Reminder about raccoon dangers - Page 2

she is right possems do not carry rabies


you also realize a lot of those predators you mention cancel each other out ? coyotes have a strong predatory hate for foxes and kill them on site, they also prey heavily on feral cats a bit on coons and minks as well.  Great horned owls another city predator also preys on (skunks and possems their fave)snakes, rats, coons and minks and the odd fox and cat. Not sure why it is like that there but here predators keep each other in check and we never had any over population of anything.  THe coyote population is a bit of an issue but the winter culls them out when they starve to death or when deer is their primary food source as deers being fast and strong powerful animals make hard targets for them it seems.  We also have an new animal here called a fisher which basically preys on EVERYTHING here including foxes coons minks cats anything other than a coyote. I have not seen a coon in 7 years.

A lot of predator eating pest and predator eating predator one is bound to get the other if you have all species living in your area.


bobcats and cougars are another animal that will be at the top of the food chain and prey on just about all other smaller predators.

Seems like you just dont wanna live in a city with other animals in it or any kind of native wildlife you dont wanna share you are upset that creatures are making a nice comeback because finally people are accepting them and letting them live alongside humans for once withing setting traps and killing them at the first sign of seeing them. I think you really need to do more research and educate your self more on these and learn to live these animals rather than worry about what kind of dangers "might" possibly could happen.

wow destiny4u, you are taking this completely out of context.
The only point I was making in my original post is that very large numbers of raccoons (at least in Ohio) are getting sick with distemper and that sick raccoons are dangerous, particularly to unvaccinated dogs.  I explained that the reason for so many being sick is because their population has been growing very fast and I said what a raccoon sick with distemper acts like.   

In conjunction with the huge raccoon population boom, I merely mentioned that many other species are also increasing in popularity.  Of which, I have no problem with, I didn't talk about any other species carrying diseases.  Neither was my post about natural wildlife checks and balances. 

Your own ignorance is showing, you don't seem to have read my words thoroughly or you didn't understand them.  You are going off in a tangent that is completely off-base from my core message. 

As for possums or rabies, they were not part of my core message; I'll point out that possums most certainly are capable of contracting rabies, it is uncommon for them because of their usual lower body temperature, but possible.  However, again, it wasn't my intent to talk about possums or rabies, in none of my previous posts did I talk about opossum and diseases they can carry. 

Destiny4u, you feel like you have to bash me for your misperceptions about my message and your conclusion that I hate wildlife.  Did anyone else think I was being enigmatic?  I enjoy wildlife more than most people.  I've rescued and bottle fed orphaned possums, I've rescued orphaned coons, volunteered at wildlife rehab center, rescued injured geese, rabbits, deer, possums.  I've raised numerous young wildlife to adulthood (squirrels, birds, rabbits).  Among all my friends who participate in dog sports, horses or own farms, I'm the only person I know who will go out of my way to save and relocate snakes, wild mice, chipmunks, rabbits, etc. because they were living where someone else didn't want them to live.  I am a vet tech and animal science major.

So, it was a pretty hateful low blow on your part to make such remarks without having any knowledge whatsoever of me or my experience.