Disturbing Coon story

Rhett Steele

New member
I have a little mountain feist squirrel dog. Last week he was treed in the back yard behind the chicken coop. My 6 yr old was out and rather excited about the moment and was requesting the BB gun. I opted for the 17 hmr and let him pop his first coon.

Being his first, I was going to skin it and get him the pelt. I hung him by his hind feet and started the process. He was gut shot and as I peeled the hide past the entrance hole a mass of intestinal worms appeared out of the hole. I pulled one out with a splinter of wood and sure enough. I have a strong gut but when comes to that. No way
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My skinning stopped.
 
Originally Posted By: Flesh EaterWas it raccoon roundworm? That's nothing to mess with...
I'm a forester and can identify any tree by bud, seed, bark or leaf but not up to snuff on entomology and parasite id. They were about the diameter of small red worm for fishing, 2-3" long, pointed ends and transparent in color.
 
not uncommon at all for a coon to have those worms.

if the intestine had not of been opened up by the bullet you would have never known about the ugly suckers and would of skinned it with no problem.

but cant blame you, after seeing those worms i would of puked my guts out and then got rid of it fast. yuck.
 
Been coon hunting all my life and not saying I like the things {worms that is}, but if you guys cant stand round worms no better than this......all of ya best quit coonin' altogether!!!! Been at this over 40 years and have yet to see any raccoons in my area, Md. or Va. that were not infested with round worms, tape worms too for that matter. I have skinned them and seen them just under the hide of their feet!!! Same for fox and rabbits.
When I bait my coon feeders in the spring I add worm powder to the feed {piperazine}. I believe this helps the young ones thru their first winter. I know they just get re-infested, but more of them will make it to full size.
We use feeders to run coons and get young dogs started. This will sound funny, but every time I have kept a caged coon for a while I feed them a slimjim and they will unload a gut bag full of round worms. Unfortunately the cheap wormers wont do anything for hook and tape worms.
Hook worms can kill a coon, but round and tape worms just make life hard on them in the winter.
 
Man , that makes for a bad day and a bad memory . I got the most beautiful Coyote hide from skinning out and tanning a road kill . It does not have one tear or hole in it , there was nothing wrong with the carcass but a huge bruise at the right rear leg and body joint . The smell had me gagging and ready to toss it away . Not sure why , no gut leaks , I guess bust guts inside leaking through the flesh . It’s a beautiful wall hanger , but not a fond memory of getting it there .
 
We have coyote that visit hog confinement sites, those coyote smell rotten. Must roll/rub on the dead swine that are outside, the dead hogs are composited or rendered.
 
Don't hunt coons but a worm is a worm and wild critters are bound to have infestations. I wear heavy rubber gloves and an apron when I skin. I also skin in an area unlikely to be visited by domestic animals. I never feed raw meat to dogs or cats. Just common sense. If you have the stomach to blow a critter to pieces a few parasites should not bother you! LOL
 
The last yote I shot was full of heartworms. The shots impact blew a pretty good sized hole through the heart area. When I turned the body over and back a bunch of the heartworms came falling out.

Good stuff....
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