On Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:56:52 -0700, "Phyrie"
wrote:


"Sharon Too" wrote in message
...
Ack! I live in the Pacific Northwest. Coastal BC Canada, to be more
precise, and we have one helluva lot of 'coons here. We have them come
right to the porch and poke their noses in the door, looking for goodies.

Raccoons are bad news for baylisascaris parasites. They bathroom on
horizontal surfaces and use a common spot for a while. There was a case at
a day care center in California where they were going on the roof. A
sudden downpour caused the feces to go to the play surface below where the
eggs developed and hatched in the soil. A toddler was infected and died.
They had to remove a foot of surface and pave. Another case where a
toddler had a habit of licking firweood brought into the house. Guess
where the racoons were pooing. That toddler is now brain damaged and will
never function past infant stage. Nothing like seeing pics of autopsy labs
and films to understand the gravity. It scares me mostly when there are
small children in the home. Cover sand boxes, wash hands. Don't let them
put things in their mouths outside. Strategically deworm household pets
who go outside.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol8no4/01-0273.htm


Good lord! We had a raccoon coming up on the porch all winter to steal the
cat's food. My husband found what he thought was cat urine on the top of
the freezer (where we feed the cat). I can see now it was most likely the
raccoon!? We now feed the cat in the house, but still.... *shudder*

Raccoons can be nasty buggers. A greyhound we placed was attacked by
a raccoon a couple of months ago so viciously that she had to be
euthanized.