Visitor while crappie fishing (pic)

[Ken Jones]

This wild raccoon came out begging for fish and my nephew threw it smoked trout. In 60 years of fishing first time to have a Raccoon come out begging for something to eat. A picture is worth more than a thousand words.

[shipahoy41]

That is unusual. Now he will be looking for you next time for another.

["G"]

Thats neat....I see them all the time but never had one beg.

[feelay]

Buddy of mine had one come in the boat with him this spring while fishing a narrow river chute. It was his fault for tossing a couple small fish on the bank. Guess he wasn't full, when my bud caught another fish, the coon jumped in the boat.

[crappieseeker]

I use to have one as a pet. They do not make good pets. I guess because they are not meant to be pets. That is a cute picture you took. Me and my girlfriend saw an albino squirrell at the Guntersville Dam a couple weeks ago. I had never seen an albino squirrel before. We were not able to get a picture of it though.

[kingkrappie]

never seen that! at reelfoot we have ducks that swim up to your boat when you're trolling looking for dead minnows, it's a nice way to clean out your boat!

[steelslinger86]

Hey crappieseeker, if you want a pic. of a white squirrel, just go to olney, illinois. They have them in abundance. I have seen a couple of solid black squirrels through the years. They are pretty neat.

[Redy2Fish]

Be careful, Ken, wild animals that are unafraid of humans od appear to be friendly coupl possibly have rabies:

What are the signs of rabies in an animal?

The first sign of rabies is usually a change in the animal's behavior. An animal need not be "foaming at the mouth" to have rabies. Other signs include difficulty walking, a general appearance of sickness or a change in the animal's normal behavior. For example, if an animal that is normally wild and avoids contact with humans approaches a picnic area, campsite or home and appears tame or friendly, consider it rabid. Conversely, if a normally tame and friendly animal becomes hostile or aggressive without provocation, it too should be considered rabid. A rabid animal usually dies within one week after showing signs of the disease.

[crappieseeker]

steelslinger, I do not need a picture that bad. I just thought it was neat because I have never seen one around here.

[edprocoat]

I think its more of what they are used to. I have seen coons begging for food while fishing, most people throw them dead bait, I have also seen them eat the minnows or shad that people dump by the dock or in the water that are dead. I go to Florida in the winter and at different places the gulls and especially the pelicans will practically attack you everytime you get a fish on, they do not even have to see the fish landed, you get one on the line and they flock around you, last winter I was catching some blues and whitefish off of cocoa beach pier and a guy asked me if his son could use my other pole for a little while, something that I would never allow, this child was not well so I let him use it, he caught a couple small whites and the third one he pulled in the pelican swallowed it hook and line still attached, the fish got free as the kid tried to pull it back but the hook ended up in the soft part of the bill, or maybe its a pelican lip, anyway it was a mess setting the bird free and he tried to stab me with his beak as I let him go. I think its a bad idea to feed any wild animal, it gets them used to doing things they are not naturally supposed to do.

ed