her in the morning. The squirrel was actually saying "this is my territory, get the heck away, lady." > >To squirrels (or, as some term them, tree-rats), I am the equivalent of > >a parrot. Apparently, I make very convincing sounds in Squirrelish, but [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > heck > away, lady." Is there something that is a friendly greeting? >>> To squirrels (or, as some term them, tree-rats), I am the equivalent of >>> a parrot. Apparently, I make very convincing sounds in Squirrelish, but [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Is there something that is a friendly greeting? I wondered the same thing. Squirrels seem testy no matter how you slice it. >> Is there something that is a friendly greeting? > >I wondered the same thing. Squirrels seem testy no matter how you slice it. If they come up to you, pull on your pant leg, follow you around the yard, tap the window at you, that's friendly. There is no real friendly sound though they giggle if you tickle them. Chittering means "I could bite you so back off." Barking means "get out of my territory." Baby squirrels make lots of different sounds. They go "peep peep peep" to call for mom. They sound like chickens clucking or pigs grumbling when they want to eat. They actually sell squirrel calls, of course they're for hunting. One sounds like a baby in distress, one sounds like them barking, one is chittering. The baby in distress gets all the adults out of the trees. If you train a squirrel to respond to a certain sound of your own, that would be communicating. You can say "who wants a nut" or go "here squirrel, squirrel." Then they'll always come running. > Chittering means "I could bite you so back off." This makes me laugh because when I hear them chittering they are usually about 50 yards away! > >> Is there something that is a friendly greeting? > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > the window at you, that's friendly. There is no real friendly sound though they > giggle if you tickle them. Chittering means "I could bite you so back off." When Robbie "shouts" at the squirrels through the window screen mesh, they just look at him and chatter. I know what they're saying in that case... Robbie: "I'm a honking great predator, and I'm gonna eat ya!" Squirels: (Holding up a paw) "WHAT-ever!" Helen M >>> Is there something that is a friendly greeting? >> >>I wondered the same thing. Squirrels seem testy no matter how you slice it. > >If they come up to you, pull on your pant leg, Before the local law against feeding them, that's basically what they were like in the parks around here. Especially in the Botanic Gardens. It got so they would charge you tolls to walk around.;) They would do anything to get your attention. One day, when my brother and me were little, one jumped on my father's shoe. My dad kicked it off, it went flying through the air, and landed on my little brother's head. Poor thing. Poor brother. Eddie screamed like a banshee, and shook it off, and it landed on MY shoe. I kicked it off, and it finally disappeared. We were all a little shook up. We weren't expecting flying squirrels. ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com >>>> To squirrels (or, as some term them, tree-rats), I am the equivalent of >>>> a parrot. Apparently, I make very convincing sounds in Squirrelish, but [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > >I wondered the same thing. Squirrels seem testy no matter how you slice it. The park squirrels are very cheeky around here. Feeding them is illegal now, but they still come running up and check you out, like you are some curiosity. ;) Sometimes a couple of them will sit staring at you, and they look like they're whispering about you to each other. "Wow, look at those sneakers. Pretty sad, huh?" Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com When I was in Spain a few yrs ago, we went on a tour into the mountains, on the way back they stopped the bus at some kind of park where you could swim or have 'eats' or just hang around, we got some a sqirrel that was definately playing to his audience, we were captivated. Jean.P. > >>> To squirrels (or, as some term them, tree-rats), I am the equivalent of > >>> a parrot. Apparently, I make very convincing sounds in Squirrelish, but [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > I wondered the same thing. Squirrels seem testy no matter how you slice it. >> One woman told me that a >>squirrel [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Is there something that is a friendly greeting? They don't throw nuts at you. Pam S. who had a cat that received a walnut battering almost daily from the squirrels that lived in her tree in Clarkston, Washington. >>> One woman told me that a >>>squirrel [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >They don't throw nuts at you. <http://tinyurl.com/6tajp> ;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com > Kreisleriana <kreisleriana2@yahoo.com> had some very interesting > things to say about Re: Treed Raccoon update TW: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > interesting conversation with one one day just outside the gate from > sidewalk to my building]. I've had a few interesting conversations with squirrels myself. In the most recent conversation, however, I was clearly the Alpha squirrel because they broke my bird feeder. "Ah well then!" (said I) "I guess you won't get any more of that lovely black sunflower seed you like, will you? Had to go break the darned feeder, didn't you? Broke the hand that feeds you, more like it!" They skittered up the tree, properly ashamed. Jill >Kreisleriana <kreisleriana2@yahoo.com> had some very interesting >things to say about Re: Treed Raccoon update TW: [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >interesting conversation with one one day just outside the gate from >sidewalk to my building]. They *are* everywhere, and their primary purpose is entertaining cats.;) Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com oh dear. You think he was up the tree because he was sick? I'm just glad he didn't get too near any of you to be harmful. Poor little thing. Where do you think he caught the rabies from? Jazz's mama SignatureIrulan from the stars we come to the stars we return from now until the end of time >I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I watched >for [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > shoot it. The fact that it was probably going to die soon (and horribly) > anyway, did not make it easier to do. > oh dear. You think he was up the tree because he was sick? I'm just glad he > didn't get too near any of you to be harmful. Poor little thing. Where do > you think he caught the rabies from? According to the conservation office, there has been a lot of rabies in our area lately. Gloria found a dead fox laying in the driveway going to my house just last week. Maybe that was a rabies death. > I went down to check on the raccoon, he was still in the tree. I > watched for a while as (the view revealed his sex) he licked and [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > was probably going to die soon (and horribly) anyway, did not make it > easier to do. I'm sorry to hear this but you did al you could and saved a lot of suffering. SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat. |
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