Just curious...

[Mark K]

What preys on coons and possums?
I have pics of both clogging up a trap and coyotes come by and don’t even think twice about messing with them.
Some of the boar coons I’ve caught scare me more than any coyote or bobcat, lol!

 

[shdw633]

What preys on coons and possums?
I have pics of both clogging up a trap and coyotes come by and don’t even think twice about messing with them.
Some of the boar coons I’ve caught scare me more than any coyote or bobcat, lol!

Man and coon dogs

 

[DSGB]

When I killed my alligator we cut it open to see what it had been eating. The only thing we could identify was a raccoon skeleton.

 

[delacroix]

Coon is the meanest thing in the woods. A big bo coon might run but then again it might go honey badger on the whole pack.

 

[Nicodemus]

Coons make up a good part of a gator`s diet.

 

[Mark K]

That’s all well and good if you have gators on your property. If you don’t, what then?

 

[Nicodemus]

That’s all well and good if you have gators on your property. If you don’t, what then?

Rabies and distemper, I reckon. Coyotes might take young ones and probably possums too, but not much in our woods gonna tackle a big coon. With good reason.

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Coons are mean and viscous. Yotes just won't mess with a grown healthy coon. Even wolves would only try for a raccoon snack if it were real hungry. Gators and big snapping turtles will snatch a coon whenever opportunity allows but they are gonna grab and drown anything that small.

Kinda' like badgers, raccoons ain't the biggest or the strongest, but they are meaner and smarter than just about anybody else. The only predator that doesn't think coon meat is not worth the fight - is human!

 

[Mark K]

Ran into one recently that had me thinking the exact same thing. I don’t see a single dog taking one either. Maybe a pack of dogs, but they’d have to really want to please their master or be extremely hungry, lol! And I don’t think that hunger would be worth the effort.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

There's alot of cur dogs that can handle one by themselves.

 

[ryanh487]

Big owl will eat a coon or possum out of a trap.

So will a bobcat.

And if a coyote is hungry enough to deal with the teeth, they will too.

 

[TurkeyH90]

Plenty of hunting dogs or country yard dogs can kill one quick.

 

[baddave]

are coons really good fighters?? they sound all big and tough when provoked but can they really injure a dog? i would think a mean dog would kill them fast

 

[Pig Predator]

My dog found one buried in the leaves so I reckon a bear may snack on one. Unless bobcats bury their food too.

 

[Nicodemus]

are coons really good fighters?? they sound all big and tough when provoked but can they really injure a dog? i would think a mean dog would kill them fast

They are.

 

[NCHillbilly]

are coons really good fighters?? they sound all big and tough when provoked but can they really injure a dog? i would think a mean dog would kill them fast

As somebody who spent the earlier half their life coon hunting about every night:

Yes, a coon is mean. No, they are not a match for most normal-sized dogs. The Plotts, blueticks, and redbones I used to run could snuff one in a hurry. Every now and then, you'd get a good fight. Most coon dogs with any time in the game have scarred-up ears and noses. And they learn just how to fight them pretty quick. The only time I have ever heard of or seen a coon potentially do something life-threatening to a dog is drowning it in deep water, because a coon can swim a whole lot better than a dog and is right at home in the water. I've seen a couple dogs get their bellies cut up pretty good from a coon on its back raking the dog with all its claws, but the dog usually won't make that mistake again. I had a little Jack Russell that killed a few, but he paid for it.

A groundhog can flat put a hurting on a dog that grabs it wrong.

 

[Mark K]

Well let’s put it this way...I’ve NEVER had a dead coon or possum in a trap. Got bobcats, coyotes, Owls, hawks, and feral dogs on the property...guess I need some gators.
Guess if it wasn’t for us or disease then we’d be overrun with them. Us includes Fords and chevy’s, lol.

 

[Mark K]

As somebody who spent the earlier half their life coon hunting about every night:

Yes, a coon is mean. No, they are not a match for most normal-sized dogs. The Plotts, blueticks, and redbones I used to run could snuff one in a hurry. Every now and then, you'd get a good fight. Most coon dogs with any time in the game have scarred-up ears and noses. And they learn just how to fight them pretty quick. The only time I have ever heard of or seen a coon potentially do something life-threatening to a dog is drowning it in deep water, because a coon can swim a whole lot better than a dog and is right at home in the water. I've seen a couple dogs get their bellies cut up pretty good from a coon on its back raking the dog with all its claws, but the dog usually won't make that mistake again. I had a little Jack Russell that killed a few, but he paid for it.

A groundhog can flat put a hurting on a dog that grabs it wrong.

Now was it one on one with the coon dogs or was it pack on coon? And what got the coon outa the tree? I’ve seen guys shoot the coon to knock it out then let the dogs jump on it. Just never a one on one fight.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Now was it one on one with the coon dogs or was it pack on coon? And what got the coon outa the tree? I’ve seen guys shoot the coon to knock it out then let the dogs jump on it. Just never a one on one fight.

All of the above. I've done a whole lot of hunting with single dogs, as well as a couple-three at a time. The best fights were when you'd squall a big coon out on a couple of young pups. In any case, I have never seen a coon flat-out whup a coonhound. Some are meaner than others, but so are hounds. I bear hunted some of the same dogs. Anything that will willingly take on a bear several times its size isn't going to worry much about a coon a third of its size. Most veteran coonhounds don't take but a half a minute to have a coon by the neck shaking it and crunching bones.
Around here, an honest 20-lb coon is a very big one. They get a lot bigger up north, might be interesting to see a good coon fight with a forty-pound coon up there.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

There are a lot of coondogs, but you will go thru 100 before you see a sure nuff kill dog. I’m talking about one that dives in and you hear bones popping. I’ve seen more curs than hounds that were kill dogs . I have owned and like both. I just let go of a 35lb Cur that would kill every coon he caught. They had to climb quick or die. The most dangerous thing about a coon is they can transfer “coon dog paralysis “ to a dog. They seldom get over it if ever. I wish my dogs never had to fight one, too easy for them to lose an eye.