Strider pwned this raccoon *warning, kind of gory story*

[Romy]

It's still hard to get an idea of scale here. The arbor it's sitting on is 4 feet wide. Strider is 31 inches at the shoulder on all fours, and here he's rearing up trying to reach it.

I snapped a picture because at first it ran up there. I figured it was just going to go back over the fence and toddle off. Then the stupid thing decided to climb down and walk along the top of the fence, so Strider yanked it off and they had an epic snarlfest.

It squeezed through the fence slats and ran behind that back board fence in the picture. Then it climbed on top of the board fence, to the neighbor's roof, and ran up a tree.

See that blue/white stripe in the background? That's their garage siding/gutter. Strider jumped on top of the 8' fence and then on the neighbor's roof. Then he did a flying leap into the air and snagged the raccoon off the tree trunk. In all, they were about 15-18 feet off the ground. They both fell back into the yard and snarled a bunch more, and the raccoon slipped through the fence slats again. This time it got away, but a neighbor found it dead the next day.

This is the first ever raccoon that managed to nick Strider's nose. He also had a mouth full of blood, so it's one of the few that he had to actually break the skin. Usually he just shakes them.

The raccoon was MASSIVE. I wish I had a good side view shot vs. its bum. It's not the largest coon I've seen, and it's the second largest Strider's tangled with, but it's pretty big. Bigger than the average coyote around here anyway. They've been trying to sneak into the yard because of the puppies, and I'm really glad he got it. He was really pleased with himself. lol

And just because he's awesome, here he his eating his birthday present. I forgot to post it earlier this month.

[CharlieDog]

Good lord that's a huge racoon! Strider is awesome!

[Xandra]

Always fun to see a dog doing his job lol. And that raccoon looks BIG even from the bum shot! Good job Strider

Gah, I'm always kind of appalled when Sophie catches something...fortunately she doesn't bring it back to show me. The other day she came back to me on the trail with blood on her tongue that wasn't hers...just eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew. Dogs will be dogs sometimes but eeeewwwwwww, that was a big butt raccoon though...

[JessLough]

It's not the largest coon I've seen, and it's the second largest Strider's tangled with, but it's pretty big. Bigger than the average coyote around here anyway

Bigger than the average COYOTE? That's terrifying

[Izzy's Valkyrie]

Woo! Go Strider!

[HayleyMarie]

YAY go Stryder. What a good boy

[PlottMom]

Rage is terribly jealous that Strider got to have all the fun lol that is pretty awesome...

[Romy]

Originally Posted by JessLough

Bigger than the average COYOTE? That's terrifying

Our coyotes are pretty small compared to yours. They average 25-30 lbs. Otherwise, that would be horrifying.

The biggest coon I ever saw I had to rent a big live trap from F&G to try and catch. I got their biggest size, the entrance was 2'x2' and it was 4' long. I baited it with an open can of sardines.

The lard-butt couldn't even fit. After trying to ram his way in, he backed out and shook the trap sideways until the can came out. I was like

[Teal]

Nice job, Strider! He wasn't going to let that one get away alive!