My little dog was barking fiercely in the woods. I own 39 acres of N. Carolina mountain wilderness.
I went down to see, he had cornered a little raccoon, this was like a teen age coon maybe 8 pounds. The poor animal was sick as hell and was just sitting on his ass leaning against a bush. I'm sure my little dog had attacked and bitten the coon.
I grabbed up my doggie and took him into the house gave him a quick bath, a shower in the kitchen sink to wash off any coon rabies saliva.
Told the girlfriend to haul ass to the vet, even though the dog of course had had rabies shot already.
I got two big plastic garbage bags, and the Smith and Wesson, and went down and shot the poor raccoon, put him in a garbage bag, put that in a garbage bag, and took them down to the dumpster I didn't want to risk my little dog getting into that dead diseased animal.
Vet gave the dog a rabies update shot. Dog was fine, he figured he had shown the coon who the boss was.
On another occasion I was down in Atlanta in a rich neighborhood where the rich white folks live, Buckhead. It was a sunny Saturday morning about 10 am, suburban neighborhood. I saw a big raccoon in a yard, he was sprawling around, obviously sick as hell.
A 17 year old kid was standing there with a yard rake in his hand. I got out, and the kid's dad came out of the house he said he had just called 911 they were sending someone out.
Now, I was tempted to use the .38 on that coon but it is illegal to discharge a firearm there. About the time I shoot the coon, the cop car drives up, I am going to be in handcuffs for a visit to the Fulton County Jail.
No thanks. Looked like the kid with the rake, and dad, had the situation under control. Anyway, I would rather that kid get bitten, and go for a series of rabies shots, than for me to face felony firearms charges in Fulton County Georgia. No thanks.
I often think I was born 200 years too late, or, at least 60 years too late because I guarantee you if you showed up in that yard in 1958 and shot the coon, if the cop saw it he would thank me for saving him a bullet and that would be that.
