Raccoon attacks man in Pa.

[Iskweo]

I grew up in the Niagara area and while not terribly remote or wild it was still farm country in those days.My dad never left the house without his .45 in his pocket. Old guys.

Myself, I was going shooting one day with a friend in Calgary and we drove past an RCMP officer doing a traffic stop on #2 hwy. We learned later that those people gunned him down on the side of the road. I began keeping a gun in my vehicle after that.

Nowadays that is very tough to manage here.Given the ineptitude of most people that may not be such a bad thing. While I prefer to spray unwanted pests with lead, I would consider a can of bear spray as a first line of allowable defense. Works on coyotes, raccoons and people equally well.

Christy

 

[lowangle al]

The beavers presented me with a bigger stick today and if I ever come across that raccoon again I plan to make a hat out of him. A hat with a story, I wish I thought of it at the time.

 

[forest runes]

Al , that bear attack in Pa. You refer to was precipitated by the women's dog going after cubs the sow had with her , then the dog owner intervened thus the attack . The game wardens initially looked to find & destroy the bear but abandoned that effort after learning the backstory . Fortunately wildlife / human encounters are rare as most critters give Man a wide berth unless people draw them by their activities. But I've seen photos of Morons feeding donuts by hand to groups of bears on the porch of there homes. I have a pack of coyotes on my property that regularly take down full grown healthy deer , hear them howling every other night but never see them except during hunting season. I think your encounter was unusual , my biggest concern in pa. woods are the porcupine ,I'm sick & tired of vet bills.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Rabid animals and feral dog packs are reason number one that I usually have a gun with me in the outback and rural areas. I haven't personally had any run-ins with rabid animals AFAIK, but I have dealt with the feral dogs a few times. Raccoons can get mean, and I've known at least one to have a taste for house cats - but that one sounds like it was rabid.

 

[clemency]

We had a bobcat in the next town over biting folks the other day. Broad daylight. Three different attacks.

 

[Paddlinhal]

I think it's too much work to carry a gun. I've gotten bit by plenty of loose dogs, but I can't think of a time I got bit by a wild animal. I'd be like, "Wait a minute there Mr. Rabid Raccoon, I have to run in the house and get my gun out of the safe and load it up. You just sit there and relax a minute."

 

[lowangle al]

I got "attacked" by a grey squirrel back in college. They must have pretty good sniffers because as I pulled a baggie of nuts out of the breast pocket of my jean jacket for myself to eat a squirrel ran up my leg to get it.

 

[DanOver]

I usually carry a walking stick with an offset faceted head I bought from a native in Kwazulu Natal province. These "Knobkerries" are a fearsome weapon on men, dogs or other pests when on a walk. A lot like an Irish Balckthorne stick.

While living in SW Georgia, they had a wild pig problem. These hogs would get in to crops and root things up, dig up quail eggs on the quail hunting plantations and turkey eggs everywhere else, and make a mess in general. The males would get over 300 pounds and they could be very aggressive. One afternoon I was riding a mountain bike through some county bike trails and got a flat. I was walking the bike back to the car and a huge boar came barreling out of the brush right near me. At first I didn't realize what it was, but that distinctive shape and the grunts it made clicked my tired brain on fast. I must have surprised it sleeping, because it took half a second to orient toward me,,, and then it just charged. It all happened so fast, I put the bike in between us and braced as it hit the center of the frame and sent me spilling over. Now my adrenaline was up and I got to meet my feet fast as it turned for another run. I got around a pine tree and finally remembered I had my Ruger SP101.357 mag. The big boar was standing like he didn't know where I had gone, he probably had his bell rung hitting the steel frame of my bike so hard. I had a less than optimal shot as it swung around in the trail, and I did not want this brute wounded and mad running into someone else later. I took careful aim and fired two rounds into the sandy trail two feet in front of him, and that big brute took off through the brush away from me. I kept that pistol in my hand for the rest of the way to the car and loaded up. I didn't call any authorities as I was not injured, everyone knew wild boar were around the whole county, and I had fired my pistol within what may have been city limits.

Sure enough, that night I got a visit from the Leesburg County Sheriffs Department asking if I had been on the trail with a red mountain bike and if I had an encounter with a wild pig. I was perplexed as I hadn't told anyone about the incident and no one had come forward to help me if they had witnessed the attack. I was kind of cagy as I replied: "Yes, I was out on the bike path today, but I didn't see another soul. There were no cars at the parking area when I came or left. I did see a big boar running around the trail about half a mile from the parking lot." The lead deputy asked me: "Did you fire a gun at the boar?" I replied: "As I said, I saw no one out there and I don't know who would have told you such a story." He looked me dead in the eye and said: ' Fess up, the pig squealed..." That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Guest]

With only one day to go that gets my vote for story of the year.

 

[dougd]

I'm still chucklin'! Good one!

 

[frozentripper]

Squirrels will bite the hand that feeds them... chipmunks too. The most endearing thing about chipmunks is their cold feet as they crawl over you searching for food. There is a squirrel in the neighborhood known to some as "The Lunatic"... she's fat and aggressive, and will not hesitate to bite hard into a finger, in the belief that it's another peanut.

 

[deerfly]

I hear these wild hog encounters and believe them of course, but this sort of thing has not been my experience after a lot of years hunting feral hogs. Maybe that boar being somewhat "citified" and never hunted nurtured some unusual aggression to actually attack a person.

Being a mostly Fl redneck I have spent many many years hunting feral hogs, since around the early 80's or so. Hunted them with and without dogs, purposely with catch dogs or by happenstance with deer hounds that bayed one up. I've bow hunted them, pistol hunted and every which way you can legally kill one and have never been charged, ever. Can't think of anyone I know that has been full-on charged either. I have had feigned charges where they lunge forward a few steps when cornered by bay dogs and have had them run past me trying to get away from a dog or dogs, but never a purposeful charge by a boar or a sow during an encounter with or without dogs. Now I've had a caught hog try to bite me or someone else trying to kill it without injuring any of the dogs latched on to it in the process. Have had a piglet bite my boot while trying to catch its mama too. Other than that they always seem to take the high road.

I shot this salt and pepper colored pig this Saturday afternoon when it rose up out of a bed around 1:30pm. I was scouting for a deer stand after lunch to bow hunt the evening from. I didn't have my bow with me, just my wind proof bear spray (9mm) and heard it snorting about 20 yards away at the edge of a thick swamp. The area was so thick and flooded that it took me almost 30 minutes to get closer without spooking. Luckily the wind stayed in my favor before it stood up maybe 7-8 yards from me, but about 5 yards left of where I thought it was originally. It looked at me and turned to run...

This is typically how it goes with these wild pig encounters except they usually wind or hear you and take off before you can get a clean shot off with any kind of weapon. This why its much easier to kill them with bay dogs and catch dogs because they will almost always stop to fight the dogs until you can get there to dispatch them. Otherwise when its just you or another person or two stalking through the woods they usually put the haul arse on before you get near them, which again is why I'm almost fascinated by these accounts of aggressive charging feral hogs. That's just never been my experience and I've had a lot of wild hog encounters over decades of hunting primarily in FL, but GA too.

Attached some random hog hunting pic's with and without dogs.

 

[Guest]

Attached some random hog hunting pic's with and without dogs.

All I can say, invasively and destructively, is good riddance.

 

[Holmes375]

Thanks Gamma but Ive been thinking about getting something more compact than my S&W 357 revolver. I don't have a cc permit, I don't need one to transport do I?

You might consider the Ruger LCR revolvers. Compact and very lightweight. Many enthusiasts like the 327 Federal magnum versions as they hold 6 rounds as compared to the usual 5. The ammo is on the more expensive side but it sure performs well on varmints and predators. Great backpacking handgun in my opinion. Its available with or without an external hammer.

 

[deerfly]

All I can say, invasively and destructively, is good riddance.

couldn't agree more, which is why I kill them every chance I get...

 

[deerfly]

You might consider the Ruger LCR revolvers. Compact and very lightweight. Many enthusiasts like the 327 Federal magnum versions as they hold 6 rounds as compared to the usual 5. The ammo is on the more expensive side but it sure performs well on varmints and predators. Great backpacking handgun in my opinion. Its available with or without an external hammer.

Agree with this, small wheel gun has some advantages over semi-auto, primarily simplicity and fail safe. Will shoot well under water too. Could come in handy if you tip near hungry alligators. S&W and Taurus have some nice choices too.

 

[Black_Fly]

Fork the stick, you need a bigger gun.

 

[lowangle al]

I do like the LCR revolvers, I was thinking semi auto for light weight and compactness but I'd rather a revolver. Thanks for the advise, now I need to sell some guns I don't need and don't use.

 

[Gamma1214]

I do like the LCR revolvers, I was thinking semi auto for light weight and compactness but I'd rather a revolver.

Just be careful of barrel length. I believe anything under 4 inches is prohibited in Canada. But someone who actually lives there could probably confirm or deny that.

 

[Iskweo]

Designated Canadian here. You can forget about what pistol to carry on your trips here. That has not been legal in this country for the past 50 years. You are correct about the 4 inch barrel limit but that is only for possession. You can only fire handguns on an approved range and need a permit to transport. I used to belong to several pistol clubs when I was younger.

What IS legal is a short barrelled shotgun. ( 18 inches min) so if you must take a firearm, and I often do, then that is your basic option. But you cant do that in the National / Provincial parks so there is that to consider also.

There is considerably less angst about this in the rural and northern areas but god forbid you should be seen even carrying a firearm by the majority of people now. Food for thought. We routinely take bangers and spray now. They are cheaper and lighter, two of my favourite things.

Christy