Raccoons attack Georgia baby in her crib

A 9-month-old baby is in critical condition at an Atlanta hospital after she was attacked by two raccoons while sleeping in her crib in the same room as her mother.
Authorities say they are investigating how the raccoons got inside the home and whether the family was keeping the animals as pets.

more at link
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_RACCOONS_ATTACK_BABY?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Very sad. I trapped 10 raccoons out of our yard last summer, 1 a week. They can be very agressive. All it would take, is dog food and a pet door, and tolerant residents. I hope they didn't invite them in. That's child neglect, IMO. I hope the baby recovers.

I live in Ga, very very close Newton Co. where this happened...
I was burning up the min. the 5 o clock news came on and I heard that "supposedly" the raccoons squeezed into a space beside an air conditioner...immediately my hinky meter went up...
I do believe these people were keeping the racoons as pets...as this poor baby paid for it...the local news said it bit the baby on her face and ears...so sad...
The news link also said the baby's mom heard the baby "whimpering...."
BS! I bet that baby was screaming bloody murder.
SO very angry about this!

Let's also hope that the raccoons weren't rabid.

Prayers for the little girl.raying:

White Rain said:

I live in Ga, very very close Newton Co. where this happened...
I was burning up the min. the 5 o clock news came on and I heard that "supposedly" the raccoons squeezed into a space beside an air conditioner...immediately my hinky meter went up...
I do believe these people were keeping the racoons as pets...as this poor baby paid for it...the local news said it bit the baby on her face and ears...so sad...
The news link also said the baby's mom heard the baby "whimpering...."
BS! I bet that baby was screaming bloody murder.
SO very angry about this!

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I agree with you raccoons usually don't stick around unless they are fed. I've lived in GA for almost 3 years and we are surrounded by woods and I don't think I have even seen a raccoon. I've seen deer and rabbits but nobody feeds them so they don't hang around. I watch this show called fatal attraction and I can't believe some of the animals people feed. This one guy has a bison for a pet. Most of the time the people get eaten, by their pets. I hope these raccoons didn't have rabies because I heard those shots are awful. I pray for this baby.

I can't speak for Georgia, but out here in the southwestern desert, my vet warned me that raccoons have been known to slice through window screens and go after house pets. I encounter raccoons rather frequently in my backyard and while none has been aggressive toward me, they haven't exactly acted frightened either.

Given that they are omnivores (like us), going after a baby doesn't seem impossible to me. (And as others implied, they might be particularly bold if people--any people, not just the parents of the victim--have been feeding them.)

My heart goes out to this poor baby girl. I am praying for her full recovery.

We have problems with raccoons every single night.
There is a pack of 4 or 5 that come on our front porch to steal cat food. Even when we bring the cat food inside for the night, they still come and try to scavenge what they can. I wouldn't call them aggressive, but they're not really scared either.

Years ago, while I was picking up horse feed from a local guy. I saw a baby raccoon in a cage. The guy was using it to train his dogs, and I couldn't bare to see that frightened, sweet, little bandit face. I went back that night and took him out of the cage and brought him home. Okay, so I stole him. He was nice as could be. I never even gave it a thought that he could have bitten me!


Well, I told my dad what I did and he scared me half to death. I had fully intended to keep him as a pet, named him and everything! My dad convinced me to send him off to a wild life sanctuary.

I shiver, just thinking that this story could very well been about my child! Sometimes, when it comes to abused animals, I have more heart than brains!

Rabies shots aren't bad any more just expensive ($3000) went though them this summer with my son. The shot are done in the arm like a normal shot didn't even hurt him. At summer camp this summer bats were living in the cabin he slept in so the camp recommend the shots. and raccon can get into place you would not even think they would fit.

After almost 57 years of living in Georgia I have yet to encounter a live raccoon. Deer, rabbits, opossums and even snakes but raccoons I've only seen as road kill, and I live in a heavily wooded area near a lake. Not sure that I am buying that two raccoons would supposedly get into a house through a very small opening and attack a baby. Seems to me that if they got in they would go for the kitchen where food and garbage cans were. Really makes me think that they were keeping them as pets.

Recently, we had to have over $9,000 in damage to our home repaired because of raccoons. They dug through the chimney surround and got into our attic. 1) We had the raccoons trapped by a service licensed to do so, and moved to a secluded nature area. 2) The service had to suck all of our old insulation out with a big tube, because there were feces, and there was rain getting in through a hole in the chimney surround. 3) The service had to replace the old insulation with new insulation. 4) The chimney surround had to be repaired and painted.

I do know about a year prior that people renting a house down the street had raccoons get into their house. They repaired the damage. Apparently, they didn't have the raccoons evacuated.

Just heard on the news that one of the raccoons was tested an no rabies. The baby is still in critical condition.

The other raccoon tested negative for rabies, WSB Radio said.

http://www.ajc.com/news/raccoon-attack-being-investigated-716139.html

Linda7NJ said:

Years ago, while I was picking up horse feed from a local guy. I saw a baby raccoon in a cage. The guy was using it to train his dogs, and I couldn't bare to see that frightened, sweet, little bandit face. I went back that night and took him out of the cage and brought him home. Okay, so I stole him. He was nice as could be. I never even gave it a thought that he could have bitten me!


Well, I told my dad what I did and he scared me half to death. I had fully intended to keep him as a pet, named him and everything! My dad convinced me to send him off to a wild life sanctuary.

I shiver, just thinking that this story could very well been about my child! Sometimes, when it comes to abused animals, I have more heart than brains!

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I'm glad you learned your lesson without paying a high price.

But I hope you'll forgive me if I find your story rather sweet.

The raccoons I see out here in the desert aren't small and they aren't cute. The young ones (adolescents, I assume) are the size of pit bulls; the adults look more like St. Bernards. (No doubt these sizes are exaggerated in my mind; I am very much a city boy and not fond of encounters with wildlife.)

Oh racoons can be nasty buggers. While living in the mountains they would sit on the fence and stare at my 2 cats. They also scuttlebugged around all night looking for food. They are not afraid, and heaven forbid you leave a door open.

This poor baby! I'm praying bio-mom didn't have them as pets. Some can be cute, sure -- but have you ever looked closely at the size of the claws!

Mel

Nova said:

I'm glad you learned your lesson without paying a high price.

But I hope you'll forgive me if I find your story rather sweet.

The raccoons I see out here in the desert aren't small and they aren't cute. The young ones (adolescents, I assume) are the size of pit bulls; the adults look more like St. Bernards. (No doubt these sizes are exaggerated in my mind; I am very much a city boy and not fond of encounters with wildlife.)

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Me too Nova!

I didn't know you were a DUDE!

mgardner said:

Oh racoons can be nasty buggers. While living in the mountains they would sit on the fence and stare at my 2 cats. They also scuttlebugged around all night looking for food. They are not afraid, and heaven forbid you leave a door open.

This poor baby! I'm praying bio-mom didn't have them as pets. Some can be cute, sure -- but have you ever looked closely at the size of the claws!

Mel

Click to expand...

They look like furry hands to me! But the one I was handling was very young, he was about the size of a 10 week old kitten.

The news this morning said that the parents WERE keeping the raccoons as pets. One was found and tested negative for rabies. They brought in infrared scanners and a "professional coon hunter" but cannot find the 2nd raccoon so the poor baby will have to have the rabies treatment anyway.

She's in critical condition. I cannot even begin to type what I think of these stupid parents without being banned.

Unbelievable!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

sweetheart29 said:

Rabies shots aren't bad any more just expensive ($3000) went though them this summer with my son. The shot are done in the arm like a normal shot didn't even hurt him. At summer camp this summer bats were living in the cabin he slept in so the camp recommend the shots. and raccon can get into place you would not even think they would fit.

Click to expand...

I was bitten by a dog on Halloween and there is a chance I may have to do rabies shots. Animal control is currently trying to find the dog. In any case, what you said is exactly what she told me: the shots aren't as painful anymore and they are in the arm. She said they were expensive, but she didn't say how much. $3000????? Holy cow!!

I so hope the baby will be all right. The following in no way lessens the coon attack on the baby, or negates the parental responsibility (especially if they were keeping the coons as pets).

About 5 years ago, I had an amazing and scary encounter with a 'coon. I walked in my back door, bringing in a load of groceries. My cats usually meet me at the door, but not this time...they were lurking in the hallway, fur puffy and upset. I didn't think too much of it, but as I was moving the groceries in, a 'coon just walked into my back door and to the kitchen, and went straight to the food bowls. He was fairly large, but I don't have even a working knowledge of coons to know if he was big or normal sized (I don't even know if he's a 'he'...)

I screamed, grabbed a broom, and tried to 'sweep' the coon out. He didn't budge. I was hollering 'get out!' At the time, I had a protective neighbor...he heard this, came charging in my back door, and started hollering himself (by this time, the cats were nowhere to be found...). His girlfriend heard us yelling, and called the cops. My neighbor got scared, and hopped up onto the oven (thank God it was off...) and kept hollering. I kept swinging the broom and hollering. The coon kept eating the cat food.

The cops decided they needed to storm my house...four cops came in the open back door, saw my neighbor on the stove, and drew down on him. I dropped the broom, and hollered "NOT HIM! The (blankity blank blank) coon!!" Once the cops saw the coon, they left the house in a hurry...along with my neighbor. I refused to leave, because of my cats.

They called animal control on an emergency, and the fire department showed up. I put on a big pot of coffee...and shut the bedroom door (where all the cats were hanging out by now...).

Long story short, animal control got the coon, everyone had a cuppa coffee, and it's been the joke of the neighborhood ever since.

Some coons are just pretty darned unconcerned and aggressive - they want food, and boy, they'll get food. I was waiting for him to go open the fridge, you know? Even with cops, crazy ladies swinging brooms, and men hopping onto ovens. Darned thing just kept looking for food.

Then there's the story of the possum who wouldn't play possum...but that's for another day. And I live in a huge city...population in the millions.

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