Just starting out and was going to do some practice skinning and tanning,and have a frozen raccoon to do here shortly. Well I started feading and most of the forums I read scared the hell out of me,with the parrasites and diseases.I have read enough to know to wear gloves and as George said who I dont know but have read alot of his answers DOUBLE GLOVE.This coon was taken in Iowa month of Feb.Now without every one getting funny with this what are the chances it would have rabies this time of year? andI am sure there are parrasites are there any precautions other than gloves? Or am I all worked up from reading all the negative?Are coons the worst and just stay away from them?I am going to do deer but am really interested in small mammals. Thanks and let me have it!
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but an animal with a good full hair coat, with good body fill (not emaciated or thin/sickly), and was killed by gun or vehicle, (not died for some unknown reason), is going to be a really low risk for disease transmission to humans. Use your good judgement and you will be OK. I use gloves for every phase of taxidermy. It is just a good practice. Always remember, animals in the wild live a tough life. Its survival of the fittest for all of them. If they look healthy, they are probably OK.
I skinned my first raccoon yesterday. I used two layers of latex gloves and exchanged them several times for fresh ones. My husband is a Firefighter, he runs a risk every day in his job of contracting something through saliva or blood spills. So I wasn't taking any chances. I checked with our centre for disease control and found that no rabid raccoons have ever been recorded here in BC (Westcoast of Canada). Just not sure when I can handle the fur without needing gloves, after the tanning?
I have been coon hunting for 10 years now. I do it in the middle of winter in the middle of the day. On good days we get 40 coon. One year we got 600 coon in 5 months (when they were worth 15 bucks a piece). Now, I don't want to tell anyone my method on how I do this as my hunting buddies would probably kill me but I have never had a problem with any coon. It depends where you live, I guess. The coons up here are all pretty healthy, probably due to our colder climate, but I can believe that southern coons are probably a little more succeptable to parasites and diseases. But anyway, just play it safe, Insecticide or freezing should take care of the parasites. Also, I know enough about coon anatomy to know that if they have any internal disease (rabies, distemper, etc....) The coon would have some sort of discharge coming out of it's nose,mouth, or anus. It may also have some crust around the eyes or mouth. If you want to really play it safe I suggest skinning it with large deer gutting gloves that go up to your shoulders. Hope this helps. Easton
Joey can tell you that protozoal myeloencephalitis can be found in a number of species. Check out this link to get an idea. Read all the way through the various infected species.
http://w3.vet.upenn.edu/hosted/epmsociety/newfiles/overview.html
Coons around here also have a high incidence of hook and tape worms.