Now, the neighbors MAY call the police saying there was a HUGE EXPLOSION next door, but when the police show up, and you have it already locked up in the safe, you can say "What explosion? Oh, her? She's in the sauce again."
Posted on 06/10/2002 8:41:48 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Raccoon attacks girl, 6, as she plays with friends
The Associated Press
6/10/02 5:40 PM
GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A raccoon attacked a 6-year-old girl in front of several friends, biting her 10 times after jumping on her back.
Samantha Ortiz of Georgetown Township, which is near Jenison in eastern Ottawa County, was walking on a bicycle trail with five friends about 6:30 p.m. Friday when she looked back and saw the raccoon.
She said she moved to the side of the trail to let the animal pass, but it jumped on her back and started biting.
"I put my hand down and it was biting me. It was growling like a dog and biting me all over," Samantha told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Monday. "Maybe he smelled chicken 'cause I didn't wash my hands after I ate."
Samantha said she was scared because her friends ran away when the raccoon attacked.
"I didn't know if it was going to kill me," she said.
When the animal tried to bite her toes, the girl said she put one of her friend's bikes on top of the raccoon and ran home.
Her mother, Dee Cardero, said she was hysterical when she heard Samantha screaming.
"I ran and opened the front door and saw blood all over her," Cardero said.
Samantha had bites on her hands, arms and legs. She was treated at Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital, where she received rabies shots in the area of each bite.
The series of shots will continue for a month, her parents said.
They have to be caught very very young to be tamed. A wild coon once it looses the fear of humans can be quite a problem. They will if hungry challange you. Also in the spring where's there's one look for more of them. Coons generally stay together till at least half grown with mamma. It's best not to leave such things as dog food out overnight though they as likely will show up at noon just as they will at night. I shot three one morning two years ago in my front yard. They stood there and looked at me till I shot. Even shocking them with an electric fence for cattle didn't deter them. Only a bullet would suffice. Best to use a shotgun as they likely will be running.
I also helped some friends capture a live half grown coon about 25 years ago. It is an animal you don't want to mess with. If anybodies ever seen a dog tore up by one you'll understand the damage they can do. The coon that bit the kid may or may not have been rabid.
It was the weirdest thing, and I wouldn't have believed it if it didn't actually happen to me. Ever since, I've kind of held a vendetta against those buggers.
So I went downstairs, and what is in the kitchen window but a huge racoon?!
He had ripped the screen off and was lugging a loaf of bread out with him.
I yelled "Get! Get!" as loud as I could as he dropped the bread and ran, but the bread was ruined.
The screen was fine, but you can bet we'll be closing the windows - we haven't here for almost 50 years- from now on...
I halfway believe these little devils are rising up against us...
Now, the neighbors MAY call the police saying there was a HUGE EXPLOSION next door, but when the police show up, and you have it already locked up in the safe, you can say "What explosion? Oh, her? She's in the sauce again."
Myself, I'd of torched my house at that point, but they treated furniture/carpets for months.
Give me a racoon any day.
Destructor wringing his hands: "That's right! If it saves just one child isn't it worth it?"
Target practice.
Yes, I admit it. I had a raccoon that visited my deck regularly. She started eating the cat food I had out there, so I gave her crackers and grapes. She also started eating out of my hand. Yeah, yeah... I know... you don't have to say what's already been said a thousand times! Sadly, she was hit by a car last summer. Now possums, on the other hand, are the devil's minions. ;)
When racoons are outlawed, only outlaws will have racoons.
When I was little I was told if I even saw an animal in my ramblings that most likely it was rabid or it would never have allowed me to see it at all. I always carried a sling shot, it can have any kind of power you need, from killing something to running off pesky boys.=o)
My dad hated Disney for portraying wild creatures as docile, friendly humans in fur coats. He loved the outdoors and felt that wild animals and their habitats should be protected, so they can be culled. Human contact with wild animals is never good for the animals and seldom good for the people.
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