# Anyone else ever raised baby coons found after cutting tree?



## indiansprings (Feb 26, 2010)

We usually run across a den of baby coons every three or four years and have raised several. They are really neat little animals. They males get a little wiley if you don't castrate them. The females stay very calm. We feed them goats milk from baby bottles then switch them over to cheap cat food, once they are old enough and big enough to survive we let them go. We've had several that have come back to eat for more than a couple of years, one we could handle for about four years, he lived in our barn, never went far. He weighed almost 40 lbs last time we weighed him. The dogs don't bother them, they get used to them being around. We also raised baby red squirrels, a couple of flying squirrels and a baby groundhog. We have a great horned owl living in the barn loft this winter, really a neat looking bird.


----------



## Oldtimer (Feb 26, 2010)

My dad had a pet coon when I was very young. I can just barely remember it, I must have been 2-3 years old. Had a spider monkey too, fokker bit me.


----------



## isaaccarlson (Feb 26, 2010)

*I found a baby flying squirrel a while back....*

its mama dropped it out of a tree and it died the next day from internal injuries... Friendly little critter. We have raised baby cottontails and snakes and birds.....never a coon.


----------



## BlueRidgeMark (Feb 26, 2010)

There was a post here on AS a couple of years back where someone did just that. Dunno how it turned out.


----------



## indiansprings (Feb 26, 2010)

The little coons are funny as hell, once they get off the bottle and on cat food we take them on a walk to the creek about every evening when we have them. They usually will follow each other single file and follow you around like a dog. They catch on really quick when it comes to catching crawdads and scrounging around the creek. They are extremely intelligent little dudes, just to independent to be dependable like a dog. We've never been bit or even close to it, but we have always bottle fed the ones we've raised. Can't leave any shiny objects around like tools or change, they will take it and hide it in one location. We've found they really don't wash thier food but wet it due to poor saliva glands, it makes the food easier to swallow.
Flying squirrels are the most gentle of all the wild animals we have raised, very mild mannered.


----------



## Cowchip500 (Feb 26, 2010)

A while ago, we rescued a baby barn owl that fell out of our silo. It was neat to do once. Never again! They MUST eat mice (they need the hair, moisture, etc) to survive. I bought $100 worth of mice and they lasted little more than a month. I had to wear insulated welding gloves to feed him, so he wouldn't tear me up with his claws. 
In the end, he would allow me to feed and handle him, but he was so ferocious, he'd still attack me if he didn't like something. I set him free and he lives in our unused silo. There's baby owls in there, too. I love 'em. They eat 8-10 mice a night. No stupid cats pissing on my tractor seat.


----------



## indiansprings (Feb 26, 2010)

I'd rep you if I weren't out of bullets, +1 on the cat pizz, I hate the smell of a damn cooped up cat.


----------



## Gologit (Feb 26, 2010)

indiansprings said:


> I'd rep you if I weren't out of bullets, +1 on the cat pizz, I hate the smell of a damn cooped up cat.



I got him for you. Good story.


----------



## dingeryote (Feb 26, 2010)

That would be "Princess" on my head. She was the most agreeable of the three. Momma was raising them in our barn, and she got herself and two other little ones thumped on the road. Princess was a hoot once she figured out I controlled the chow. 






All three were raised on Milk and mutt chow, and then weaned over to forage foods including all the Blueberries they could eat...the three of 'em could woof down a 6lb Bucket in an afternoon. 

The Male of the Litter "Grumpy" is in the rear. He was dinged up pretty bad and it was a fight to get him back around to healthy... he never got over getting handled all the time while hurt, to treat his road rash and keep a splint on his leg, and was stand offish and cranky.

Only "Princess" has come back to visit so far.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


----------



## dingeryote (Feb 27, 2010)

Cowchip500 said:


> A while ago, we rescued a baby barn owl that fell out of our silo. It was neat to do once. Never again! They MUST eat mice (they need the hair, moisture, etc) to survive. I bought $100 worth of mice and they lasted little more than a month. I had to wear insulated welding gloves to feed him, so he wouldn't tear me up with his claws.
> In the end, he would allow me to feed and handle him, but he was so ferocious, he'd still attack me if he didn't like something. I set him free and he lives in our unused silo. There's baby owls in there, too. I love 'em. They eat 8-10 mice a night. No stupid cats pissing on my tractor seat.



What is it with Cats pissin' on Tractor seats anyway?

Our little 1920 is kept on the North farm in an older Pole Barn that constantly gets taken over by Citiots discarded Cats, and they never fail to spray the seat on the tractor at least 2-3 times a year. I hate Cats!

Pressure washing with Vinegar and simple green only goes so far.

I wish I had an Owl on the Payroll!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


----------



## catman963 (Mar 2, 2010)

My buddy had one for a while - cute as he!! and MAN did it get into EVERYthing!!! It was cool for a while - but all of a sudden one day - it got angry, like REAL MEAN!!!


I honestly don't remember what he did after that - but I know he never tried one again!! lol


----------



## ronnyb (Mar 11, 2010)

What about parasites? Do you give them wormer or vaccinations? I had one baby coon a couple of years ago until my vet said that the parasites could infect my dogs. He wouldn't treat the coon either. I raised it for a couple of months and then let it go by a swamp. Cute little bugggers.


----------



## dingeryote (Mar 11, 2010)

ronnyb said:


> What about parasites? Do you give them wormer or vaccinations? I had one baby coon a couple of years ago until my vet said that the parasites could infect my dogs. He wouldn't treat the coon either. I raised it for a couple of months and then let it go by a swamp. Cute little bugggers.



Raccoons can carry a parasite(Forget the name) that is known to infect humans once in a while and dogs quite often. The eggs are passed in coon poop, and can be viable for several years if not dried out.

The bedding gets burned, and when they finally decided it was time to wander away, the hutch was burned, the ground around the hutch was covered in straw, and burned.

Distemper, rabies, etc. are also possible, especially if Mom passes it to the little ones. Vaccinations ain't cheap, and most vets wont provide them.

You're taking a chance, no question about it.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


----------



## showrguy (Mar 11, 2010)

last year a buddy of mine rescued/raised a baby coon that got seperated from mom somehow..
his kids loved it, and all their friends, and their friends parents would come to the house to pet/play with it..
after about a month or so it acted like it's leg was hurt so my friend took the little guy to the vet....... 
turned out the little fella had rabies, and was put down to confirm, confirmed..
this is where it gets better...
turns out anyone who was in contact, or who's kids were in contact with the little raccoon HAD to go for a series of rabies shots, lots of expensive shots..
he coulda been, shoulda been, responsible for the cost for 14 different people's expenses...
most all of the people involved were covered (filed claim) under their own homeowners insurance...... except 3............he got sued by his sister in law, and his homeowners covered it, luckily !!!
my buddy is a taxidermist too, so he knows what a healthy animal looks like, well, he thought he did...
i know it's a ####ty story, but i thought i had to pass it on just as a warning about what "could" happen....
good luck with them cute little buggers...


----------

