Dogs vs. Raccoon

posted 10:03 PM 12/03
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Last Tuesday morning started off like most mornings.

I hear my 2 Boston Terriers go out for their 3 a.m. potty break. Beings I am too lazy to take them out, I merely leave the doggy door open and they come and go at will. Not more than a few seconds later, I hear some serious barking and hissing.

Both boys are under the deck and it’s gotta be a raccoon they are barking at.

You dog owners know the difference between barking and then mad-as-hell barking. It was getting serious. I couldn’t see anything under the deck, and of course, they wouldn’t respond to my yelling.

After 45 minutes I couldn’t take it anymore and I did the low-crawl under the deck and I saw two sets of eyes staring at me and I decided to grab the hind quarters of Tucker (my little one) and drag him out.

I then went back under for Coby (the big boy). In the midst, I got bit once and scratched up by the raccoons, but it paled in comparison to the injuries of my boys. After a visit to the doggy E.R., Coby had approximately 40 puncture wounds and multiple bruises and scratches and vertebrae in his neck that were damaged. Tucker tip-toed away with 20 wounds and paw pads that were a bloody mess. More than a week later, Coby is still recovering, but Tucker is back to his normal self.

Raccoons are wild vicious animals and there are people out there that have even worse stories than mine. Raccoons can look cute, and I found out that people feed them which help to keep their population fat and plenty.

They are dangerous and the vet had too many stories to list about animals being injured or killed by raccoons. The law protects raccoons from being trapped and relocated unless done by a “professional.”

The boys go out on leashes at night in our securely fenced backyard which defeats the whole purpose of a securely fenced backyard. They don’t like going outside alone anymore.

I don’t know if dogs get PTSD but they definitely are suffering from combat stress. Normally I love telling people all about the adventures of Coby and Tucker, but this story hurts my heart to tell, but I think it needs to be told.

Next time, the raccoons won’t be so lucky.

Comments

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