Pack of raccoons mauls 74-year-old woman

[jus_the_facts]

Source: AP


updated 1 hour, 7 minutes ago

LAKELAND, Florida - Animal control officers hope to trap a pack of raccoons that mauled a 74-year-old woman who tried to chase them from her yard.

The sheriff in Polk County, east of Tampa, said Gretchen Whitted fell when five raccoons surrounded and attacked her Sunday. She was taken to a hospital with extensive cuts from her neck to her legs.

"We're not talking about a lot of little bites here," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She was filleted."


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33175101/ns/us_news-life/

[Taverner]

1. JesusFUCK! How hellish!

That's straight out of a horror movie!

[jus_the_facts]

4. Yep...I've been feeding the 'coons here with chicken bones and cheap cat food....

....they are a TRIP to watch...their teeth must be sharp 'cuz they destroy the bones in short order! :D

[Taverner]

8. Raccoons are highly evolved scavengers

I don't mess with them as a rule!

[jus_the_facts]

11. I watch them through the window.....

....I don't dare go outside. :)

[CountAllVotes]

16. raccoons are a menace!

There were packs of them where I used to live. They even came inside of the apt. I was renting at night!

They also managed to attack one of my cats that just about died from the injuries.

It was later that I came to own a cat that was part Maine Coon and he didn't like much of anything, and that especially included raccoons. He got rid of them all luckily!

Raccoons carry rabies btw. They are not "cute" by a long shot. The leader of the pack stands on its hind legs and bares its very long fangs. Dangerous as hell they are.

I was told they'd give me cages to trap them. Luckily, it never came to this being the Maine Coon had gotten rid of them. *whew*

NOTE: Do not, and I repeat DO NOT feed raccoons! They will come back for more!

:dem: :kick:

[Taverner]

20. Besides, Raccoons are the last wild animal that needs to be fed

Chances are they eat better than any other woodland creature

[Ineeda]

21. people should never feed raccoons or any other wild animal...

except birds. They develop life-threatening dependence on humans and can become aggressive.

[ixion]

2. wow... I've got property up in that area

I've been watching out for wild boar, but hadn't really worried about packs of raccoons. :wow:

[WriteDown]

3. I once had a dog that had his jugular cut by a raccoon..

Don't worry, he's fine, but they are dangerous creatures. My current dogs have zero problems taking care of raccoons in the yard though.

[vadawg]

5. all a racoon hears from me is "click clack" then boom

i gotta zero tolerance for them...

[WriteDown]

9. A good policy....

I would have never thought so until after that trip the animal hospital in the middle of the night.

[kenfrequed]

6. A pack?

How odd I didn't know they functioned that way.

Honestly nothing a big dog couldn't manage.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. I wouldn't want my dog to tangle with those mean bastards.

She might win but she would get cut to hell in the process.

[kenfrequed]

26. Hmm yeah

Of course most critters leave for easier pickings once a big dog is involved.

[elocs]

7. Familiarity breeds contempt and animals find courage in numbers.

She might well have been able to chase off 1, but 5 seems to have been a different story. Maybe it was a pack mentality like that which can happen with dogs where little Fido by himself may be ok, but let him get loose with a bunch of other dogs and it is a different story. I used to work at a zoo where one of its neighbors used to let their cute little dog out of the house and run loose. He ran to the zoo and got under the fence into the deer pen and ran one of the fawns to death. Its owner would never believe their nice little doggie was capable of that.

[Soylent Brice]

10. NATURE REVOLTS!!! mother nature puts out statement:

"yeah, i've had enough of their (humans) bullshit.

i've sent a legion of bears and raccoons into the frontlines of the revolution."

what the fuck is going on today?

[jus_the_facts]

12. Maybe it's the full moon....

....el luna loco?!

[Auggie]

13. My thought too.

[Gman2]

14. Had a rat eyeballin me the other day. No fear. I sprayed him with the hose,

he didnt blink. Was kinda scared he was gonna attack. I was ready to brain him with hose end. Bare feet.

[Soylent Brice]

15. i had to fight 6 squirrels over some walnuts yesterday on my deck.

fuckers are brave.

"brain him"

lmao

[Doremus]

17. Mother protecting her young.

[spinbaby]

18. Florida, that figures

I estimate that about three quarters of all weird stuff happens in Florida.

[IndianaGreen]

23. They are in the Midwest as well

[IndianaGreen]

22. cat food as bait will only catch stray cats.

I found that raccoons love marshmallows.

Raccoons will find a way into a house's attic. They kill birds and small mammals. Their feces carry parasites that can be transmitted to humans. They may look cute and cuddly, but they are neither. They have become a suburban pest, like Canada geese.

There are several raccoon trappers listed on the internet. They provide interesting and informative background on raccoons.

[Critters2]

25. I had to stop leaving cat food out at night for the local ferals.

I had raccoons on my back porch every evening, just gobbling up the cat food. Once I started bring it in late in the afternoon, and putting it out again early each morning, the raccoons went away. Trust me. Raccoons love cat food.

[Joanne98]

24. A raccoon comes in my doggie door everynight.

To eat my cat's food. But he's by himself. Whew!

[olddad56]

27. once when I was a kid, at the state fair, I was mauled by a pack of wild corndogs.

Very frightening indeed. To this day, I run if I see any food on a stick.