I was just wondering if when you are skinnig a raccoon can you get sick from them or catch anything from then.
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Animals can carry several diseases which can be transmitted to humans. Those diseases are called zoonosis. The most famous one no doubt being rabbies. Another one is the famous mad cow disease. Any time you start messing with an animal you need to wear surgical gloves. Don't ever touch it with your bare hands. Check it over for any abnormalities. Ask the hunter whether the animal behaved curious and strange. Was it limping, staggering, foaming from the mouth or unusually tame. If in doubt get rid of it. I once caught a fungus infection from an axis deer I had gotten in. Was out of gloves and didn't think it to be important. The deer looked healthy. Well I came down with a very bad skinrash on my hand which turned out to be a fungus infection most likely transferred from the deer through a small cut in my hand. Once it was diagnosed properly I was put on antibiotics and antifungal creams. After four month I thought I was free of the disease but it came back with a vengence. Had to switch medication because the fungus had become immune to the other antibiotics I was taking. Needless to say it took over a year to get rid of the fungus. Thank god I had medical insurance or it would have cost me several thousand dollars. So from then on I never ever touch anything without putting my gloves on first. This has become the number one rule in my shop. So get them gloves son and head my warning. Better be safe than sorry.
i have skinned hundreds of them and have never gotten sick. i trap in the winter and skin all kinds of furbearers. but you never know. you could get a sick one or cut yourself and get something so be careful.
We had an unusual amount of coons die from canine distemper this year in KS..
I always where gloves when I skin out coons