Garage Invaded By *Raccoons* -- Results in a "Licking" For Me: Advice, Suggestions, Thoughts?

So last night was a pleasant evening and so I decided to spend some time in a cozy chair in the garage reading. I was only wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and slides, and it was a bit chilly, so I had the garage door only about half open.

Apparently, I dozed off and was awakened by a raccoon licking my toe. I screamed bloody murder (at the very freaky feeling and surprise of it) and it and its' 2 buddies looked at me and fled out of the garage and into the darkness of the night.

Well, I felt fine--other than probably rise in blood pressure for a few minutes--and jetted into the house to pour alcohol on my foot and later take a bath. I still feel fine, and everyone I have talked to so far has said, "No cuts, scratches, bites, open wounds, no worries, and "They couldn't have been rabid or they would have been in more attack-mode." I still feel fine. But I just really don't know if I should be concerned or not.

I'm interested in what you have to say about:

similar experiences
signs/symptoms I should look out for in the next few days/weeks

Look forward to your feedback

reply to post by BurningSpearess


If your hair starts falling out, that's probably due to stress caused by over concern and worry about something that there is nothing to be concerned or worried about.
You'll be fine.

Racoons are bloody annoying. Scavengers and damn smart. If they can't open a receptacle they'll push it down the stairs. Poof open. They also know who's at the top of the food chain though. It's been my experience that a 5 iron is the best way to go. You might think a driver but they are too long and cumbersome. 5 iron hasn't failed me yet. Thwack!

HA! That is funny!

The only thing I would worry about is them coming back to not be so nice as licking of toes but clawing my eyes out. They are cute....but man are they MEAN!

Be alert.

awesome story, those raccoons are pretty brave, haha. I wouldnt worry to much, but if you do go to a hospital I am almost sure they will give you a few shots, for rabies and to boost your immune system.

Once my girlfriend and I were walking down the road and there was a cat that was hit by a car and his back legs were both broken, the cat was collared as well. My girlfriend ran straight for it when she saw it and the cat jumped up and bit right into her thumb and got away with its front legs. Long story short, even though we were almost certain it was just a scared domesticated cat, they made her take shots.

Being british you'll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on these critters....But if i woke up to a cute thing like that licking my toes i'd let it and its mates move in!
I bet it noticed some dirt on your foot so decided to clean it for you..........I would have loved to watch both your expressions

reply to post by BurningSpearess


They sensed your peaceful loving nature and were gifting you with a kiss much the same as a disciple would kiss the feet of the Master. This was in the Native American/eastern philosophies a gesture of respect and admiration.

Sometimes when we sleep, we dissolve all of the mindrubbish that we carry with us in a waking state, when your defenses are down and you are vulnerable as well as in a female, calm receptive/yin space, God can come to you in many forms, even animals.

This is a blessing to let you know that you are loved and needed by existence as a whole.

Tanukis are Shape-Shifter!

Next time try to put a Leave or a Towel on the Head to see the true Identity!

Mythical & Magical Tanuki Tanuki appear often in Japanese folklore as shape-shifters with supernatural powers and mischievous tendencies. In their earliest malevolent manifestations (transmitted from China to Japan around the 7th century), they assumed human form, haunted and possessed people, and were considered omens of misfortune. Many centuries later in Japan, they evolved into irrepressible tricksters, aiming their illusory magic and mystifying belly-drum music at unwary travelers, hunters, woodsmen, and monks.

Source:

Take care the next time and do everything a little bit slower

Why are you worried? A cute raccoon licked your foot, and didn't bite you.

I wouldn't have even bothered with the alcohol or even washed my foot. A raccoon's mouth is no dirtier than the stuff we walk on with our bare feet.

You were kissed by a wild animal.
So cool

It would still be better to go to seek medical intervention.

The course of a rabies infection as far as symptoms and progression is well known for dogs and cats, but for other animals it has not been as well studied. The racoon may still be infected without showing any symptoms yet. Although one suspicious thing is the lack of fear of you.

Still, you had contact with saliva.

If I saw you in a hospital, I'd advise for prophylactic rabies shots and maybe immune globulin just in case, depending on what the latest recommendations are.

reply to post by Human0815


A tanuki is more closely related to dogs than racoons. It's just the ringed tail and masked face that makes us think of racoons when we see them.

That is the funniest thing i've heard today!

Obviously, as someone above pointed out, us in the UK have no knowledge of raccoons, except for that cartoon that used to be on years ago, The Raccoons i think it was. Worst thing we have is if a moth flies at your head when you're next to a light

I hope you get over your experience and make a full recovery...

Are the raccoons ok? I would be much more worried about them getting sick from your toes than you getting sick from them. Nothing personal obviously, just that it seems licking a human's toes wouldn't be the most sanitary thing for a wild creature to be doing. Plus, if this was later in the day and not mid-afternoon, then that's normal operating time for a raccoon, so probably not much chance of rabies.

I'm pretty torn when it comes to animals like this. I know we shouldn't feed them or let them eat our garbage, as it certainly can't be good for their diet, but we as a species keep pushing further and further onto their livable territories that they eventually will have no choice but to rely on humans for food. Much like dogs and cats do today. If humans are going to take charge of the planet and form it to our own needs, then we need to find ways to better accommodate the animals. Perhaps recycling our food waste instead of throwing it away, maybe we can find a way to keep the scavenger animals happy AND keep them out of our homes. I dunno, just throwing it out there, enough with the off-topic ramble, sorry OP!

But yeah, like others said, nothing to worry about. They will be back though, you can guarantee that.

Originally posted by davidchin
reply to post by Human0815

 

A tanuki is more closely related to dogs than racoons. It's just the ringed tail and masked face that makes us think of racoons when we see them.

Ahhhhh, i see!

The Tanuki is also a real animal. It is often confused with the badger (ana-guma) and the racoon (arai-guma). It is neither -- it is an atypical species of dog that can grow up to 60 cm. in length, with distinctive stripes of black fur under its eyes

Sorry

reply to post by BurningSpearess

You must have some tasty "toe jam" drippin' from your tootsies.

I had a raccoon as a "pet" when I was a kid. Ornery little creatures... kinda' cute. He slept in my bed with me.

Don't think I would want a "pet" raccoon again... but it was fun back "then".

i live on the edge of a wooded park in my city.

My wife and I have, what appears to be, a mother raccoon and baby living on my 4th floor balcony. we noticed them maybe a month ago as they started sleeping curled up beside my BBQ through the day, scaring the crap out of our cats, and digging at my tomatoes.

As the weeks went on we've now noticed they actually got the BBQ cover unzipped and are getting inside where it's dry and warm to sleep. usually around 6 pm they get up and start lazing around the balcony before climbing down and doing god knows what.

They are ridiculously cute, the baby is so cute it makes me sick.

Other tenants have reported them trying to open the sliding balcony doors to get into apartments.

I hesitate to call animal control for various reasons, mostly that i'm pretty sure they'd put the animals down instead of releasing them somewhere safe. So basically i haven't been able to enjoy my balcony, or BBQ for weeks now for fear of bending over to unzip the cover and getting mauled.

Originally posted by intrepid
Racoons are bloody annoying. Scavengers and damn smart. If they can't open a receptacle they'll push it down the stairs. Poof open. They also know who's at the top of the food chain though. It's been my experience that a 5 iron is the best way to go. You might think a driver but they are too long and cumbersome. 5 iron hasn't failed me yet. Thwack!

Umm......whacking animals with golf clubs.........perhaps you should see someone about that.....thats kind of disturbing......

To the OP , its just a raccoon, I use to have one as a pet when I was younger........lol he didnt bite you I wouldnt be worried at all......

Originally posted by ManBehindTheMask
Umm......whacking animals with golf clubs.........perhaps you should see someone about that.....thats kind of disturbing......

Why? Are you going to come over and clean my yard if I leave them alone?

I've had my share of problems with racoons as well. I live in my house and rent the upper portion to college students. One day they told me that they noticed that there was animal feces right on the door step that they step down from their apartment to the balcony in the rear. I thought it was pretty weird why an animal would go up to the second story of my house just to crap right against the door.I cleaned it up, thinking it was a one time thing, but the next day, there was even more crap up there than before. I start getting an uneasy feeling, thinking that this has got to be a prank. I had to talk myself down from confronting my tenants about it, thinking that they could possibly be up to it.

But instead I bought an animal trap and sat it up there with a can of vienna sausages inside it. When I went back to check it, there was even more crap on the deck and the vienna sausages where gone. What ever it was stuck it's paw through the cage and pulled the can to the edge and scooped it out. So I put out another can, but this time I drilled two holes in the can and threaded a string through it and tied it down in the center of the trap. It had sat out there for a couple days with no activity, until one night I was smoking a cigarette on the deck and all the sudden, a liquid comes pouring down between the cracks in the wood. I yell, "hey, watch it!" as I'm thinking one of the tenants are emptying something onto the deck. Then I realize that spill was right under where the trap was, and behold, there was a raccoon inside. It wasn't happy to see me and I wasn't too happy about nearly becoming it's toilet, so I got my hose and sprayed it off really good. I took it to the park to let it go, and then went home to take a very long bath.

The problem wasn't close to being over, as there was an entire family of raccoons to catch now, since they were all using my porch as their port-a-potty. Six months and six raccoons later, they were all removed. I'm still disgusted to think that that had been happening on my house, right under where I stand a lot, although I never got directly hit by their excrement, I'm sure it contacted me in some indirect ways, like from rain water.

It would be such a big deal if raccoon didn't communicate diseases to humans, but they do. I would suggest to the OP that s/he gets a trap to introduce them to a new environment before health issue arrise.

I think that's how they test edible or non edible food and it recognized you were not food. From its saliva you may have got a bacteria upgrade from your body encountering their saliva but I don't think your going to be ill you may miss a cold or too though. But no open wounds or scratches so a bacteria or virus in their saliva didn't get direct inject to infect as much as it being on top of skin may have cause you a upgrade from you body fighting off the lil encounter of body fluid...