Dealing with wild animals in distress

[Mabouya]

What do you do about them? (see bottom for another question)

This summer will be 14 years that I’ve been living out in the woods and every now and then I come across pretty tough situations that have no good solution. This afternoon after I opened the garage door to go do some yard work I noticed a raccoon by the side of the house. It looked at me but didn’t run away, and it was soon obvious why – for some reason (that I never figured out) its rear legs were paralyzed and it could only move using it’s front legs and laboriously dragged the rest of it’s body along. When it was stationary it would look at me and if you didn’t know it, you’d think it was fine. There was no evidence if it being hit by a car, and since my house is about 200 ft from the road, at the end of a dead-end street, I don’t know how likely that was to have been the cause.

I thought about my options, and there didn’t seem to be any good ones. Had it been a bird in trouble, there’s a wild bird sanctuary that probably would have been able to help, but there’s no such thing for critters like raccoons. If I had really wanted to, I probably could have trapped it and taken it to a vet emergency clinic (assuming they would be willing to help with a wild animal), but I didn’t think it had good odds, and there was always the risk that I might be bitten, which by itself is no big deal, but you never know what they have. I really am an animal lover (for example, I use live traps to catch mice and take the down the street a few hundred yards and release them there) and had I thought there a semi-decent probability it would make it (say, if it had three good legs) I would have let it go, but I really felt sorry for it, and didn’t want it to starve to death or die from something other bad. The only solution I could come up with was to put the poor thing out of it misery, so I took my big gravel tamper with an 8” x 8” cast iron base, maneuvered him out into the open (he wanted to stay right by the side of the house) and used the edge of the base to bash his head. It took a few shots, but was over fairly quickly.

I have zero interest in guns and don’t own a firearm, but because this isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with something like this, I’m thinking of getting something to make this sort of job easier.

(FYI, The worst situation was a few years ago, when while driving home at about 1 AM about half a mile from my house I came across a deer lying in the middle of the road, alive but unable to get up or move. A driver coming in the other direction stopped and told me that quite a bit earlier, as he had had been going in my direction, the deer had also been there, so it had been lying in the road for at least an hour. Unable to think of a better solution (I didn’t think the cops would bother to come out at that time of day for an injured deer) I drove home to get a big sledgehammer I have and used that to take care of it. That was hard, and messy. After that happened I seriously considered getting a firearm, but decided to wait and see how often I felt I needed one. Well, it’s happened again.

So here’s my main question: am I overlooking any better solutions, or is something like a Ruger 10-22 shotgun the best solution?

What would you do?

Thanks

[rwsaunders]

A gun will be more humane and less eventful than a bludgeoning...for you and the animal. A shotgun is a little messy at close range, though. I'd suggest a simple revolver with some punch....357 magnum for example. I'm sure that your local sportsman shop has some ideas.

[Mabouya]

Correction

Apparently my memory is going - the Ruger 10/22 is (duh!) a 0.22 caliber rifle.

I started to research this stuff about three years ago (after the deer incident) and concluded that that might be the best option. Safer than a hand gun, and probably easily found used, given how popular they are.

[j44ke]

Any raccoon that isn't acting correctly, you basically have to assume it is rabid. In this case, a raccoon dragging its hind legs with no obvious signs of trauma is very likely in the later stages of rabies, which is often accompanied by paralysis of the rear legs. You really don't want to risk coming in contact with the raccoon without proper protection, and if you have a dog, you don't want your dog to ingest fecal matter, come in contact with saliva or any other bodily fluids or body parts. I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but go ahead and sterilize with bleach anything the raccoon came in contact with, including the tamper. Also if you've buried the carcass, call animal control and let them know what happened and see what they want to do with the carcass. They will probably want to come and retrieve it, as tracking rabies in raccoons is a public health issue.

Raccoons, foxes, bats, skunks, dogs and cats are the animals most likely to get rabies. Any of these animals seen acting erratically, semi-paralyzed or bizarrely aggressive (like chasing people and other animals) should be avoided and local health or animal control should be notified of a possible rabid animal.

As far as a deer, in some areas you wil get in serious trouble using a firearm. And because jack-lighting (where you dazzle an animal in car headlights in order to shoot it) deer is illegal just about anywhere, you may be double in trouble. Best to call animal control or the police. Around here, a call to police about a mortally injured deer gets a quick response from the police.

[Mabouya]

It hadn't occurred to me that rabies could cause paralysis, but some quick web research confirms that that is indeed one of the symptoms of late-stage rabies in raccoons.

I suppose bashing it's brain with the tamper may not have been such a good idea after all, given that brain matter and saliva are two parts of the body that contain the rabies virus. I did clean off the tamper using Pine Sol, paper towels (and my bare hands ) and some additional research showed that in the environment the rabies virus is quite fragile, and anything that's dried up for a few hours is pretty safe. Looking at my hands, I don't have any obvious cuts or anything like that, and a few hours after the incident (when I came back inside after doing my yard work) I did wash them with soap and water.

I just tossed the body out in the woods, which in retrospect was probably not a good idea. Tomorrow morning I'll call the Animal Control folks to see if they want to take a look at it.

Finally, it's a good thing that both of my cats are up-to-date on their vaccines. They're probably at lower risk of catching it than I am...

[monadnocky]

I'll second what Jorn said. My first thought was that this raccoon was rabid, in the last stages. Having seen it myself (I used to do wildlife rehabilitation stuff), I'd even bet on it.

I would strongly recommend that you get the body (head, specifically) tested for rabies, and I don't think I'm being too hysterical to recommend that you look into rabies prophylaxis yourself (it's not 22 painful shots to the stomach, by the way, just a few normal shots to the arm like anything else) as you may have come into contact with contaminated tissue without knowing it (i.e., aerosol to your eyes). As you know, rabies, with very, very few exceptions, is 100% fatal without timely treatment.

It's a long shot, but people have been infected in weird ways before. At least run it by your doc, eh?

[Too Tall]

Actually been there done that unfortunately. A sharp hunting knife will dispatch critters quickly. Knife between the ribs will do it if they are not struggling and nobody to help. Agree with others you took a big risk.

[Peter Polack]

Most local police departments have Animal Control Officers. They handle this sort of thing. Since you're not in need of one at the moment, now would be a good time to contact your local PD and speak to their ACO and learn about what services they provide.

[cny rider]

Really important advice above re: rabies.

[Tom]

Get the shots. It's not worth risking the wait.

If I lived in the country I'd own a .22 rifle for such situations. Anything I can't take out with a well-placed .22 bullet I'm going back in the house, locking the doors and windows and calling the professionals.

[AngryScientist]

I'd invest in a single barrel shotgun personally, and keep a box of slugs in the house.

realistically speaking though, you'll probably rarely use it. in the odd case that you think a rabid animal needs to be dealt with to keep it from infecting you or your pets or family - go ahead and take it down.

other than that though, it's the woods - nature, circle of life typed stuff. let nature take it's course. if it's your pet, you do the humane thing and put the animal down, since it's part of the family. wild animals live in the wild and nature will take care of them.

for the hurt deer in the road - there's not much you're going to be able to do beyond calling animal control and reporting it. you're not shooting guns at animals as a pedestrian on public roads.

[David Tollefson]

Several years ago I bludgeoned an opossum that was trying to make its way into the crawl space under my house. Turns out it was a mom carrying babies. When I reported it to animal control, I was told I could have been fined $250... PER ANIMAL (as in $2000 for the mom and each of the 7 babies) for the killing. Just an FYI. Making a phone call is the better option.

[Too Tall]

Good advice. Mine perspective was from when I lived about 200 miles from animal control.

[j44ke]

Yeah hearing the contact you had, I'd get the shots. Any physician can get the vaccines. When I worked at the humane shelter/animal control, we got the shots and then boosters later on just because we came in contact with a lot of animals and their bodily fluids. I used to joke that I needed one of those aluminum tags that pets get on my key chain. It was a series of 4 or 5 shots in the arm (they alternate arms over several weeks) that feel like a tetanus shot in their after-effects.

I'd also ask animal control to retrieve the body so no neighboring dogs get into it, though I suspect something has probably hauled it off by now. Possible another raccoon. They are the ultimate opportunists, which is why they get on so well living in close proximity to humans.

[djg21]

Your best bet to to call the local or state police, or the local animal control officer. if the animal needs to be put down, let them be the ones to do it. You assume the raccoon was hit by a car. But the animal could have been suffering from rabies or some other neurological disease. Once of the symptoms of rabies is seeming paralysis of the hind quarters. Rabies Vector Species - How To Tell if a Raccoon is Rabid.

With large animals such as deer, you don't want to get anywhere close to them. A distressed dear can easily kill you or do severe damage by kicking. Call the local authorities, especially if you see an animal on the road that appears to have been hit by a car.

And get the shots ASAP!

[rwsaunders]

I'll add that my sister in law's cat recently exhibited some similar symptoms (hind legs paralyzed) and was finally diagnosed as having been bitten by a tick carrying Lyme Disease. All better after some heavy antibiotics but they were getting ready to put him down.

[Mabouya]

Some new info to add:

1) I called the MO State Dept of Conservation office in the St Louis area and they told me that canine distemper is currently going through the local racoon population and that they have been told that the symptoms of that disease are the same as those for rabies. Also, that that can't be passed on to humans or cats. They don't track that stuff closely enough to be interested in coming out to take the body for testing. The woman I spoke to said that it was more likely to have been distemper than rabies, but I might want to call my doctor to see what they thought.

I've checked online and one symptom mentioned for distemper (but not rabies) is diarrhea. This guy definitely did not have diarrhea, because about 2 feet from where I found him there was a large, almost human sized, definitely solid slug of poop, which I assume must have come from him. That would tend to suggest rabies.

2) I called about 5 different times, but was unable to get the rabies guy at the county Animal Control office.

3) I called my primary care physician's office and spoke to an assistant of his, giving her the details of the level of contact I had (no bite, perhaps blood, but no cuts on my hands) She said she would talk to the doctor and see what he thought. They ended up calling an infectious disease specialist in the same hospital and much to my surprise they did not go the conservative route. They decided that since there was no bite and no obvious means of transmission (i.e. no cuts on my hands, no known blood or brain bits flying into my eyes or mouth, etc.) they didn't think it was necessary to go the prophylactic shots route. So, no shots for me.

I'm still mulling over the firearm thing, and obviously there are some risks with that too, but right now I am leaning toward getting something. That will be easier and faster for both me and the critter. I'll talk to some of the gun nuts I work with and see what they think would be most appropriate.

Finally, from the web: "The virus then incubates for a period of time which reflects size of inoculum and distance to the central nervous system. The incubation period is usually between 3 and 12 weeks but can range from 4 days to 19 years. In 90% of cases incubation is less than 1 year."

So, 19 years from know we'll know if I'm out of danger...

[j44ke]

Distemper is pretty disgusting. I mean it is almost as if the disease is trying to tell other animals, don't eat this carcass - it is infected. Incredible smell. So sad for the dogs that get it too.

Your experience is pretty much what I've experienced when I've called in rabid raccoons in NYC (yes, there are rabid raccoons in NYC, not uncommonly in Central Park.) To be fair, there is little or no education on the disease among municipal public health workers any longer. Probably comes down to money. And PR. Nothing like a squad of rabid raccoons to scare people off.

My grandfather always said it takes practice to shoot a rifle, but any housewife (remember, my grandfather, born in 1907) can use a shotgun and hit the target.

[robin3mj]

We have an NJ state trooper in my family and he can tell some stories about animals. My favorite (or least favorite maybe) is the time they came upon a deer that'd been struck by a car and needed to be put down. Well apparently discharging ones weapon in the line of duty requires a ton of paperwork, so the pragmatic trooper just backs his own cruiser over the animal once or twice to get the job done.

As a civilian, you're probably better off calling animal control.

[Mabouya]

Well apparently discharging ones weapon in the line of duty requires a ton of paperwork, so the pragmatic trooper just backs his own cruiser over the animal once or twice to get the job done.

I've had to do this several times in my car for raccoons that have been hit by other cars. No fun (especially for the 'coon) but I figure it's better to put them out of their misery.

(out where I live it's just crawling with deer, raccoons, opossums and squirrels, and over the years I've hit more than one of each)