Waiting for a game warden

[Clipper]

I went out with the dog this morning and when went I let her into the back yard I found that there was a racoon acting strange and wandering aimlessly in a far corner of the yard. It was obviously very sick because it was nothing but skin and bones, it's fur was mangy looking and it was staggering when it moved about.

I grabbed to dog and put her back in the house, and immediately grabbed my pistol and administered a high speed lead injection to the poor critter. I called a game warden and they are coming to get the carcass to send for rabies testing. We see critters of all sorts around here quite often, but the last time I saw a racoon was when a sickly one approached my next door neighbor while she was standing on her back porch smoking a cigarette. They are not usually around in daylight hours. Her husband dispatched the coon with his shotgun and a warden came and got it. It didn't have rabies. It had distemper.

One would think that having a fenced yard and living in a semi-rural location that we could just let the dog out in the yard without worry. I shot a coyote across the road, a couple up the road had a coyote kill their toy poodle, and we have bald eagles nesting somewhere near. the neighbor saw one swoop down and grab a rabbit in the field behind his house. Our chihuahua would be but a snack for a coyote, and an easy target for an eagle. There are hazards to living in the country as well as the benefits. I love the wildlife, but unfortunately natures critters can also become a nuisance or danger. A lot different than living on Herkimer Rd in the city.


Warden just pulled in. BBL

[BHU]

You did the right thing by putting it out of it's misery. I've seen deer in our yard a few times going afrer deadfall pears, but it's been a couple years. A few years ago we had a chihuahua tha was a puppy not a year old. I put him out on our back deck one afternoon, leashed. A little while later I went out to check on him & out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a red tail hawk circling not 100 ft above the deck. I quickly grabbed the pup & put him inside. If I haden't gone outside when I did that puppy would have been that hawks next meal.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

I had two deer in my backyard just last week here at Country Club Courts. I am glad I face the wooded area.

[Clipper]

The warden took the coon carcass and said it is good that I shot it through the heart and lungs rather than in the head. I guess they have to send the head out for testing for rabies and if it is shot in the head it destroys the brain tissue and they can't get an accurate test for rabies. He says they actually have 5 gallon plastic pails with biohazard labels and lids that are specifically designated for sending specimens to the state lab in Nashville. I asked him if it was safe to let the dog out there and he said it was okay and unless the animal bites the dog or the dog is exposed to it's saliva the virus will not be spread.

We both wore latex gloves and I held a trash bag open while he picked it up and dropped it in the bag.